The Debt

Oliver, aided by his Peruvian ally Ricardo, starts buying debts owed by the Peruvian government to landowners. The deals look lucrative on paper, but Ricardo doubts whether they actually help Peruvians. Oliver pushes ahead, believing the risk is worth the potential reward.

Nathan tells Oliver the company must pull out of Peru to raise cash, forcing Oliver to ask for time. He claims he can close a Caravedo deal within one week to rescue their situation. The looming deadline compounds the tension between ambition and ethics.

Ricardo formally walks away from the Caravedo deal, unsettled by potential exploitation. He returns with a safeguard: Oliver must promise to abort any deal that harms Peruvians or violates their interests. The vow is meant to keep their actions anchored to some public duty.

In the Andes, Florentino argues against selling their ancestral land to Caravedo, trying to rally neighbors to preserve their way of life. He fears modernization will strip the villagers of autonomy and livelihoods. The tension foreshadows the clash between profit and heritage.

Caravedo makes clear he will only sign a deal if Oliver can persuade Florentino to sell. The request places a moral burden on Oliver and sets up a high-stakes negotiation that could tip the balance of power in the region. The pressure intensifies the intertwining fates of all involved.

Diego loses a llama and then breaks his leg while searching for it, straining Florentino's village further. Oliver arrives at Florentino's farm and offers to help with a helicopter to airlift Diego in exchange for Florentino selling his land. The proposal binds family crisis to land sale.

Dr. Cerrón informs Maria that Gloria and Diego's surgeries cannot both be performed due to limited resources. Maria ultimately chooses Gloria, prioritizing her mother’s life over her son's. The decision intensifies the hospital's moral pressure and Maria's personal stakes.

As delays claim another life, Maria blackmails Dr. Cerrón to secure Gloria's operation. The nurse's private desperation clashes with the system's limitations, highlighting the human cost behind the capital-driven deals. The hospital becomes a battlefield for scarce care.

Investigating Caravedo's scheme, Ricardo discovers a gold nugget in a local stream that hints at an ulterior motive to mine the farmers' land. The find signals the moral and environmental stakes behind the deal. His discovery adds danger to his investigation.

Before he can share the nugget's significance, Ricardo dies accidentally. His death cuts short crucial warning signs about Caravedo's plan and leaves Oliver and Ricardo's work unfinished. The loss underscores the perilous mix of business and politics.

Oliver learns that Nathan has already signed a deal with Caravedo. Nathan claims he knew Caravedo's mining intentions but says he only learned about them recently, complicating any supervision Oliver had hoped to exercise. The deal cements Caravedo's leverage over the landowners.

Oliver identifies Ricardo’s dead body and finds the gold nugget, angrily confronting Caravedo about the mining scheme. He discovers Nathan has sealed the deal with Caravedo, drastically altering the leverage. Oliver hands Caravedo's contract to Maria to return to Florentino, signaling a turning point in the saga.