In a mansion on the outskirts of a nameless city (apparently Mexico City), the wealthy Valverde family lives under the watch of patriarch Miguel Valverde, a shrewd businessman; his wife Emilia is lively and generous, though she can be a bit deranged in her charity; and their two daughters, the elder Susi (Susana) and Lala, who bring light and tension to the household in equal measure. Emilia often takes in tramps, hoping to reform them into productive men, but they invariably vanish after taking what they can from the house, leaving behind a trail of questions and faint chaos.
Alberto Medina, a famous songwriter, is on a vacation hunting trip through the surrounding woods when his old car overheats. After it starts spewing vapor from the radiator, he steps out to fetch water, and the vehicle ends up careening downhill in reverse before tumbling off a cliff and being destroyed. He must walk to find help, and his search leads him to the Valverde residence, where he asks to make a phone call. Since his clothes are dirty and ragged, Emilia first mistakes him for a tramp, but she nevertheless invites him to stay. Once inside, Alberto earns a place in the household by a quiet display of resilience and charm, and his presence begins to ripple through the family’s routine.
Over the ensuing days, Alberto proves he is more than a mere wanderer. He helps Miguel when he returns home drunk, and his presence works a subtle transformation on Susi, drawing her interest toward him. At a crucial dinner with a bank manager who could secure Miguel’s financial ambitions, Alberto demonstrates a knack for earning trust and investment, a moment that both impresses Miguel and heightens Susi’s jealousy when the manager’s daughter Patricia [Liliana Durán] tries to date him. The tension between affection, ambition, and social scrutiny grows quietly infectious, turning the house into a stage where loyalties and desires jostle for position.
The romance heats up as Alberto and Patricia share a day that begins at a country club and moves to another undisclosed location, underscoring the entangled feelings in the Valverde home. Meanwhile, two patrolmen later locate the destroyed car and confirm Alberto was the driver, leading to the belief that he died in the accident. This revelation triggers a chain reaction of confusion and grief within the family, with fainting spells and fevered whispers echoing through the rooms as the day grows heavier with rumor.
That night, Alberto quietly returns to the Valverdes’ house, lacking a key and slipping into the back room to rest. The next day brings a new crisis: while the family searches for him, the truth about his fate remains uncertain, and a newspaper note announces that he died in a car accident, intensifying the senseless shock swirling around the household. In the midst of the chaos, Alberto finally finds Susi and, after a brief interruption by Audifás, who becomes a tramp after glimpsing the household’s surprising luck, declares their love in a moment of unguarded honesty.
As the story unfolds, the mansion’s polished surfaces begin to reveal the cracks of desire, reputation, and the unpredictable turn of luck. The previously contained world of wealth and propriety starts to tilt as love crosses social lines, and the family must confront what they truly value—the loyalty of those who stay, the sincerity of affection, and the price of a fortune that can change in an instant.
