Prelude to the Altar

It was battle royale when Silvia told Eduardo that the the new gym which she purchased to buy his love, would be in her name. She told him that she had to do that because she doesn't want him running amok with Catalina, whom, by the way, she had just 'paid off' with a huge sum of money to disappear from Mexico.

Eduardo told her that Catalina was too decent to collect bribe from Silvia, and he stormed out of the house in anger.

Emilia was not done, she got to know that Catalina's parents swindled Silvia. She also gave a cunning counsel to Silvia. She told her to put Eduardo's name as the owner of the gym but add a clause that would make Eduardo to be stripped of ownership of the gym anytime he divorce him for any other woman. Silvia was exceedingly glad.

Emilia further went to Eduardo, stirring up trouble by lying to him that Catalina confided in her that she was still in love with him. Eduardo was not surprised and did not know that Emilia was playing and preying on his feelings for Catalina. He promised himself to visit Catalina to re-address their relationship.

Patricia, warned her best friend, Silvia, to stop her heavy spendings on Eduardo so she would not go bankrupt.

As the wedding of the season approached, Catalina, Sebastian and Adela went shopping for the wedding accessories and dresses for Martina too.

Carmelo's dreams were shattered at the breakfast table next day when he impulsively asked Guadalupe how he would share his estate in his will. Lupe simply told him that it was obvious, half to Sebastian, half to Martina. Carmelo was crestfallen and crept back into his cowardly hole.

At last Romero summoned courage and rushed to propose to Martina to be his girlfriend. He was afraid that if he did not do it now, some wise and sharp city guys coming for the Sebastian and Catalina wedding in the ranch, may take advantage to woo Martina, she said YES! to this age-long expected proposition of Romero.

Catalina was shocked to learn from Alicia that her parents had gone to swindle Silvia of a huge some of money, in the hope of making her to forget about Eduardo. She confronted them, but they apologized, saying they needed that money to prepare for her wedding.

Undermined Love!

"When the enemy comes, like a flood..." The truth is that the enemy rarely come in that fashion. Most times, this telenovela enemy creeps in, like a friend! Actress María Rebeca Zepeda alias "Emilia", (the wild girl - photo left), changed gear and pretended to be friendly with Catalina and Sebastian. She went abeging, pleading for forgiveness over her past tantrums, and she was forgiven.

The purpose of Emilia's new tactics is to undermine the pillars of romance and devastate the armory of growing love between Catalina and Sebastine. By maintaining a close rapport with her enemy, Emilia gained and took advantage of the loopholes in the defense bulwark of Catalina's romantic wall.

By being friendly with Sebastine, she made him to lower his guard and thoughtlessly told her about the friends of Catalina- Luis, the gym manager, Eduardo and Alicia. That was enough admission ticket for Emilia to the gym, where she quickly and cunningly became friends with Silvia and Eduardo. From thereon, she also gained vital romantic espionage, that revealed Eduardo as a former boyfriend of Catalina who jilted her for Silvia and whom she still loved dearly.

Armed with this information, she headed for Sebastian's apartment, where she consciously and cunningly threw a casual romantic bomb at both Catalina and Sebastien saying. "I just enroll in the gym where I met Eduardo, your former boyfriend, who is still madly in love with you..." That was what shattered the romantic night for Catalina and Sebastian. He flew into a rage and confronted Catalina, demanding to know if Eduardo was truly her former boyfriend.

Catalina almost wished the ground to open up and hide her from the shame and embarrassment which that unexpected question caused. She stammered and slowly recovered from the shock by apologizing, and explaining that she would have told him but, because it was an old flame, and she has no feelings again for him, that was why she considered it unimportant.

Lupe was able to secure the cooperation of Reverend Father Geronimo to preside over the wedding of Sebastian and Catalina on Friday, a few days time. he communicated the good news to Sebastian and an apprehensive Catalina.

Silvia wanted her pound of flesh, she turned down Gustavo and requested that Catalina must come by herself to pick the 'settlement' cash for abandoning Eduardo for her. The deal flopped but Adela refused to give up, she re-armed and this time went with cunning and fury to convict and subtly threatened Silvia who surrendered a check of fifteen thousand dollars (Mugu money), for Catalina to 'disappear' permanently from Eduardo's life.

Mild and touching drama ensued when Lupe instructed Carmelo to henceforth call him "Papa", at least for the one day trial of Catalina's love for Sebastian. Carmelo, ever hungry for a father that never was, emotionally moved to tears when, for the first time, he called Lupe "Papa" and Martina "sister" ('Trouble dey sleep, Yanga go wake am').

Carmelo ran ecstatically to the Cantina and bought beer for all there, declaring that from now on, Lupe has commanded everybody to call him his son. The next day, he packed out of his hovel into the big mansion in the ranch, as the new and acting 'son' of Lupe.