A man in Cuba has an affair and the woman dies while giving birth to a girl. The man kidnaps the girl, takes her to the U. S. and for most of her youth abuses her. At 29, Esmeralda meets Juan, a Yale-educated painter, they fall in love, have an affair and the father goes wild with jealousy, until he realizes they are both his children, the woman having first given birth to a twin boy who was adopted by grandparents.