Caray, Caray!

Ricardo insists that they need to get back to Hermosillo ASAP and refuses to discuss it.  He threatens Inés with calling the cops and says if anything happens to his godmother, it's on her.

Crap.  Paloma wakes up in the middle of the night and sees the envelope Inés pushed under her door.  In the letter, Inés says she doesn't deserve the place Paloma has given her in the family and she's leaving with her daughter. She says she can't keep pretending to be someone she's not.

Ricardo thinks they're racing against the clock to get to that letter before Paloma sees it in the morning.

Paloma knocks the phone off the hook, but manages to push the call button for the maid, who comes in and sees her on the floor, but doesn't seem to have a clue what to do about it…so she goes to get Matilde.  That seems like a bad idea.  Matilde gets a move on, once she's awake enough.

Inés makes faces at Ricardo and Padre Plaid from the back seat of the car.

Matilde also has no clue what to do, but Ruben gets the phone and Matilde tells him to call for an ambulance.  Aw, crap.  Matilde sees the letter and sends the maid off to have Jorge open the gate.  She stashes the letter before Ruben comes back.

Everyone in the house is up .  I hate that Lucina and Raquel just called her "Oriana" out in the open, even if no one was there but Jorge, who was probably preoccupied.  Raquel is stupidly and predictably grumpy because Inés was with Ricardo.  Lucina and Raquel feill them in--nobody knows what's wrong with Paloma, but she collapsed.  The maid comes out and Inés asks her to get Lina out of the car.  Lucina gripes at Raquel for…being Raquel.

In Paloma's room, Padre Plaid sees the empty envelope and picks that up.

Matilde insists on riding to the hospital in the ambulance as Padre Plaid tells Inés he doesn't know if she saw the letter or not and tells her to stay at the house.

Lucina seems to be getting tired of Raquel's crappy attitude.  Wishing a nice old lady dead!  Raquel crows that she didn't sign anything saying the check Paloma wrote for them was a loan, so maybe if she dies they won't have to pay it back.  Inés comes into the room to let them know that Lina was upset, but she went to sleep.  Lucina tries to comfort Inés, but Raquel bitches that this is all her fault and maybe she should have thought about what would happen if she spilled the frijoles.  Inés tells them that she didn't tell Paloma the truth in the letter, just told her that she didn't think she deserved Paloma's affection.

Padre Plaid tells Ricardo all he found was the envelope, but no letter.  Their eyes are drawn to a pacing Matilde.  Just then, the doctor shows up to tell them Paloma  is in Intensive Care.  She had a small embolism, which often leads to having a much larger one, so they're keeping her under observation for 48 hours.  Matilde pretends to be concerned.   Ok, that's not fair, is it?  She's probably concerned…because the longer her aunt lives, the more time she has to try to wheedle more money out of her.

Inés is suffering from the guilt of having all this affection and wealth lavished on her when she's not really Inés.  Lucina tries to console her by saying she didn't know it was going to happen.  I paused the DVR just as Raquel was opening her mouth, so I'm bracing for something horrible as I hit play.  "I don't know why you keep going after Ricardo and taking advantage of the fact that he thinks you're Ines."  Whew!  Good thing she just said something stupid and not horrid.  Lucina tells her to shut it!  Inés cries that she doesn't want to continue and Raquel tells her she needs to quit worrying about the people she thinks she's screwing over and think about Raquel instead.  Inés is tired of listening to them both and says she's going to take a shower and then find out how Paloma is doing.  Wreched Raquel waits for her to leave, then says to Lucina, "You know what would be better?  If the old lady died."  Lucina refuses to dignify that with a response.

Ricardo isn't so sure that Inés didn't say anything "important" in that letter.  Padre Plaid has to get to work.  Ricardo goes to check on his godmother.

Back in their own room, Lucina tells Raquel she's had it with her attitude.  Raquel bitches that now she's going to lose Lucina too, and it's Oriana's fault!  "No, it's your fault!  I'm tired of your attitude and you making everything more difficult!"  Lucina tells Raquel that they can't afford to be on bad terms with Inés.  "What difference does it make?  She's not going to give us any money anyway."    Lucina reminds her that if Inés goes down, she can take them both with her.  She suggests that they get to work finding the letter.  "Meh.  I'm not in the mood," says Raquel.  Lucina appears completely baffled by her attitude.  Yeah, I guess Raquel is one of these people who's really fun to hang out with, but only if she's getting her way.

I can't figure Ruben out.  He's married to Matilde, which…why?  He doesn't exactly oppose her money-grubbing ways, he just has a cooler head about it.  I think he's mostly indifferent, just smart enough to make an effort at seeming like a nice guy.  He seems like he's genuinely trying to comfort his kids when he tells them Paloma's in intensive care, seems to be doing well, and time will tell.  The kids wonder what happened with Ines, why she wasn't in the house and then she showed up with Ricardo.  Cesar wonders if Inés fought with Paloma, and as Inés walks through the room to leave the house, Cesar asks her if she fought with Paloma last night.  Inés just answers, "no" and keeps walking.

Lucina pumps the younger maid for info and finds out who moved in and out of Paloma's room around the time they found her and that the older maid didn't notice or mention seeing a letter or an envelope.

At the hospital, Inés approaches Ricardo and asks how Paloma is doing.  "Stable."  He's as pissed at her as Raquel is for not thinking about how Paloma would act…only he's pissed for Paloma's sake.

Lucina and Raquel decide Matilde must have the letter.  Raquel doesn't believe that Inés didn't say anything incriminating, or else, why would Paloma have collapsed.  Lucina thinks finding out her granddaughter, who she'd spent so much time and energy looking for, had run off would be enough to upset her.  Lucina does think it's odd that Inés can't just suck it up and enjoy living in the lap of luxury, even if she doesn't berate her for it like Raquel does.  She figures Inés' "I'm not worthy!" attitude is so strange that whoever has that letter is probably wondering what's behind it and will start digging.

Inés recounts to Ricardo what happened the day Gabriel died.  He asks about the gun, but she doesn't know enough about guns to tell him more than "It was just a normal handgun."  She explains that Raquel talked her out of turning herself in repeatedly, insisting Lina would end up in an orphanage.  She tells him the passport was delivered and they told her it belonged to some strange woman who had died of an overdose and washed up on the beach.  Ricardo is concerned about where the real Inés' body is, but fake Inés doesn't know.  She reminds Ricardo about everything he's done to protect his own child and make sure he grew up with two loving parents (yeah, for all the good that did!) and swears she'd rather die than see Lina suffer.  Ricardo takes her hand and asks her not to think about that.

Matilde tells Ruben what was in the letter, emphasizing that Inés talked about "not deserving" and "lying," but he doesn't see what could have been that big a deal.  He figures Paloma already knew everything anyway, but Matilde insists there must be something Paloma didn't know about and they need to dig further.  Matilde proposes that since Paloma changed her will, maybe Inés ran off so she could provoke Paloma's death and collect on the inheritance.  Matilde should have been a writer.  Put that overactive imagination to some good use.  Make a little of her own money instead of mooching off her aunt.

Inés tells Ricardo that she didn't mention anything about her identity, just that she didn't feel worth and that was it.  She admits she did think about the pain she would cause Paloma, but her pain was weighing heavier on her.  She couldn't stand the idea of inheriting everything instead of Matilde and her family.  Ricardo thinks she deserves it for bringing Paloma peace.   He asks if she loves Paloma.  "How could I not!"  Ricardo suggests that she keep faking and once Paloma is gone she can decide what to do.

Ruben thinks it's obvious that Inés loves Paloma.  Now Matilde brings up that she showed up in the morning with Ricardo.  "Maybe they planned this together!"  She points out that with Inés inheriting, if they got the old lady to kick the bucket and then got married, Ricardo would have the whole company.  Ruben reminds her that Paloma wouldn't oppose a marriage between them, so they don't need her to die and Ricardo would end up with everything anyway.  "Besides, Mariano was with them."  Matilde will not let go of the idea that there's some conspiracy.  She's convinced Lucina and Raquel are in on it too and wants Ruben to get friendly with them and find out.  She reminds him that before that darn Inés showed up, they were going to inherit everything and now they'll have to be content with just "a few lousy shares!"  The doctor comes out and Matilde puts on her concerned niece act.  She turns on the waterworks when the doctor says that Paloma wants to see Inés.  They don't know where she is, though she should have been there already.  Matilde begs to see Paloma.

Ricardo tells Inés he understands she was tossed into a weird situation and he now thinks she didn't kill his father.  He doesn't doubt her intentions toward his godmother, or she wouldn't have tried to run off when she found out she was going to inherit.  He tells her she won't be alone from now on.  Ruben comes in, surprised to find them there. He tells Inés he was worried about her because he didn't see her in the waiting room even though she left before him and he even called the house to make sure she hadn't gone back.  He tells her that Paloma is doing better and asked to see her.  Then he excuses himself to get some coffee.  What's up with that?  I mean, is Ruben a genuinely nice guy or is he just too lazy to stand around pumping them for information?   Inés worries about the letter, but Ricardo reminds her that to Paloma she's still Inés.

Inés is escorted into Paloma's room.  She's glad to see Inés and Inés says it was all her fault.  "No, it was my fault for not being honest with you.  I always knew what you were.  You weren't lying to me the way you said in the letter.  I should have told you sooner that I don't care about your past.  I understand you didn't have a choice.  You'll always have my love because I know life forced you into it."  Paloma makes her swear she won't leave again and Inés swears she won't.  As far as Paloma is concerned all of this is her fault for not looking for her daughter in the first place, so Inés is the one who is "owed" and she needs to allow Paloma to pay her back.

At the breakfast table, Lucina and Raquel are still referring to Inés as "Oriana."  Bad habit, girls.  If you're going to tell such a big lie, you have to commit!  Lucina's bitching about Raquel never getting her cell phone number and when Nadia brings in the coffee, Lucina asks if by any chance she has "Oriana's" number.  Nadia has no clue who that is and Lucina covers quite well, saying "Oh, did I say Oriana?  Where's my head?!  It's that we were just talking about someone else and I must have said her name instead.  I mean Inés."  Nadia goes to see if the number might be in Paloma's address book.  Raquel shoots a furious look at Lucina as Nadia finds the number and brings the address book to Lucina.  As Nadia leaves, Raquel starts berating Lucina for the screw up, even after Lucina tells her she'll be more careful from now on.

Ricardo and Ruben both ask Inés how Paloma is doing and she says Paloma is getting moved to a regular room soon.  Ruben goes off to report to Matilde while Inés tells Ricardo that Paloma thinks she ran away because she was ashamed of having been a ho and that she promised never to leave Paloma's side again.  Matilde smarms up and announces she's glad her aunt is getting better, she's going home, and she's leaving Ruben there.  "So, dear, why'd you run off?"  Inés pulls rank, saying she's already had that conversation with her grandmother and she's back now, so….  Matilde starts to question her again, but Ruben drags her away.  Nice guy or damage control?  Ricardo lets her know that her godmother, Mariana, and the PI are the only ones who know about the ho-ing.  She wants to know why he no longer suspects her of murdering Gabriel, but he doesn't want to answer.  She insists on knowing why he trusts her.  "I don't know.  Maybe this will sound a little melodramatic, but I think you've been a victim of fate."

Ricardo gives his aunt an update on Paloma's condition and she's glad to hear that she's getting better.  Ricardo encourages her to visit, but the aunt doesn't want to run into Matilde.  Well, she said "The Harpy," but who else could she mean?  The ex-girlfriend asks about her job, but Ricardo says they'll talk later.  Matilde confirms for the ex that she is talking about Matilde.  See, back in the day, Ruben was engaged to HER, but Matilde with her…feminine wiles?...dark arts?...roofies?...stole him away by getting herself knocked up so he'd have to marry her.

Ruben now gets to interrogate Inés, but he has this way of coming off concerned about where she was and says she can trust him.  Nice guy or smarter than his harpy?  Inés' phone rings and she answers it and tells Lucina that everything is fine.

Beto goes to the house to see Inés, but runs into Raquel instead.  She's annoyed that Paloma is recovering without consequences and everyone in the house is acting like they're in mourning.  She suggests they go out for a drink and Beto agrees.  Raquel is working her way to a first-class ticket to Comeuppanceville.

Down in Padre Plaid's Basement of Pain, the Padre and Ricardo work out.  Ricardo works out shirtless.  As he does pushups with his feet on a chair and the Padre does sit-ups, Ricardo fills the Padre in on the sitch.  Paloma thinks Inés ran away because she was ashamed of her past, Inés didn't mention her husband, and they didn't talk about the gun.  And now…Ricardo wants to get engaged to her, but he hasn't told her yet.  He's sure she'll say, "yes" because she loves him as much as he loves her.  "And what about Sebastian?"  Yeah, Sebastian…Ricardo hasn't heard from him.

At the bar, for some reason, Beto gets behind the bar and serves Raquel her drink.  Raquel is already running her mouth about how she wishes the old lady had died, how Inés is being a snobby rich bitch and refusing to give her money, and how Paloma is the one who loaned them the cash to buy the hotel.  She lets slip that Inés was "afraid" when she first got there and Beto asks why.  Raquel catches a clue and turns the questioning in his direction, asking him about managing his sister's shares and Beto brags that he has enough money to take care of a pretty little thing like her.  As they giggle, Sebastian comes up, grinning, and asks what the joke is.

In her new room, Paloma jokes with Padre Plaid about giving her Last Rites, but he says she's strong as an oak.  Paloma says she'll stay that way as long as her granddaughter and great-granddaughter are with her.  She draws their attention to the roses sent by Fidelia and Matilde flips her wig.  Que "You shouldn't have accepted them," y que "Everybody knows…."  Paloma tells her to shut it.  It was a long time ago.  Inés' cell phone rings.  As she goes to answer it, Paloma tells Padre Plaid that she doesn't have a date of release, but it'll be soon.  Inés brings the phone over so Lina can talk to Paloma.  Matilde sneers and rolls her eyes at Paloma's happiness…special place in hell, Matilde…she moves on to sighing heavily as Paloma and Lina talk about how Lina wants her to come home because she misses her and Tito has promised to only chew on Lina's blanket and not Paloma's.

Ruben tells Lucina that he used to be a businessman, but then the economy tanked and Paloma took them in.  "Haven't you thought of going back into business?"  "Don't take this the wrong way, but not really.  I have everything I need here and besides, my wife says I'm a loser."  Nice guy with an ego crushed by his evil wife or just lazy?  Lucina tells him he should be more concerned with what he feels and should prove to his wife that she's wrong.  Ruben laughs that it doesn't matter what he does, she's always right.  Lucina keeps giving him the pep talk and Ruben just cracks up at how she's talking like she's on his side when she's just met him.  "Well, I hate those women who put their husbands down!  Sure, there are women whose husbands make them suffer, but there are also men who are victims of their partners…their 'domadoras' as I call them!"  (domadora=tamer, as in lion-tamer)  Ruben agrees that's Matilde all right and they both crack up miming the cracking of a whip.  Ruben tells her she feels comfortable with her.  They agree to be friends.  Oh, that's so not going to last!

Sebastian takes Raquel back to his new place, smarming about how it's not yet as grand as he deserves and one day he'll be president of the factory.  He gets that in order to make money off the factory he'd actually have to run it well, right?

Inés tells Matilde she can go home, and she looks tired.  Matilde wants to talk first, outside.  She really wants to know what happened--why she left, why she came back.  Matilde tells her she found the letter and Inés asks to have it back.  Matilde brings up all the stuff Inés said in the letter about not being worthy, not being the person Paloma thinks she is, etc. and claims she just held on to it so there wouldn't be any misunderstandings if anyone else found it.  She insists on knowing what Inés was talking about, but Inés stays firm and says that's personal.  "And don't you know she could have died from a heart attack, reading that?"  Inés says she's sorry, but Matilde keeps pressing her, saying she's Inés' mother's cousin, everything was quiet before Inés showed up, and isn't it suspicious that once Paloma changed her will in Inés' favor, Inés runs off and provokes a crisis?  "And what for?  To keep with her money?  What else could we think.  As soon as my aunt regains her health, I'm going to tell her!"

Tomorrow: vengeance is unleashed; Raquel does the nasty with Sebastian; Ricardo professes his love; nookie abounds.

Labels: mentir