Rafaela

Synopsis

Rafaela is a young woman who comes from an underprivileged family and managed with great effort to get a Medical Degree. Just after graduating, she becomes a resident at Dr. Rafael Antúnez´s hospital. Coincidentally, Dr. Antúnez happens to be Rafaela´s father, who once was an irresponsible man and abandoned her mother Caridad while she was pregnant with Rafaela. Rafael tries to win her love despite the reluctance of his wife, Morelia, who rejects her categorically. Even though he tries hard to earn her respect, Rafaela treats Dr. Antúnez with hostility. Morelia cannot bear the big scandal it is to have her husband´s bastard daughter near them and would do anything to get rid of her.

On the other hand, Rafaela being an intelligent and skillful professional feels a strong rejection for the sexist and judgmental attitude of Jose María, a brilliant but old fashioned Doctor who believes medicine is a men´s profession exclusively. However, the constant professional and personal friction between them eventually shall turn into an attraction, which Rafaela would feel troubled to accept because, while Jose María is a very charming man, he is also a Casanova and Ileana´s lover, who is a married woman.

José María´s irresistible attraction for Rafaela leads him to break up with Ileana. He invites Rafaela to spend some days together at the beach, and even when she had always rejected the possibility to consent the flirtations of such a man like him, for the first time in her life, Rafaela allows herself to let her heart rule over her head. As soon as she does that, she already regrets her decision. She had always promised herself not to sleep with any man until marriage because she never wanted to take the risk of getting pregnant and becoming a single mother like her own mother, Caridad, did. She wanted to prevent her child from experiencing the pain of being rejected by his father just as she did.

But, she cannot keep denying her love for Jose María anymore and decides to accept his offer to go on a trip with him. The week they spent together is unforgettable for Rafaela because Jose María makes her a promise: when they go back to the city, they will live together and get married soon. However, Rafaela ignores that she is about to receive an unpleasant surprise and the biggest disappointment of her life.

After a little while of happiness next to Jose María, Rafaela discovers she has been cheated when Jose María´s wife, Mireya, appears.  At first, she feels the impulse of fighting for him, but she soon realizes it would be hopeless because Mireya has full control over him so, she decides to disperse from him forever.

Apparently, her mother´s history is about to be repeated because Rafaela is now pregnant with Jose María´s child. But, opposite to her mother´s case, she is not quite alone, next to her is her good friend Victor, a decent man who is in love with her and offers to marry her and protect her and her baby by giving both his support.

All of a sudden, Rafaela is in the middle of a difficult dilemma. She must decide whether to accept the offer of a generous man who is willing to give to her child a home and a name, a man for whom she will always have gratitude but who she does not love; or to fight to recover the love of her baby´s father, the man who is, and perhaps will always be, the love of her life.

Format

Telenovela

120 x 60'

Classic

Credits

Original Story by: Delia Fiallo - Adapted by: Katia R. Estrada and Enna Marquez - Literary Editor: Karina León - Producer: Nathalie Lartilleux - Year: 2011

Photo Gallery - Click to enlarge

Characters

Rafaela Martínez - More

José María Baez - More

Rosalba Martínez - More

Chucho Martínez - More

Belén Martínez - More

Caridad Martínez - More

Rafael Antúnez - More

Morelia De Antúnez - More

Mireya Báez - More

Braulio - More

Iliana Contreras - More

Victor Acuña - More