Ana Escudero is a young Mexican girl full of hopes and dreams. She lives in Miami with her mother Julia and her brother Fabian. Ana is naturally talented and her fondest wish is to become an actress, but she lacks the financial resources to take acting lessons. She has a job taking care of Doña Graciela Salgado, a rich widow whose constant source of pain is a pair of troublesome grad daughters. Doña Graciela is very fond of Ana, and she manages to obtain for her an opportunity to audition at a prestigious school of the performing arts. That day, Ana meets Gustavo Galvan, a handsome, enthusiastic young man who shares her dream of shining in the limelights.

Her brother Fabian, a healthy, athletic young man, suffers a terrible accident. He is run over by Ignacio, the older son of millionaire Humberto Bustamante. Ignacio is haughty and irresponsible, and refuses to stop the car to help Fabian, ignoring the pleas of his brother Vicente. Humberto uses his connections and bribes authorities to prevent his son’s arrest, and absolutely refuses to help Fabian, who is rendered quadriplegic. Finally, in despair, Julia and Anna take their story to the TV news. Ignacio is maddened by his fear of going to jail and his drug addiction, and decides to end the threat by setting fire to Ana’s home, thinking that she is there with her mother. However, the girl who dies with Julia in the fire is Marcia, Fabian’s girlfriend. Doña Graciela fears for Ana’s life and decides to help her disappear. Ana flees to New York, and Doña Graciela has Marcia buried as Ana Escudero. From now on, Ana is dead to the world.

In the meantime, Gustavo still thinks of the girl he met at the auditions. Gustavo comes from a rich family, and his decision to be an actor is opposed by his father, who kicks him out and, every time Gustavo auditions for a part, his father deviously uses his influence to have him rejected. Finally, Gustavo finds work as a gardener, and on the job he meets Irene, Doña Graciela’s granddaughter, who is attracted to him in spite of having a lover, a drug dealer who has paid for her home and her business. She finds Gustavo even more attractive when she discovers that he is the son of a millionaire, and hastens to contact his father and make a deal with him, offering to influence Gustavo and make him abandon his acting career.

Years go by, Fabian’s condition worsens and he finally dies. Ana decides to return, and has just arrived in Miami when she runs into Gustavo, who has already graduated but still hasn’t been able to get a part (because of Irene and his father’s interference). Gustavo realizes that he hasn’t forgotten Ana and decides to end his affair with Irene, who will resort to any means to get him back. It does not take long for the young couple to fall deeply in love, and Ana finds a haven of peace in the arms of the man whose memory was her only comfort in her exile.

But Ana has vowed to avenge her mother and brother, so, behind Gustavo’s back, and aided by Doña Graciela, she takes on a new personality that is very different from her true self: Marcia Lazcano, a sophisticated, cold and calculating woman who slips into the life of the Bustamantes, makes father and sons fall in love with her, and sows discord among the three, determined to destroy them.

But Ana is not aware of the danger in her path, of Irene’s intrigue, and of the fact that her revenge may cost her the loss of Gustavo’s love, because “Gustavo Galvan” is actually the stage name of Rafael Bustamante, Humberto’s third son.