28 years ago, the young businessman Rubens Baronese married Maria Célia, a talented painter, and went to live on the coast of São Paulo with his aunt, Cora. On the eve of the birth of their first child, Eunice, Maria Célia's cousin, enters the couple's life. Her presence bothers Cora, who realizes that Eunice is malicious and tries to alert her nephew. Eunice takes Maria Célia to an island, where her baby is born by the hand of the servant Isabel. After giving birth, mysteriously, Maria Célia and the child die. Only Isabel and Fabrício Vilela, an employee, know what happened.