Upon the death of her mother in her teens in Barcelona, Angélica, joined her professional Spanish father in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argéntina. He was too busy to give a budding teen proper attention and she and Elena, her new-found promiscuous friend enjoyed having sex with wealthy young men, until Angélica became smitten with Fernando, an architect and the son of a respected Harvard-trained advocate. They settle into an affectionate marriage and she gives birth to a son. Isabel Perón loses control to a Communist group in the most northern Tucumán and Salta provinces and the Army, under Antonio Bussi takes control of both provinces and the military confines Isabel to house arrest in Bariloche. Eradication of Communist sympathizers in San Miguel turns into a mean, sinister witch hunt in which people are tortured to death. Fernando is made to disappear and on the advice of her father Angélica flees to Montevideo in Uruguay. On the ferry she is noticed by American businessman Kevin Bartolomeo, who councils her to adopt the new persona of Alicia de la Rosa and provides her with the means to change her appearance and takes her to dinner in a conspicuous way on the top floor of the Sheraton Hotel where he introduces her to the Spanish Ambassador. Amongst them Carlos Vargas impressed Alicia. He came from Segovia to start a medical practice in Córdoba where he married his nurse who was abducted while she was pregnant and made to disappear. She soon finds herself persistently being followed by Argentinian agents and was given a small pistol by the Uruguayan police chief to defend herself. An Argentinian agent attempts to assassinate Kevin and Alicia shoots him. They pack up and leave for Santiago de Chile where Kevin had many clients and Alicia could continue her psychotherapy studies. But first they had to make sure that they would be safe in Chile and Kevin takes them south to Punta Arenas at the entrance to the Straits of Magellan. Along the way Kevin reasons that Puerto Montt in Chile, across from Bariloche in Argentina where Isabel Peron was being held would require a large military presence. Hence, he arranges with the flight attendant to have them unload their baggage at Puerto Montt on the notion that they would be pursued there because of the military force guarding Isabel. The Argentinian agent on the flight following them, belatedly realized that he was about to lose them and runs to the public phone booth in front of the small terminal. Kevin comes from behind, holds him up with his Beretta pistol and uses the man's revolver to fire off three shots to summon the airport guards to arrest the man. Kevin knew of a ranch in the mountains toward Puerto Varas owned by a cattle farmer where they can safely stay and have back-door access to Bariloche. His notion proves to be accurate and by waiting at the top of the first crude mountain pass south of the international border crossing, he encounters two armed Argentinian mounted soldiers who attack him and he shoots both men. His message to the Argentinian military was clear and they establish residence for Alicia in Santiago to complete her Bachelor's degree at the Catholic University and to give birth to her daughter, Maria. Kevin gets promoted and they move to Los Angles where Alicia completes her Master's degree and sets up a partnership to practice psychotherapy in San Miguel. Kevin acquires an Estancia near Santiago as a home for the whole family. In the wake of Argentina's defeat by the British in the Falkland Islands in 1983, the Junta collapses and governance is returned to elected government, which orders key military officers to court martial. Alicia, Elena and Dr. Diaz narrow their campaign to two cases with solid proof involving officers with clear culpability. Alicia finally devotes her total affection to Kevin and they move most of the family back to California.