The Old:
-Leticia tells Sara about Magda’s strange behavior at the hospital, giving Leti advice about not judging her mama, etc., and passes on the message for Magda to butt out.
-Mario nervously tells Magda that he’s not the best person to serve as a shoulder for Leticia to lean/cry on when she finds out about her daddy, then he shuffles away without giving her more of an explanation.
-Ligia taunts Amador about how his son Rodrigo is a better lover, and he strangles her to death in his rage.
The New:
Amador scurries away from Ligia’s lifeless body and sinks to the floor a few feet away, in shock over the crime he’s just committed, and out of breath. He’s startled when Rod’s cell phone, which sits between him and Ligia’s corpse, begins to ring, indicating the call is coming from his home where Rod has just arrived and noticed that his phone is missing. Next, Rod tries Ligia’s house phone, rousing Amador from his stupor. He grabs Rod’s phone, slides by Ligia’s body, and dashes out the door.
Another phone ringing late at night is the Casa Gaxiola house phone. Lucia answers it as she’s heading upstairs in her jammies with a glass of water. “Have you thought about what I asked?”, asks a hopeful Marcelo. Lucia calls him crazy and hangs up. Mama Viper is waiting to strike on the stairs. “Don’t tell me it was that jerk.” Lucia tells her it isn’t her business and tries to skirt by her. “I just hope you’re not STUPID enough to fall for him again.” Rebeca smirks happily as Lucia tries to keep it together and ascend the stairs.
Rafaela has been stirred from her bed by the sound of Marcelo’s voice and the lights. He tells her about his midnight call to Lucia. He’s hopeful, because even though Lucia didn’t say yes, she didn’t say no either. Progress! Rafa is not impressed. She asks how things went with his old flame, Daniela. Marcelo struck out there too, and their farewell wasn’t as civil as he’d hoped. Rafa points out what he’s really feeling—GUILT. He stayed with Dani way longer than he should have, considering that he never fell in love with her. She asks him the $10K question—had Federico not died and he hadn’t come to Puebla, would he still be dating Daniela? (Well, considering that he had accepted a job in SPAIN, without consulting Dani, I think that’s a NO!) Marcelo says he doesn’t know. He then warns Rafa to prepare herself for an interrogation from Momster Milagros about the woman Federico was dating. He’s worried that when Mili finds out it was Lucia’s aunt, it will just give her even more reasons to hate Lucia.
Amador enters his bedroom, and Brigida is waiting to pounce. “Do you know what time it is?! And don’t tell me that you were with Ricardo Marquez…” Amador doesn’t hear a word and doesn’t utter a word. He stares into the darkness, and then silently enters the bathroom, leaving Brigida speaking to a locked door. Inside the bathroom, he stares into the mirror, takes out Rod’s cell phone, calling his son a stupid little boy, and splashes water on his face and neck. Brigida starts to get worried and knocks on the door. “Leave me alone, and go to sleep!” Brigida does just that, but she’s clearly worried and confused.
The next morning, Nazario goes to the police station to light a fire under the two detectives about his wife’s murder investigation. They update him on the latest info about Clara. They tracked her to D.F., where she had taken her son to get medical tests—so they confirmed she indeed has a sick son. But then they lost her trail. Naz doesn’t give a rat’s patoot about Clara! He and the police know that it wasn’t a woman who smothered his wife to death. Well, does he have a certain suspect in mind? Naz says he does, but he’s not going to throw it out there for the police to call him a crazy old man, since he has no proof. He needs the police to do their damn jobs and find the culprit!
Said culprit, Vinizio, is meeting up in the middle of town with Ricardo Marquez. Ric gives Vini a pack of his favorite smokes, then gets the 411 on where Vini is working now. Ric tells him that Amador didn’t mention Vini was working for him. Vini informs Ric that Amador has been trying to get rid of him, since he doesn’t want anyone to find out about their old ties. Ric shares the latest—Amador won’t be a problem for Vini anymore because he just got kicked out of Talavera Gaxiola. Although Ric has a new business venture that he wants Vini’s help with, for the moment, it’s best that Vini stay at Talavera Gaxiola. Vini’s excited by the idea of working with Ric again, and offers up his services for “anything” Ric needs.
Amador looks like he got run over by a mac truck. He’s drinking whiskey out of a tea cup, still in his clothes from the day before, and sweating like he’s sitting in a sauna. It’s now Rod’s turn to be concerned. Amador says he’s got problems and didn’t sleep well. Then he asks Rod where he was last night. Rod lies that he was with Dani, saying goodbye, and mentions his misplaced cell phone. Amador suggests that he probably dropped it somewhere, like his car. He then takes Rod’s face and tells his confused son to be VERY careful. Rod goes outside to his piss-yellow car, and lo and behold, he finds his phone under the front seat.
Magda interrupts Lucia’s work from home to cryptically tell her to give Leti some extra attention and support. Lucia panics that Leti is sick, but Magda assures her that it has nothing to do with health, but Leti needs Lucia. As Lucia walks Magda out, she chastises herself for having been too caught up in her own drama, and should have been paying more attention to Leti. Magda thinks she’s being too hard on herself and asks about the Marcelo breakup. Lucia shares that crazy stubborn Marcelo asked her to marry him. Magda doesn’t know what caused the breakup, but she’s sure Rebeca had something to do with it. “My love, don’t give her the pleasure of seeing you unhappy. And much less, of separating you from the man you love.”
Leti is at the front desk of the law firm, answering the calls, since Ligia hasn’t shown up. Mario arrives and it’s all awkwardness. She tries to apologize for blurting out her feelings for him, and he asks that they NEVER speak of it again and pretend she never said anything. He asks for Sergio and learns he hasn’t arrived yet either.
…Because he’s been asked to meet for coffee by Rebeca. She tries to enlist Sergio’s help to emotionally support, and to be a friend and companion for Nora (i.e. distract her from her Marcelo obsession). Sergio is justifiably confused as to why she would think he’s the correct person. “I’m not the right man for Nora (el indicado); nor is she the right woman for me.” Rebeca tries to convince him that Nora has changed.
Marcelo is going through and boxing up documents in Amador’s former office. AmaDiva, sweaty, drunk, and in his shirt from yesterday, throws a fit. Marcelo tells him that the only things he can take are his personal items. The files and documents stay! “You don’t know who I am! You’re no one to tell me what I can and can’t take!” The argument migrates to the lobby, where Normita, Alonso, and Nora witness the scuffle and yelling between the two men. Amador escalates the situation by telling Alonso, and anyone in earshot, that Marcelo is the enemy within and has been trying to seduce ALL three Gaxiola women, and that he and Normita were witnesses to a jealousy scene/lovers’ spat between Marcelo and Rebeca! Al punches Amador in the face, and tells him to shut up and get the hell out!
Amador stumbles out with a bloody nose. Marcelo looks guilty as hell and ready to come clean, and asks to speak with Al. Al tells him there’s nothing to speak about and orders him back to work. Nora gives Marcelo a questioning look and follows her father into his office. Normita requests the help of a higher power to deal with these crazy people, and makes the sign of the cross.
The appeal to God seems to work, because for the first time we see two things happen. First, Nora acts like a rational human being, when she discreetly closes her father’s office door and asks him if he thinks there’s any truth to what Amador said. Then, she tells the TRUTH when Al asks her if Marcelo has ever tried to lead her on or seduce her. “No. No, he’s never done or said anything to indicate that he has any interest in me.” Hallelujah! It’s a miracle! This satisfies Al, although he still looks worried and pensive.
Sergio apologizes to Mario for being late, but Mario quickly forgets he’s mad at him when Sergio reveals he knows about Leti’s feelings for Mario. Why didn’t Sergio tell him?! Mario begs for his help in getting Leti to understand that her feelings for him are foolish.
Lucia has invited Leti for lunch, and not so subtly tries to get Leti to confide in her if she has a problem. Leti is at first suspicious, but finally admits to Lucia that she does have a BIG problem. She’s in love…with Mario. Lucia is at first speechless, then points out what everyone else does—that Mario could be her daddy! She needs to find a man closer to her age. Leti challenges her to name just ONE guy who would be worth it. Lucia doesn’t hesitate—Sergio. “No! Sergio is my friend, and that’s it! Plus, he’s still drooling (babear) over your evil sister.” (tu hermana, la maligna)
Nora next goes to Marcelo’s office to demand answers about Amador’s accusations. Marcelo tells her that the only woman he loves and wants is Lucia! If Nora has questions about what Amador said, then she needs to go ask her mother.
Amador is back home, and back to hitting the bottle. He’s also sweating even more profusely. Brigida points out how early it is for him to be drinking (not if he never stopped from the night before). But really, now she’s just worried. She tells him to calm down, not let his problems with Al stress him out, and keep his distance from Ric. Amador is tired of the nagging. He screams at her and smashes his glass full of liquor to the floor, but the effort seems to take all his strength. Brigida feels his head and notes he’s burning up with fever. He stumbles up to their bedroom.
Sara is the lucky doctor who gets the request from Brigida to make a house call to Amador. Sara is thrilled…NOT! She shares her lack of joy with Magda, who has come to get a recommendation for a good gynecologist so she can make sure her vagina and uterus are all ready to go post-wedding, after 40 years of inactivity.
Lucia finally arrives home, just in time for Tere to scold her about what’s been bugging all of us. When the heck is Lucia going to replace her cell phone?! Marcelo has been blowing up the phone looking for her. She’s to call him as soon as she gets home. Tere hovers to try to hear the details, but Lucia shoos her away. She immediately gets on Marcelo’s case for bugging her day and night about marrying him. He tells her that’s not what he wants to speak to her about, and asks her to meet him. It’s about something serious that happened with Amador at the fabrica…
Alonso is still mulling over Amador’s accusations. When Normita brings him documents to sign, he asks for her version of the Rebeca-Marcelo argument. Normita gives her point of view. It didn’t seem like a lovers’ spat to her. All she witnessed was Rebeca voicing her disapproval of Marcelo dating Lucia, and him declaring his feelings for Lucia.
Rebeca’s also getting interrogated, by Nora in her bedroom. She plays the offended party, but Nora will not let it go. She herself at first suspected that Rebeca was interested in Marcelo, and it seems strange to her how Rebeca won’t let any other woman set her sights on Marcelo—not Nora, not Lucia, not anybody! Rebeca keeps her cool, and acts disappointed in Nora for believing such a thing. She just hopes Al doesn’t also start to believe it. Nora brutally tells her that Al wouldn’t care if she had an affair or not, then demands to know if Rebeca has ever been unfaithful to her father. “Your father is the ONLY man I have loved! I married him, and I’ll die with him! You understand me?” Nora says she doesn’t believe her, mainly because she can’t believe that Rebeca loves a man who doesn’t give a damn about her.
Marcelo has met Lucia in a restaurant to tell her about Amador’s accusations in front of her father. “You see how what happened between the two of you will separate us forever?! Because even if I forgave you, something I’m NOT considering, this is something that will follow us (perseguirnos) the rest of our lives and will count against us (rebatirnos).” Marcelo thinks the solution is to tell her father the truth, and nothing but the truth, now. Lucia refuses, not just because of Alonso’s health or because his wife is having affairs, but also because it involves Marcelo's brother’s death and her mother’s name. In addition, there’s Nora and her mental stability to take into account.
Lalo is bursting at the seams to share the hot gossip about Al punching Amador in the nose with Naz. Naz doesn’t want to hear it. Lalo is excited that now that they’re rid of Amador, they can get rid of Vini too, whom he doesn’t trust as far as he can throw him. He sure he was in cahoots with Amador. Naz distracts Lalo from gossip by sending him off to Casa Gaxiola with some documents.
Brigida tells Sara about Amador’s stress and his fever when she arrives, and takes her up to the bedroom to see him. He’s still sweating, and Sara easily convinces him to let her check him. When she’s done, Sara’s diagnosis is that Amador likely has an intestinal infection, but she’s ordering more tests for him. Brigida goes downstairs to answer the gate, and finds an unwelcome guest—Ricardo Marquez in all his smarmy glory. She reluctantly lets him in, then tells him Amador can’t come down to speak to him because he’s sick and being seen upstairs by Dr. Sara Ezquedra. This gets Ric’s attention. “Dr. Ezquedra? Sara Ezquedra?” Brigida asks if he knows her. “Of course. I would love to greet her.” On cue, Sara descends the stairs, and sees her worst nightmare standing in a suit in front of her. Ricardo smiles his smarmy smile at her. “What a surprise to see you again, here, after so many years. How are you?” Sara freezes in shock, then manages to say she’s well, a quick goodbye to Brigida, and runs out the door.
Ric asks Brigida who Sara married, and is surprised to learn Sara never married and has no baby-daddy for her daughter, who is 22 years old, more or less. It doesn’t take Ric long to do the math, and he runs out the door. He jumps in front of Sara’s moving car, demands that she get out, leans in and rips the keys out of the ignition! Sara jumps out of the car and tries to get her keys back. Ric wants answers first.
R: Who is the father of your daughter? She's named Leticia, right? ANSWER ME!
S: My daughter doesn’t have a father.
R: You didn’t conceive her alone! That girl has a father, and I want to know his name, right now! (he grabs her arms)
S: Let me go!
R: I’m not going to do it until you tell me his name! And if you don’t, I’m going to speak to her directly and ask her.
S: Don’t you dare go near her!
R: It’s me, right? I’m her father.
S: (*sob*) Yes. You are the father of Leticia.
