However, clandestinely, she's the girlfriend of Bernardo Machado de Castro, the son of the homestead's owner.
Because they know Bernardo's father won't support such love, they plan on escaping, but they get caught and Mel and her sister Clara are banned from the homestead, while Bernardo is forced to go with the father alongside Rafael Vargas Mota, the son of millionaire Caetano Vargas Mota, and the homekeeper/Mel and Clara's father in a flower-exportation business trip to Amsterdam, but the flight is fatal because the plane crashes a few miles before reaching its destination.
The crash kills the homestead owner and keeper and Rafael as well, except Bernardo who is missing.
Who loses more beloved for the tragedy is Patrícia, Rafael's wife, and Bernardo's sister, who is in charge of guaranteeing that Mel and Clara really are away from the homestead, though she gives them money.
While that happens, Mel and Clara are accepted in the home of their extremely greedy uncle Horácio, who is believed to have a huge fortune, but is in misery, which only his troubled and clumsy accountant Cláudio knows about.