In the moralistic society of Havana, the capital of Cuba, in the early 20th century, young Maria Helena becomes pregnant by her fiancé Alfredo and, faced with the young man's refusal to take responsibility for the child, becomes a single mother. The child will be the target of the hatred of his grandfather, the powerful Don Rafael. After the birth, fearing the old man's reprisals, the black servant Dolores runs away with the baby, whom she names Alberto. After this, distraught, Maria Helena retreats to a convent and goes by the name Sister Helena of Charity. Always on the run, Dolores raises the boy, and he, now grown, graduates in medicine. Fate brings Alberto to a family he doesn't know, much to the despair of Mama Dolores. Albertinho unknowingly falls in love with his cousin Isabel Cristina and ends up saving the life of the grandfather who had cursed him in the past.