Gladys tells Christa that she would never betray Renato, but refuses to tell her what she and Victoria have planned. Victoria leaves as Christa threatens to go tell Renato that she saw Gladys and Victoria together and that they’re conspiring against him as Renato verbally attacks Isabela, insulting her and criticizing all the mistakes she’s made with regards to Alex. He comments that he is capable of making Carolina betray her mother and come work for him, then decides that’s exactly what he will do: bring Carolina over to his side and make her kill her mother.
Victoria overhears Gonzalo telling Miguel that he doesn’t want anything to drink because he wants to be sober for what’s going to happen that night. She comes in and starts cleaning the bar and suggests Gonzalo have a drink, but he tells her he doesn’t want to forget anything this time. She tells him that he doesn’t have to drink much and makes him a drink before she leaves. He takes a drink and comes to the realization that Victoria really does want him and she trusts him and he has to show her that he’s able to handle his liquor as Gladys continues to try to convince Christa that she’s not plotting against Renato. Gladys is bullied into revealing what she and Victoria are planning to do and Christa bursts into laughter.
Diego tells Carolina that there’s nothing he can do about Victoria because he already tried. He says that he doesn’t know what to believe about her and Carolina tells him that he has to believe that she loves him and reminds him that he loves her, too--then, asks if he’s going to deny that’s the way he feels. Rocio finds out that Victoria didn’t get in trouble with Gladys and wonders at how Victoria is able to manage the other woman as Carolina tells Diego that he should talk to Victoria again. He asks her how he can do that if he can’t go the Montero ranch and she won’t come back to Los Encinos and she suggests that he meets Victoria that night at Don Chema’s. He agrees and tells her that he’ll go there and wait for her, but if she doesn’t show up, it’ll be the last time that he agrees to talk to her. Carolina is very happy and thanks him, kisses his cheek and tells him that she hopes that one day he’ll be her step-father and leaves the house. Once she’s gone, he says, “I’m sorry, Carolina, but when I speak to your mother, it’ll be simply to tell her how despicable it is to use her own daughter like this (to get her revenge).”
German and Amalia laugh together and he tells her that he loves the stories that she told him and marvels at her ability to express herself and her feelings. German isn’t so happy when she tells him that her life is great because she’s in love with Macario and calls him gorgeous and says that she has to be careful that no one takes him away from her and smiles as she makes a comment about how she “satisfies” him every night. Patricio goes to see Macario and tells him that Don G is changing his will tomorrow.
Ruben tells Constanza that from this day forward, he won’t be beating her and Bianca anymore. She’s shocked and he tells her that he promised Gerardo in exchange for making himself indispensable to Don G. He tells her to pray every day that Gerardo is left as heir because if he isn’t, he’s going to take it out on Constanza and their daughter. Bianca calls her brother her hero and thanks him for saving her. He hugs her but can’t imagine how he’ll be able to keep up his end of the bargain. Alex tells him not to worry and he and Bianca vow to keep helping him with his work, only this time they‘ll be more discreet. Don G finds Gladys and Christa together and tells Gladys to go get him something to drink so that he can go to his room. Alone with Christa, he tells her that she hasn’t been to see him in a long time and she tells him it’s because things are more complicated now that her “uncle” is there. She agrees to come and see him that night and make up for lost time.
Gladys and Christa go back to the living room with Christa and Renato and Gladys tells them that they need to set their plans for Carolina into motion that very night because she’s going to make sure that Victoria isn’t around to interfere. Renato calls them a band of idiots. Carolina finds Amalia and German and thanks German. He tells her that he wishes her mother and Diego the best and Carolina leaves. As Amalia follows her, she tells German that she had a great time with him that afternoon and thinks that they could be really good friends. She gives him a big smile before saying goodbye and leaving. They pass by Claudio on their way back and Claudio meets up with German and notes that Diego has come home. Claudio tells him what happened at the café earlier and that he defended one of the Monteros.
Martin is painting when Lucrecia brings him something to drink so that they can “make peace”. He isn’t fooled and tells her that he’s not going to tell her what Diego said to him about her. He tells her no, but assures her that everything that was said about her was the absolute truth. He tells her that he told Diego the truth about how she really is: that she was a cizañosa (a troublemaker) and can’t stand to see another couple happy, not even her own sister, and tells her that he highly doubts that, after hearing all that, Diego will ever accept her at his ranch again. He walks out of the room and Lucrecia has a hissy--fit at attacks the picture Martin was drawing, imagining that it’s the woman Diego loves and says that Florencia will find out the name of the woman and she (Lucrecia) will get rid of her.
German tells Diego what happened at the café with Claudio and they decide that it must have been Bianca he was defending against Ruben. Diego tells him that the last thing they need is more problems with the Monteros and that he’ll have to have a very serious talk with Claudio and tell him that he has to forget about Bianca. Florencia goes to her father’s ranch and is greeted warmly be her niece, Bianca. She asks where her father is and Bianca tells her that he’s in his room and asks if something is wrong. Florencia tells her that nothing’s wrong and she just wants to talk to him; she rubs Bianca on the arm and Bianca flinches in pain. Florencia asks her what’s wrong and Bianca tells, “…you know how my father is.” Florencia is angry and says that she won’t allow this and Bianca tells her that Ruben has promised not to hit them anymore because of the pact he made with Gerardo.
Diego goes to talk to Claudio and tells him that he appreciates him and promised to help him, but tells him that if he doesn’t forget about Bianca, he’ll have to throw him off of Los Encinos. Bianca leaves as Florencia tells her she needs to talk to Don G and runs into Gladys who tells her not to bother Don G because he’s resting. Florencia tells her that Don G will want to know about Lucrecia and reveals to Gladys that Lucrecia is living with her and Martin. Gladys tells her that Lucrecia will never be with Diego because Diego already has a lover. Florencia asks her who his lover is and Gladys tells her that it’s Victoria and Florencia is shocked to learn that Carolina’s mother is Lucrecia’s rival. Gladys tells her that she saw Victoria and Diego in bed together and they were about to have sex and Florencia tells her that she doesn’t believe her because Gladys might be making it up just to upset Lucrecia. Gladys tells her that she’s telling the truth. Alone, Florencia knows that this is exactly what she needs to give to Lucrecia in order to make her keep their secret, but doesn’t know what to do and wonders what Lucrecia is capable of doing to Victoria.
Martin goes back to his work and Lucrecia comes to see him again. He tells her to leave him alone to work in peace and she refuses unless he promises to tell Diego that what he told him wasn’t true. He refuses and she tells him she’s not crazy and he reminds her that they invited her into their home and all she does is try to ruin their relationship with her lies. Lucrecia tells him that it’s not her fault if Florencia is hiding something from him and he refuses to believe it and tells her that it’s a lie. “And what if I wasn’t lying?” she asks and leaves the room.
Florencia goes to see her father and tells him that Lucrecia left the Ibarra ranch and she’s now living with her and Martin. Don G says that it’s best that she’s living with Florencia because now she will see how her sister really is and complains that Lucrecia was always creating problems in his household, just to irritate people and Florencia tells him that he’s right about that. She reveals that Lucrecia has decided to drop the charges against him but refuses to give up on Diego Ibarra and wants to be with him. Don G tells her that if such a thing happens, it’ll be over his dead body.
Claudio tells Diego that all he did was try to protect a Bianca from her father and that he didn’t do anything bad. Diego tells him that German insinuated that Claudio might like her. Claudio tells him that he thinks she’s pretty and saw that she was being mistreated and tried to help her, but says that if it were any woman--Montero or not, pretty or ugly--he would have tried to protect her. He hints that his protecting a woman from some man who mistreated her is the reason why he went to prison when he says, “….you know why I went to prison, Diego…”
Florencia speaks with Constanza and wonders what’s wrong. Constanza suggests that she tell Don G that Diego is in love with another woman and not Lucrecia, but Florencia doesn’t know what to do. Florencia tells her that she knows who Diego’s in love with and knows that Lucrecia is capable of doing anything to get rid of the other woman. Alone, Victoria says that no one’s going to stop her from getting her revenge now that her plans have been put into motion. She says that if she once considered giving it all up so that she could be happy with Diego, she no longer has those doubts. She realizes that Diego hates her now and knows that it’s all her fault because it’s the ways she wanted things--revenge over love.
Constanza tells Florencia that she probably shouldn’t believe Gladys, but Florencia insists that Gladys doesn’t have a reason to lie about it. Florencia tells her who Diego’s lover is and Constanza tells her that’s going to create problems with Gonzalo because everybody knows that Gonzalo wants Victoria. Gonzalo continues to drink and Gerardo arrives and asks what’s going on. Gonzalo tells him that he’s celebrating because that night, he’s going to have an incredible woman in his bed. Gerardo laughs, thinking it’s Gladys and that he’s simply arming himself with alcohol against Gladys.
Gladys, Christa, and Isabela tell Renato their plan and wonder why he thinks it won’t work. He tells them that it could work, but not now, they need to let some time pass. Renato calls them stupid and tells them that Alex will be suspicious because it wasn’t that long ago that Isabela kissed Alex and made it so that Carolina would see the kiss and misinterpret the situation and Alex will be even more suspicious when he considers that fact that Isabela and Christa lied about the bet. He tells them they should wait a while and during that time, he’s going to offer Carolina money to leave Alex. Carolina and Amalia decide to talk Don Chema into letting Victoria and Diego use his cabin as a meeting place and Carolina wonders how they’ll ever get Victoria to go to the cabin because she won’t go if she knows Diego will be there.
Florencia tells Constanza that even though Lucrecia is blackmailing her and wants to destroy her marriage, she doesn’t feel right telling Lucrecia that Victoria is the woman who Diego is in love with. Her conscience won’t let her, she says, because Lucrecia might try to hurt Victoria. Constanza asks her why she cares what happens to this woman and tells her that Victoria seems to be able to take care of herself and Diego will protect her too. She asks if Florencia doesn’t want to tell Lucrecia because Victoria is the mother of Alex’s girlfriend. Florencia tells her that she likes Carolina and Constanza feels the same way about Carolina, but she’s worried about Florencia and her marriage with Martin. Florencia tells her that Carolina reminds her that she has a daughter somewhere out there around Carolina’s age. She tells Constanza that Carolina’s smile reminds her so much of her mother’s. “Yeah, now that you mention it, you’re right. Carolina has our mother’s smile,” Constanza says.
Amalia suggests that Carolina tell Victoria to go to the cabin so that her fortune can be read by Don Chema. Before Carolina leaves, Amalia tells her that she wishes she could go with her, but she has to decorate her place for the night (with Macario). Macario tries to make Mifuel stop drinking, but Miguel throws a drunken tantrum. Patricio tells them that as soon as Don G changes his will, they have to get a pistol and get Diego’s finger prints on it so that the police will think that he killed Don G. Macario orders him again to stop drinking and Miguel is impatient to get his revenge against his father and get rid of Diego Ibarra, too.
Diego apologizes to Claudio and tells him that he doesn’t want him to leave the ranch and tells him that he just feels deceived and hurt and can’t believe he fell in love with a woman who isn’t worth it as Maria overhears in the background. Claudio tells Diego that he’s sorry and doesn’t won’t to cause him any problems and says that he’ll probably never set eyes on Bianca again. Diego asks Claudio how he knew it was Bianca Montero and Claudio tells him that after she left with her father, he asked her friends about her and asked for her phone number. Diego tells him that he really is interested in her if he asked for her phone number and warns him never to fall in love because he doesn’t know how much it hurts to love someone.
Florencia finds Victoria alone and asks her if it’s true that she and Diego are in love. Victoria says that it’s none of her business. Florencia tells her to be careful and Victoria asks if she’s threatening her. Florencia assures her that she’s not threatening her and simply wants to warn her about her sister because she doesn’t want Lucrecia to hurt anyone. Victoria tells her that she doesn’t care if Lucrecia and Diego get together, but Florencia tells her she should still be careful and that Lucrecia isn’t well. Victoria asks her why she cares and Florencia tells her that she doesn’t want Lucrecia to get in any more trouble and she also wanted to warn her because she likes Carolina, saying, “…she makes me feel…I don’t know...I don’t even know how to explain it…I don’t want her to suffer for you…I like Carolina a lot and if you suffer, she‘ll suffer, too…” Victoria thanks her and watches her leave, wondering if Florencia might come to suspect that Carolina is a Montero.
Diego is upset about his problems with Victoria as Maria anxiously waits to find out why Claudio was in prison. Claudio tells Diego that it’s not easy to forget and tells him that a man sees beautiful women walk by every day, but there’s only one woman for him and when he sees her, his heart speaks and says, “That’s her, she’s the one…” Diego understands perfectly what Claudio is trying to say and Claudio tells him that he had a lot of time to think while he was locked up and that Bianca’s eyes spoke to him and he’s saddened because her father hurt her. He promises Diego that he’s not going to call Bianca and Diego asks if he’s sure that he can’t keep his promise. “For you? Of course,” Claudio answers. He says that she probably wouldn’t even want to know anything about him if she found out that he was in prison for attempted murder. Maria hears in the background and is shocked.
Florencia comes home and finds Lucrecia alone and tells her that she knows the name of the woman that Diego loves. Lucrecia orders her to reveal it and Florencia tells her that it’s Victoria.
Posted on Feb 23, 2006, 4:58 AM from IP address 212.76.33.123
