Jesusita en Chihuahua

Valentin uses the tripled tax bill as political leverage to force Teresa's marriage. When Felipe goes to pay the municipal taxes and discovers the amount has tripled, Valentin offers to waive the debt if Teresa agrees to marry him. He frames it as a public service, funding electricity, water, schools, and parks, but his real motivation is using his political power to obtain the woman he wants, regardless of her existing engagement to Felipe.

Jesusita decides to dress elegantly after overhearing Felipe say she should have been born a man and that she will never fall in love. This hurts her deeply because she does love like a woman but has been pressured to conform to masculine expectations. Her transformation at the party is both an act of self-expression and a desperate attempt to be seen as feminine enough to win Felipe's affection.

Earlier, Teresa gave Jesusita a gown and told her she should dress more feminine to attract a man, and Jesusita left the room in tears.

Jesusita loads blanks into Felipe's gun, knowing Valentin plans to rescue Teresa from the remote cabin. When Felipe arrives and sees Valentin, he shoots him, but the blanks only cause Valentin topretend dying. This ruse serves Valentin's plan to test Teresa's feelings for him and ultimately reveals Jesusita's love for Felipe, as Valentin exposes the truth after revealing his survival.

Jesusita brings the wounded Valentin to Doña Tula Tulancingo's home because it is the nearest safe location after the election shootout leaves him injured in the left arm. However, Valentin is unhappy to wake up there because he knows Teresa is engaged to his rival Felipe, making his rescue complicated by the romantic tension already present in that household.

Jesusita becomes violently jealous when another woman shows interest in Felipe and sits with them at the town canteen. Her punch knocks the rival woman out, revealing the depth of her feelings for Felipe despite her masculine exterior. Felipe calls her a 'butch' in anger, then apologizes and asks her not to use that word again, showing the complicated dynamic between them.

After Felipe tells Jesusita he plans to marry Teresa, leaving Jesusita heartbroken, Valentin sees an opportunity. He proposes a deal: he and Jesusita will work together so that Jesusita can marry Felipe while Valentin pursues Teresa. This collaborative scheme represents Valentin's willingness to use any means necessary to get what he wants, even partnering with someone he previously mocked.

When Jesusita asks Valentin to play a song for her during his serenade to Teresa, he refuses cruelly, telling her she has the heart of a man. This remark humiliates her in front of the other men, who laugh at her. The moment highlights how Valentin dismisses Jesusita's feminine feelings despite her obvious pain, while Teresa consoles her and affirms that Jesusita loves like a woman.

Teresa asks Valentin to leave the party after he crashes it and proposes to her, even though he has serenaded her from outside her window multiple times. This rejection is significant because despite Valentin's persistent courtship, Teresa remains loyal to Felipe. Her refusal signals that his political power and romantic gestures cannot force her to abandon her existing engagement.

Felipe tells Teresa and Doña Tula that Jesusita should have been born a man because of her behavior and strength of character. However, he also admits he envies her determination and adds that he doubts Jesusita will ever fall in love, not realizing she overhears every word. This conversation reveals the central irony: Felipe admires her masculine traits while dismissing her capacity for romantic love, not recognizing her feelings for him.

Valentin discovers that Macario has been secretly sending flowers to Teresa in Valentin's name for several days without his knowledge. This deception creates confusion for Teresa and her mother, who visit Felipe's hacienda to discuss the situation and confront the implications for Teresa's engagement. The misunderstanding highlights the miscommunication driving the romantic tensions.