Fantine unsuccessfully searches for a job in Montfermeil alongside her three-year-old daughter, Cosette, and eventually drops Cosette off under the care of the Thénardier family, while she travels to the economically-thriving town of Montreuil-sur-Mer. Little does Fantine know, the Thénardiers are a wicked and abusive family, who force Cosette into hard labor, while Cosette waits for the return of her mother.