Heredity (1918)

Nedda Trevor, a little street urchin from New York's Lower West Side, is hit by Paul Winslow's car. Paul takes the shaken but unhurt girl for a ride through the countryside to make amends, and Nedda soon develops a crush on him. Her cruel, dissolute stepfather Ralph Edgars plots to swindle Paul in connection with the accident, but Nedda foils his plans. Years later, Nedda, who still loves Paul, refuses the hand of her wealthy employer, Frank Graves. Edgars kills Nedda's mother in a drunken rage and Nedda is falsely accused. Paul reads of the arrest and, recognizing Nedda through the Trevor family ring she has worn since childhood, he comes to her rescue. Edgars is arrested and Paul marries Nedda.