Little orphan Maria Helena feels scared and insecure about being transferred to another orphanage. The only friend, Sueli, discovers the whereabouts of her father, Nelson, who was unaware of his daughter's existence. He is a playboy who lives on income, loves the sea, brother of the famous plastic surgeon Miguel Fragonard, with whom he has a troubled relationship. At first, Nelson rejects Maria Helena, but the girl ends up winning him over at the moment when his life goes through a major upheaval: deceived by a false friend, he loses all his fortune. It is at this point that Nelson becomes involved with Lígia, a woman of fiber, rational, ambitious and upstart. Separated and with two young children, she struggles to maintain her upper-middle class status.