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Nora picks up her mother’s cellphone, only to hear Ricardo coo on the other end of the line: “Hello, my love! Haven’t you missed me?” The Gaxiola girls need to stop answering teléfonos ajenos/other people’s phones. Nothing good can come out of that. “Who’s speaking?” “Isn’t this the cellphone of Mrs. Rebeca Murillo?” “Yes, I’m her daughter. Who the devil are you?” I’m the devil person who’s calling your mother’s private phone. Why the devil are YOU answering? Ricardo hangs up without saying anything. Rebeca barges in, panicked, and tries to snatch her phone from Nora’s hands. Whora Minor demands to know who the heck is the guy who called Whora Major, her progenitor and mentor in all things hoe-related. “Why is he calling you ‘my love’ and why is it that you’re supposed to be missing him? Answer me! Don’t just stand there silent!” Rebeca reckons it’s a wrong number. Nora isn’t falling for this. The dude asked for her mother by name! Besides, why did Rebeca try to snatch the phone away? Surely this isn’t the first time that this guy calls. Rebeca is indignant at being the subject of her daughter’s suspicions. She affirms that she is not cheating on Nora’s father. The cheater in this house is him not her! Someone is doing this to harm and slander her (perjudicar), on the off chance that her daughter or her husband answer her cellphone. This is the handy work of either Sara Ezquerra or her spawn. They must have hired this mystery caller. Nora isn’t convinced: “Eso suena muy forzado. This sounds very contrived.” Rebeca tries another avenue: “Don’t you think that if I had someone who loved me, I wouldn’t be here putting up with the humiliations of your father?” Mmm. Yeah. I guess you have a point, Mommy Hoerest. You have as much dignity as I do.
Mario is at the fábrica/factory to discuss Amador’s terms for the dissolution of the partnership, but Alonso is distracted by his personal problems. He is eager to divorce Rebeca but he can’t do it: “Nora me tiene agarrado del cuello para que no lo haga. Nora has me by the throat to prevent me from doing it.” Mario is surprised because this issue is between the spouses. That’s in normal families. We Gaxiolas just don’t roll that way. We put the fun in dysfunction. “Things aren’t that simple. If the problem were only between Rebeca and me, well, we would fight until one of us drops dead, but because my daughters are in the middle (of this), things are very different.”
Rebeca calls Ricardo to scold him for his little stunt and to ask him to quit harassing her (acosar). He wants to meet and talk. Rebeca declines. There’s nothing to talk about. Ricardo insists: “Either you come to my place or I show up at yours!” Rebeca yields.
Lucía visits Dr. Román Andrade to fill him in on the latest shenanigans of his favorite patient. Nora is fine now, fine as in not dead, but Lucía is worried about her sister’s wellbeing, especially in light of upcoming revelations. She wants Dr. Andrade to be prepared for the storm that’s heading Nora’s way but she refuses to reveal any further details. However, she does have a bone to pick with him for prescribing (recetar) tranquilizers to an unstable nutter. Dr. Andrade assures her he prescribed no such drugs to Nora.
At Casa Treviño, Nazario is talking to the photo frame of his Trini when Marcelo shows up. Confused Curls wants to talk.
Rebeca meets Ricardo at a busy restaurant. So much for plausible deniability! Ricardo apologizes for his “clumsiness” (torpeza) the last time they met, when he sexually assaulted her, and promises he’ll wait until she decides to boink him of her own accord (por motu propio). Don’t hold your breath there, antsy pants! Get to the point of this meeting, will ya? Ricardo gets right down to it: He needs money. Rebeca mocks him for not having a penny to his name (no tener donde caerse muerto. Literally “To not have where to drop dead”) and for living on borrowed money (vivir de prestado) at his age. “Let’s just say I made some bad investments.” He gives her a piece of paper where he wrote down his bank account number and the sum he wants her to deposit. Moreover, he reminds her that he has already given her a little taste of the damage he could inflict on her life, so she’d better loosen those purse strings pronto.
Back at Casa Treviño, Nazario is feigning interest for Marcelo’s favorite topic of conversation: To tell or not to tell. That is the annoying question. This rehash scene was brought to you by Lala Milk.
At Casa Gaxiola, Tere finds a pill on the floor while tidying up Nora’s room, and she puts it in the pocket of her apron. Rebeca comes in and asks about Nora. She has gone out but Tere doesn’t know where to. Rebeca orders Tere to keep her mouth shut. She’d better not go blabbing about this to Alonso or Lucía.
Sara calls Alonso to check on Nora’s health. She tells him it is important that he be with his family these days. The doorbell rings and who it is but Suicide Sally ordering Sara to stay away from her father and to stop harassing her mother on the phone. She finishes her tirade and gets going. On her way out, she bumps into Ricardo who assumes she is one of his daughter’s friends. Nora disdainfully replies that she is no friend of anyone who lives in this house. Ricardo asks to speak with Sara. Five minutes is all he asks. He wants her to convince Lety to accept him as her father. How can she accept you after years of absence? It’s an absence you caused because you never told me I had a daughter! Lety doesn’t need you and doesn’t want anything to do with you! Why don’t you let Lety decide? The blame ping-pong then veers off to dangerous territory. Ricardo insinuates that Lety will need her father now more than ever since Sara is moving on with her life. He just hopes the guy is worth it. OK, your five minutes are up, so why don’t you kindly get the heck out of my house because MY daughter will be home soon? Your daughter or your lover? Pish aff, Ricardo!
Lucía is back at Casa Gaxiola. Everybody has already had their dinner but Tere offers to heat up a plate for her right away. Lucía declines. She only wants a glass of milk, preferably of the Lala persuasion. Tere shows her the pill she found near Nora’s bed.
Nora is also back home. Rebeca is not pleased that she went out when she is supposed to be unwell and bed-ridden. Nora says she went to see Sara Ezquerra to confront her about what she did to her mother. Rebeca thinks this was ill-advised and could prove counterproductive. Alonso won’t believe any of it and that woman will deny everything, anyway. Nevertheless, Nora feels her visit to Casa Ezquerra was not in vain. She has learnt a juicy piece of gossip: The insufferable (insufrible) Lety Ezquerra has a father. Or maybe the guy was there to see Sara and he invented he was Lety’s father for Nora’s benefit.
The next morning, Marcelo receives a hero’s welcome at the fábrica. He thanks Vinicio for helping him the night he was attacked. Lalo is adamant that the two-timing nightwatchman had something to do with Marcelo’s assault.
At Casa Gaxiola, Lucía awaits in Nora’s room. She tells her little sister that she is worried about her health, both physical and mental. Nora poo-poos that sisterly concern. Lucía changes gears and gets into crazy eyes mode. She shows her the pill Tere found and demands to know where she got it. Dr. Andrade never prescribed her any tranquilizers. No need to deny this because the pharmacy has confirmed to Lucía that the pill is a painkiller (analgésico). Nora lunges at her sister. Fight! Fight! Fight! Lucía quickly gets the upper hand and throws Nora on the bed. Lala Milk at work, folks. Gives you fighting power! Stronger bones and nails and headbutting abilities! Marcelo was right! This was all pretense to make Daddy feel bad! You and that mental case you call a mother devised this plan! Nora puts a pair of scissors to her neck and dares her sister to runteldat. Go ahead and rat me out to Daddy! I’ll prove to you that none of this is pretense! Lucía asks her to calm down. She won’t say anything to their father. A split second later, she manages to subdue Nora and take away the scissors. It’s that Lala Milk, I tell ya! Lucía says she’ll keep her mouth shut alright, because it’s Nora herself who’ll be doing the talking! Nora must go to Alonso and tell him that she regrets what she has done and that she has no objections to him divorcing her mother. Never! Especially not if Daddy gets together with that heffer! Lucía assures Nora that she’ll be the one to insist that their father move on with his life when she learns.... Learn what? Lucía holds her tongue. She just pleads with her little sister to please stop making things more difficult for Daddy. As if invoked, the rooster of this hen asylum comes in all smiles. He wants to check on his loony little chickadee. How is Nora feeling this morning? “Much better”, interjects Lucía. “In fact, she has something to tell you”. Nora hugs her father and cries.
At the fábrica, Marcelo is still on his “I Survived a Stabbing” victory lap. Normita welcomes him back to the office. He asks about Alonso. The boss is not here and Normita doubts he’ll come to work today. She is worried about his health. The man doesn’t complain but he’s not looking good and she’s afraid he might have another heart attack.
Back at Casa Gaxiola, Alonso is glad that Nora has realized she committed a mistake. She explains that she felt desperate when her dad announced he was leaving home. She felt abandoned and unloved. Alonso assures her that living somewhere else doesn’t change how he feels about her or how much he cares. He loves his youngest daughter with all his heart! Besides, one day she too will leave the house to live her life. Nora doubts it. The man she loves is going to marry her sister. Alonso maintains that some day, when she least expects it, a man will sweep her off her feet and will love her for who she is. Nora doesn’t share her father’s wild optimism. “Who would love a lunatic who has tried to kill herself twice?” “Darling, don’t say that! You’re not crazy! Forget what happened!” Besides, some men are really into loonies and you score rather well on the hot/crazy scale!
Mario has just hired Ligia’s replacement and antithesis. Alonso calls to ask that Mario file the divorce papers ASAP. Rebeca barges into Mario’s office. She swears she had nothing to do with Magdalena’s doomed wedding to Ricardo. “Remember, you an I were novios back then?” “No, we never were. I was courting you and you played with me for a while then ditched me. And I’m not throwing blame here. It’s been a long time ago.” Rebeca says she was very confused back then. Magdalena had just been jilted at the altar then Adriana died... “Then you got married to her husband!” adds Mario, eager to move the throwback Thursday chitchat along. “And I would still be happily married if it weren’t for that jerk who returned to fill my hubby’s head with venom!” Mario interrupts her: “I don’t understand what you’re doing here and why you’re telling me all these things.” Rebeca wants him to help her. She confides to him that Tricky Ricky has been blackmailing her since he got back to Puebla. She refused to give in to his threats and that’s why he’s been inventing these lies. “Why precisely you?” wonders Mario. Rebeca reckons maybe he learnt that she was having problems with Alonso and he wanted to take advantage of the situation. “Sorry, Rebeca but this sounds very ‘elaborate’ and I don’t understand what you want me to do.” Rebeca shows him the note containing Ricardo’s bank account number and the sum he demands she give him. If she doesn’t deposit the money, he’ll invent other things about her. She pleads with Mario to find a legal means of ridding her of Ricardo.
Sara drops Lety off at work and tells her that her bio dad wants a relationship with her but the girl is not interested.
At Casa Zúñiga, they’re serving coffee, fruit and awkwardness; the breakfast of champions. Amador informs his wife that Rodrigo is living with his friend Sergio. She says she already knows, barely looking at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” “Because Rodrigo doesn’t want you to know. He doesn’t want you to go looking for him.” “Don’t worry, he’ll be back home.” “He won’t return as long as you’re here! Perhaps you’re the one who ought to be leaving!” Amadiva loses his rag: “This is MY house! It’s the only thing I have left, goddammit!” He leaves the table in a huff. An innocent cup was harmed in the making of this tantrum. The housekeeper witnesses the scene and asks whether the lord and master will be having his breakfast. “What do you think?” snaps Brígida.
Lety TMZ introduces herself to the new secretary who asks to be addressed formally and refuses to reveal the identity of Mario’s current visitor. Rebeca bumps into Lety and learns that Tricky Ricky is the young woman’s father.
Lucía is with her aunt at the bridal shop. Magdalena thinks she looks ridiculous in her wedding gown. She looks good on the whole but there seems to be some weird white appendage sticking out of her corset. Lucía assures her that she looks amazing. While looking at herself in the mirror, Magdalena couldn’t help but think back to what happened to her with Ricardo. Oh, for the love of Crunchie! Give it a rest, woman! It’s been 25 years already! Lucía understands how her auntie feels. She went through the same thing a few months ago. However, thanks to their misfortune, aunt and niece have met wonderful men. Magdalena asks how Nora is taking all this. She swears she’ll do anything to stop the wedding. What about Marcelo’s ex-girlfriend? She’s having a hard time accepting that Marcelo has moved on with his life. Oh and by the way, Marcelo’s ex is Ligia’s cousin.
At the Harpies’ Nest, Daniela is indulging in a whinge fest. She is tired of being locked indoors, waiting for a miracle to happen that would bring Marcelo back to her. Milagros, the miracle worker, encourages her to keep her spirits up. Everything can be remedied, except for death. The Human Barnacle thinks this is what needs to happen to her. She needs to die so that her ordeal can end. Good bye, cruel world. If only! The viewers have been presenting offerings at the altar of every TN God for months, begging for the early demise of the Human Barnacle, to no avail. Rafaela is in the kitchen, drying the dishes and rolling her eyes. Milagros heads out to organize a religious service for Federico’s 5-month deathiversary. Rafaela tries to reason with the unreasonable brat. She advises Daniela to stop listening to Mother Terror’s ideas. She is only giving her false hopes. Marcelo is not the only man in the world. “There are many men out there who would love to be with a young woman like you. A woman who, not only is beautiful, but has many qualities as well.” Many qualities. Many! Plural! Wow! Rafaela blew up the baloney-meter on this one!
At the fábrica, Alonso shows Marcelo the agreement (convenio) that Amadiva proposed for the dissolution of their business partnership. Naturally, all the clauses (cláusulas) favor Amadiva. Alonso would like Marcelo to review the document meticulously (minuciosamente) before they can start haggling (regatear) again. Cool beans, boss! I’m on it! Alonso praises Marcelo for his integrity and honesty. He has always trusted him and he is happy that his daughter Lucía has a trustworthy man she can rely on if her dad were to pass on. Marcelo assures Alonso that this death talk is very premature. Besides, Marcelo feels he doesn’t deserve all this unconditional trust. He has committed many mistakes in the past. “What mistakes?” enquires Alonso. Normita interrupts. Marcelo has been saved by a long-distance call to Chile.
Nora reports back to her mother about what happened with Lucía this morning. Rebeca is hopping mad because her daughter has just given Alonso permission to leave her. Nora denies doing that. She didn’t explicitly give her father any such permission. “But you freed him of any sense of guilt!” This amounts to giving her blessing to her parents’ divorce! Rebeca feels she can’t rely on anyone. She will find a way to stop the divorce herself!
Back at the Harpies’ Nest, Daniela decides to heed Rafaela’s advice. So she calls Ricardo. *facepalm*
Nora ambushes Marcelo in his office. She tells him she missed him and she is glad he is recovered. Marcelo is happy she’s OK too. “I guess my sister told you that you hit the mark (acertar) with your guess about my attempted suicide?” “She didn’t but I’m not surprised. You’re a very sneaky girl (una niña mañosa)!” “And so is my sister!” She proceeds to tell him that Lucía has a new beau, Dr. Román Andrade, Nora’s psychiatrist. He is crazy about Lucía and she is not indifferent to his charms because they keep meeting up to “allegedly” talk bout Nora. Marcelo has heard enough. He walks to the door to show Nora out. Wrong move, buster! She blocks him against the wall and he’s too much of a gentleman softie to impose distance when she invades his personal space and starts rubbing up against him. She maintains that Lucía is playing him and that he’s too much of a fool to see it. Besides, the woman who truly loves you is yours truly! Nora tries to turn his face toward hers but he keeps looking away. “Don’t you dare, Nora!” orders Lucía, who has witnessed the last part of this exchange. Nora plants a wet one on Marcelo. “You’re just like your mother! You’re a hoe who doesn’t have the slightest scruple about offering herself up to whomever she have in front of her, Nora.” “Be careful with what you say!” “No, get ready! Because when I tell you what your mother did and with whom she cheated on our father, se te va a caer la cara de vergüenza, you’ll hang your head in shame, and you’ll never want to get close to Marcelo again!” Boom!
Nora picks up her mother’s cellphone, only to hear Ricardo coo on the other end of the line: “Hello, my love! Haven’t you missed me?” The Gaxiola girls need to stop answering teléfonos ajenos/other people’s phones. Nothing good can come out of that. “Who’s speaking?” “Isn’t this the cellphone of Mrs. Rebeca Murillo?” “Yes, I’m her daughter. Who the devil are you?” I’m the devil person who’s calling your mother’s private phone. Why the devil are YOU answering? Ricardo hangs up without saying anything. Rebeca barges in, panicked, and tries to snatch her phone from Nora’s hands. Whora Minor demands to know who the heck is the guy who called Whora Major, her progenitor and mentor in all things hoe-related. “Why is he calling you ‘my love’ and why is it that you’re supposed to be missing him? Answer me! Don’t just stand there silent!” Rebeca reckons it’s a wrong number. Nora isn’t falling for this. The dude asked for her mother by name! Besides, why did Rebeca try to snatch the phone away? Surely this isn’t the first time that this guy calls. Rebeca is indignant at being the subject of her daughter’s suspicions. She affirms that she is not cheating on Nora’s father. The cheater in this house is him not her! Someone is doing this to harm and slander her (perjudicar), on the off chance that her daughter or her husband answer her cellphone. This is the handy work of either Sara Ezquerra or her spawn. They must have hired this mystery caller. Nora isn’t convinced: “Eso suena muy forzado. This sounds very contrived.” Rebeca tries another avenue: “Don’t you think that if I had someone who loved me, I wouldn’t be here putting up with the humiliations of your father?” Mmm. Yeah. I guess you have a point, Mommy Hoerest. You have as much dignity as I do.
Mario is at the fábrica/factory to discuss Amador’s terms for the dissolution of the partnership, but Alonso is distracted by his personal problems. He is eager to divorce Rebeca but he can’t do it: “Nora me tiene agarrado del cuello para que no lo haga. Nora has me by the throat to prevent me from doing it.” Mario is surprised because this issue is between the spouses. That’s in normal families. We Gaxiolas just don’t roll that way. We put the fun in dysfunction. “Things aren’t that simple. If the problem were only between Rebeca and me, well, we would fight until one of us drops dead, but because my daughters are in the middle (of this), things are very different.”
Rebeca calls Ricardo to scold him for his little stunt and to ask him to quit harassing her (acosar). He wants to meet and talk. Rebeca declines. There’s nothing to talk about. Ricardo insists: “Either you come to my place or I show up at yours!” Rebeca yields.
Lucía visits Dr. Román Andrade to fill him in on the latest shenanigans of his favorite patient. Nora is fine now, fine as in not dead, but Lucía is worried about her sister’s wellbeing, especially in light of upcoming revelations. She wants Dr. Andrade to be prepared for the storm that’s heading Nora’s way but she refuses to reveal any further details. However, she does have a bone to pick with him for prescribing (recetar) tranquilizers to an unstable nutter. Dr. Andrade assures her he prescribed no such drugs to Nora.
At Casa Treviño, Nazario is talking to the photo frame of his Trini when Marcelo shows up. Confused Curls wants to talk.
Rebeca meets Ricardo at a busy restaurant. So much for plausible deniability! Ricardo apologizes for his “clumsiness” (torpeza) the last time they met, when he sexually assaulted her, and promises he’ll wait until she decides to boink him of her own accord (por motu propio). Don’t hold your breath there, antsy pants! Get to the point of this meeting, will ya? Ricardo gets right down to it: He needs money. Rebeca mocks him for not having a penny to his name (no tener donde caerse muerto. Literally “To not have where to drop dead”) and for living on borrowed money (vivir de prestado) at his age. “Let’s just say I made some bad investments.” He gives her a piece of paper where he wrote down his bank account number and the sum he wants her to deposit. Moreover, he reminds her that he has already given her a little taste of the damage he could inflict on her life, so she’d better loosen those purse strings pronto.
Back at Casa Treviño, Nazario is feigning interest for Marcelo’s favorite topic of conversation: To tell or not to tell. That is the annoying question. This rehash scene was brought to you by Lala Milk.
At Casa Gaxiola, Tere finds a pill on the floor while tidying up Nora’s room, and she puts it in the pocket of her apron. Rebeca comes in and asks about Nora. She has gone out but Tere doesn’t know where to. Rebeca orders Tere to keep her mouth shut. She’d better not go blabbing about this to Alonso or Lucía.
Sara calls Alonso to check on Nora’s health. She tells him it is important that he be with his family these days. The doorbell rings and who it is but Suicide Sally ordering Sara to stay away from her father and to stop harassing her mother on the phone. She finishes her tirade and gets going. On her way out, she bumps into Ricardo who assumes she is one of his daughter’s friends. Nora disdainfully replies that she is no friend of anyone who lives in this house. Ricardo asks to speak with Sara. Five minutes is all he asks. He wants her to convince Lety to accept him as her father. How can she accept you after years of absence? It’s an absence you caused because you never told me I had a daughter! Lety doesn’t need you and doesn’t want anything to do with you! Why don’t you let Lety decide? The blame ping-pong then veers off to dangerous territory. Ricardo insinuates that Lety will need her father now more than ever since Sara is moving on with her life. He just hopes the guy is worth it. OK, your five minutes are up, so why don’t you kindly get the heck out of my house because MY daughter will be home soon? Your daughter or your lover? Pish aff, Ricardo!
Lucía is back at Casa Gaxiola. Everybody has already had their dinner but Tere offers to heat up a plate for her right away. Lucía declines. She only wants a glass of milk, preferably of the Lala persuasion. Tere shows her the pill she found near Nora’s bed.
Nora is also back home. Rebeca is not pleased that she went out when she is supposed to be unwell and bed-ridden. Nora says she went to see Sara Ezquerra to confront her about what she did to her mother. Rebeca thinks this was ill-advised and could prove counterproductive. Alonso won’t believe any of it and that woman will deny everything, anyway. Nevertheless, Nora feels her visit to Casa Ezquerra was not in vain. She has learnt a juicy piece of gossip: The insufferable (insufrible) Lety Ezquerra has a father. Or maybe the guy was there to see Sara and he invented he was Lety’s father for Nora’s benefit.
The next morning, Marcelo receives a hero’s welcome at the fábrica. He thanks Vinicio for helping him the night he was attacked. Lalo is adamant that the two-timing nightwatchman had something to do with Marcelo’s assault.
At Casa Gaxiola, Lucía awaits in Nora’s room. She tells her little sister that she is worried about her health, both physical and mental. Nora poo-poos that sisterly concern. Lucía changes gears and gets into crazy eyes mode. She shows her the pill Tere found and demands to know where she got it. Dr. Andrade never prescribed her any tranquilizers. No need to deny this because the pharmacy has confirmed to Lucía that the pill is a painkiller (analgésico). Nora lunges at her sister. Fight! Fight! Fight! Lucía quickly gets the upper hand and throws Nora on the bed. Lala Milk at work, folks. Gives you fighting power! Stronger bones and nails and headbutting abilities! Marcelo was right! This was all pretense to make Daddy feel bad! You and that mental case you call a mother devised this plan! Nora puts a pair of scissors to her neck and dares her sister to runteldat. Go ahead and rat me out to Daddy! I’ll prove to you that none of this is pretense! Lucía asks her to calm down. She won’t say anything to their father. A split second later, she manages to subdue Nora and take away the scissors. It’s that Lala Milk, I tell ya! Lucía says she’ll keep her mouth shut alright, because it’s Nora herself who’ll be doing the talking! Nora must go to Alonso and tell him that she regrets what she has done and that she has no objections to him divorcing her mother. Never! Especially not if Daddy gets together with that heffer! Lucía assures Nora that she’ll be the one to insist that their father move on with his life when she learns.... Learn what? Lucía holds her tongue. She just pleads with her little sister to please stop making things more difficult for Daddy. As if invoked, the rooster of this hen asylum comes in all smiles. He wants to check on his loony little chickadee. How is Nora feeling this morning? “Much better”, interjects Lucía. “In fact, she has something to tell you”. Nora hugs her father and cries.
At the fábrica, Marcelo is still on his “I Survived a Stabbing” victory lap. Normita welcomes him back to the office. He asks about Alonso. The boss is not here and Normita doubts he’ll come to work today. She is worried about his health. The man doesn’t complain but he’s not looking good and she’s afraid he might have another heart attack.
Back at Casa Gaxiola, Alonso is glad that Nora has realized she committed a mistake. She explains that she felt desperate when her dad announced he was leaving home. She felt abandoned and unloved. Alonso assures her that living somewhere else doesn’t change how he feels about her or how much he cares. He loves his youngest daughter with all his heart! Besides, one day she too will leave the house to live her life. Nora doubts it. The man she loves is going to marry her sister. Alonso maintains that some day, when she least expects it, a man will sweep her off her feet and will love her for who she is. Nora doesn’t share her father’s wild optimism. “Who would love a lunatic who has tried to kill herself twice?” “Darling, don’t say that! You’re not crazy! Forget what happened!” Besides, some men are really into loonies and you score rather well on the hot/crazy scale!
Mario has just hired Ligia’s replacement and antithesis. Alonso calls to ask that Mario file the divorce papers ASAP. Rebeca barges into Mario’s office. She swears she had nothing to do with Magdalena’s doomed wedding to Ricardo. “Remember, you an I were novios back then?” “No, we never were. I was courting you and you played with me for a while then ditched me. And I’m not throwing blame here. It’s been a long time ago.” Rebeca says she was very confused back then. Magdalena had just been jilted at the altar then Adriana died... “Then you got married to her husband!” adds Mario, eager to move the throwback Thursday chitchat along. “And I would still be happily married if it weren’t for that jerk who returned to fill my hubby’s head with venom!” Mario interrupts her: “I don’t understand what you’re doing here and why you’re telling me all these things.” Rebeca wants him to help her. She confides to him that Tricky Ricky has been blackmailing her since he got back to Puebla. She refused to give in to his threats and that’s why he’s been inventing these lies. “Why precisely you?” wonders Mario. Rebeca reckons maybe he learnt that she was having problems with Alonso and he wanted to take advantage of the situation. “Sorry, Rebeca but this sounds very ‘elaborate’ and I don’t understand what you want me to do.” Rebeca shows him the note containing Ricardo’s bank account number and the sum he demands she give him. If she doesn’t deposit the money, he’ll invent other things about her. She pleads with Mario to find a legal means of ridding her of Ricardo.
Sara drops Lety off at work and tells her that her bio dad wants a relationship with her but the girl is not interested.
At Casa Zúñiga, they’re serving coffee, fruit and awkwardness; the breakfast of champions. Amador informs his wife that Rodrigo is living with his friend Sergio. She says she already knows, barely looking at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” “Because Rodrigo doesn’t want you to know. He doesn’t want you to go looking for him.” “Don’t worry, he’ll be back home.” “He won’t return as long as you’re here! Perhaps you’re the one who ought to be leaving!” Amadiva loses his rag: “This is MY house! It’s the only thing I have left, goddammit!” He leaves the table in a huff. An innocent cup was harmed in the making of this tantrum. The housekeeper witnesses the scene and asks whether the lord and master will be having his breakfast. “What do you think?” snaps Brígida.
Lety TMZ introduces herself to the new secretary who asks to be addressed formally and refuses to reveal the identity of Mario’s current visitor. Rebeca bumps into Lety and learns that Tricky Ricky is the young woman’s father.
Lucía is with her aunt at the bridal shop. Magdalena thinks she looks ridiculous in her wedding gown. She looks good on the whole but there seems to be some weird white appendage sticking out of her corset. Lucía assures her that she looks amazing. While looking at herself in the mirror, Magdalena couldn’t help but think back to what happened to her with Ricardo. Oh, for the love of Crunchie! Give it a rest, woman! It’s been 25 years already! Lucía understands how her auntie feels. She went through the same thing a few months ago. However, thanks to their misfortune, aunt and niece have met wonderful men. Magdalena asks how Nora is taking all this. She swears she’ll do anything to stop the wedding. What about Marcelo’s ex-girlfriend? She’s having a hard time accepting that Marcelo has moved on with his life. Oh and by the way, Marcelo’s ex is Ligia’s cousin.
At the Harpies’ Nest, Daniela is indulging in a whinge fest. She is tired of being locked indoors, waiting for a miracle to happen that would bring Marcelo back to her. Milagros, the miracle worker, encourages her to keep her spirits up. Everything can be remedied, except for death. The Human Barnacle thinks this is what needs to happen to her. She needs to die so that her ordeal can end. Good bye, cruel world. If only! The viewers have been presenting offerings at the altar of every TN God for months, begging for the early demise of the Human Barnacle, to no avail. Rafaela is in the kitchen, drying the dishes and rolling her eyes. Milagros heads out to organize a religious service for Federico’s 5-month deathiversary. Rafaela tries to reason with the unreasonable brat. She advises Daniela to stop listening to Mother Terror’s ideas. She is only giving her false hopes. Marcelo is not the only man in the world. “There are many men out there who would love to be with a young woman like you. A woman who, not only is beautiful, but has many qualities as well.” Many qualities. Many! Plural! Wow! Rafaela blew up the baloney-meter on this one!
At the fábrica, Alonso shows Marcelo the agreement (convenio) that Amadiva proposed for the dissolution of their business partnership. Naturally, all the clauses (cláusulas) favor Amadiva. Alonso would like Marcelo to review the document meticulously (minuciosamente) before they can start haggling (regatear) again. Cool beans, boss! I’m on it! Alonso praises Marcelo for his integrity and honesty. He has always trusted him and he is happy that his daughter Lucía has a trustworthy man she can rely on if her dad were to pass on. Marcelo assures Alonso that this death talk is very premature. Besides, Marcelo feels he doesn’t deserve all this unconditional trust. He has committed many mistakes in the past. “What mistakes?” enquires Alonso. Normita interrupts. Marcelo has been saved by a long-distance call to Chile.
Nora reports back to her mother about what happened with Lucía this morning. Rebeca is hopping mad because her daughter has just given Alonso permission to leave her. Nora denies doing that. She didn’t explicitly give her father any such permission. “But you freed him of any sense of guilt!” This amounts to giving her blessing to her parents’ divorce! Rebeca feels she can’t rely on anyone. She will find a way to stop the divorce herself!
Back at the Harpies’ Nest, Daniela decides to heed Rafaela’s advice. So she calls Ricardo. *facepalm*
Nora ambushes Marcelo in his office. She tells him she missed him and she is glad he is recovered. Marcelo is happy she’s OK too. “I guess my sister told you that you hit the mark (acertar) with your guess about my attempted suicide?” “She didn’t but I’m not surprised. You’re a very sneaky girl (una niña mañosa)!” “And so is my sister!” She proceeds to tell him that Lucía has a new beau, Dr. Román Andrade, Nora’s psychiatrist. He is crazy about Lucía and she is not indifferent to his charms because they keep meeting up to “allegedly” talk bout Nora. Marcelo has heard enough. He walks to the door to show Nora out. Wrong move, buster! She blocks him against the wall and he’s too much of a gentleman softie to impose distance when she invades his personal space and starts rubbing up against him. She maintains that Lucía is playing him and that he’s too much of a fool to see it. Besides, the woman who truly loves you is yours truly! Nora tries to turn his face toward hers but he keeps looking away. “Don’t you dare, Nora!” orders Lucía, who has witnessed the last part of this exchange. Nora plants a wet one on Marcelo. “You’re just like your mother! You’re a hoe who doesn’t have the slightest scruple about offering herself up to whomever she have in front of her, Nora.” “Be careful with what you say!” “No, get ready! Because when I tell you what your mother did and with whom she cheated on our father, se te va a caer la cara de vergüenza, you’ll hang your head in shame, and you’ll never want to get close to Marcelo again!” Boom!
