While still childless, Julia Ortega has to deal with her husband's terminal illness. He in turn regrets, more than his own demise, not having an offspring to carry on his name. In his heart, he blames Julia for that failure, and in response she takes on the task of providing him with an heir, an endeavor that embitters the rest of her life. The story goes on to the next generation, whose members are forced to deal with the remnants of the past, and Julia, after her first husbands death, suffers the consequences of loving a man who cannot marry her.