...because of the ending. However, this novela deserves a 10 for other reasons.
Adele Noriega does the best she can with a character whose life has never been within her own control. She marries a dying man to insure an inheritance for her little brother, then upon his death learns that she must live in his hometown for ten years for the boy to collect his inheritance. She becomes the love interest of two incredibly handsome men with a lot of baggage of their own: Her late husband's "nephew" (actually, also his illegitimate son) who has the mother from hell and a local doctor with an invalid wife and a secret identity.
She has never experienced passion and fears it. Becoming friends with the doctor's wife complicates her feelings and compounds her sense of guilt, especially when the invalid wife indicates she would like her to marry her widower when the time comes. Her fickle behavior within this situation might be understandable, but we all want her to get on with it and make a decision. Sergio Sendel and Jorge Salinas as the two gentlemen provide a tough choice for her because they are both good men... although most of us want her to to choose the intensely passionate doctor whose package deal doesn't include a toxic mother. However since this is a Caridad Bravo Adams story, we also are painfully reminded about how she resolves the love triangles.
Natalie Esperon portrays the invalid Blanca with no trace of the pathetic. She is a woman who is about to face death bravely, hoping to provide a positive future for her husband and daughter (although she doesn't look remotely old enough to be the mother of a teenage girl). Her dream sequence, in which she virtually gives Jose to Virginia, is sweet and tear-jerking.
Lilia Aragon as Aurelia is as melodramatic a villain as ever appeared in a novela. She is obviously the font of all the evil in the story, and with no logical reason. She is clearly mental. The love scenes between her and her accomplice Cristobal are hard to watch, especially when you realize that she would dispose of him as easily as anyone else. Roberto Ballesteros as Cristobal is as repulsive as ever. Other excellent supporting performances are provided by Otto Sirgo and Cesar Evora.
The sets are excellent, as always. The almost-rural setting shows few automobiles or other such vehicles, and those mostly vintage. Until a much later scene when a female character needs to use a home pregnancy test, it is almost impossible to identify the period of the story. This doesn't matter overly much, because the themes of jealousy, greed, and revenge are universal.
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