This is another one of those telenovelas that have been edited to the bone so you've got to be prepared to protect yourself from whiplash.
We get a brief shot of young Lucia, who works as a bus driver and is well known and loved by her regulars.
ZOOM! We now go to the leopard-print deathbed of Manuela who is begging Elena, Lucia's mother, to tell Lucia about Alejandro Valderrama, the father she's never met. Elena has been in hiding for the past twenty years because...
ZOOM! During a raging storm she was almost raped by a man her mother had sent. Alejandro had just come to her rescue, stopping the sexual assault in time. The would-be rapist escapes out into the storm with Alejandro hot on the guy's heels. He catches up to the criminal and during their fight the other man is accidentally killed. Alejandro urges Elena to run and hide so her (extremely evil) mother can't find her. Alejandro goes to prison for murder. But now his time is served and he's about to become a free man, intent on finding his lost love and the child he's never known. Oh, and also work in some revenge against Enriqueta Covarrubias. That's a mouthful of a name.
ZOOM! It's Patricio from Wild Cat! And there's the fat housekeeper as well! Ah, familiar faces. In fact the guy playing Alejandro looks familiar like he was also in Wild Cat. But I digress... Anyway, Manuela dies and everyone cries.
Alejandro, fresh from prison, has moved in with his friend, Claudio the doctor. Alejandro goes out for a stroll around the neighborhood and happens to bump into Lucia, but of course he doesn't realize this is his child.
Lucia is sweet on Raul, who is kind enough to give us his backstory in a few sentences. Orphaned. Living with aunt and uncle. Aunt doesn't want him around. He drives the strangest little golf cart thingy I've ever seen.
Elsewhere in Miami (I still don't understand why Venezuelan shows aren't filmed in Venezuela) we get to know blond bitch Cristal. She's the granddaughter of Enriqueta and is scheming to become Grandma's only heir to the family's chain of jewelry stores. Standing in Cristal's way are her two sisters, Natasha and Mariela. And what about that mysterious Aunt Elena? Did she really drown in the river as everyone assumes?
Lucia has gotten fired from her job and cries on the sympathetic shoulder of her new neighbor, Alejandro. ZOOM! Lucia gets a job as a maid at the Covarrubias estate. She must work hard to win over her cantankerous boss (and secret grandmother), Enriqueta.
It wouldn't be a Venezuelan telenovela if Lucia didn't have all these other men falling in love/lust with her. One of them is Dr. Claudio, secret dad's friend and roommate. The other guy is Juan, who just now showed up so I have no idea what his story is. I think he's the gardener at the Covarrubias place. Lastly there's Raul's skanky (and married) uncle.
Meanwhile, Lucia's secret cousin, Natasha, is having problems in her marriage with Ernesto. Her co-worker and potential love interest, Camilo, tries to push Natasha into dropping her husband once and for all. Cristal doesn't help the marriage any by seducing Ernesto.
Alejandro finally confronts Enriqueta and demands to know where Elena is. Enriqueta delights in telling her enemy that the love of his life as well as his child are both dead. Alejandro doesn't believe her.
Lucia is still having trouble with that crazy Juan. He attacks Lucia, threatening her with a knife. When Elena comes to her daughter's aid, she's the one who ends up stabbed. (I wasn't expecting that!) She's rushed to the hospital where Dr. Claudio is able to save Elena's life. Later, Alejandro comes to the hospital room as a courtesy call on Lucia's mother. But Elena is asleep and on her side so Alejandro doesn't see that the woman is his long lost love.
Lucia and Raul keep falling in and out of love (which gets old really fast). Right now they're on the outs. To make Raul jealous, Lucia claims she's going to be the girlfriend of Juan (the man who stabbed her mother!) In retaliation, Raul acts like he's interested in the local slut, Rubi.
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