Original subtitles

[Erica] Ma'am, you'll need to sign this.

Okay. That's perfect. Thanks, Erica.

-It's pretty urgent. -Yes, that's fine.

Thanks. If you could give us a moment.

[Erica] Okay. Thank you.

You know I don't like when you drop by the offices unannounced.

Yeah, but I really don't know why.

I know she doesn't support my work,

-but your mother knows... -Just come with me.

...perfectly well that we're working together.

You're unbelievable.

Do you know what really bothers me?

Is that you came here to make sure I was telling the truth.

But I can assure you, I've kept my word

regarding what we agreed to with Roberto, in case we ever see Yeni again.

You know I reunited her son with Carlos,

and if Marcela doesn't believe me, I don't care.

My relationship with Arturo was deeply mistrustful,

and I don't wanna repeat that pattern with you, Pascal.

[Pascal] What did you expect me to do?

You stopped picking up when I called. You didn't show up for our date.

So you're blaming me?

No, I'm not blaming you.

And I'm sorry, but look--

You always apologize after you say whatever you want.

Well, tell me how I can be better.

I want you to talk to me.

I need you to tell me what you're up to in case Roberto and Marcela have doubts,

then I can defend you.

Fer, we're getting so close.

As soon as Briseno comes back, he'll go to jail. Yeni even showed up.

She was the last person who talked to the women from the trial.

She's going to help us.

I'm pretty sure Yeni doesn't wanna support us.

You should have seen how she got with my brother and Julia.

If Yeni decides to do something, it won't be to help us, Pascal.

Okay.

But you had nothing to do with it.

Arturo...

I don't know about him.

If we can prove he was involved,

he's gonna have to pay for the death of those women.

What's wrong, Fer?

Are you getting cold feet?

Fernanda.

I told you, I need to know if this is serious for you or--

This is serious and you know it.

It's very serious.

I just want all of this to be over, so that I can be with you and Nico.

That's all I want, okay?

Nothing more.

I'm sorry. My phone.

It's Nico.

You've gotta go, Pascal. I'm sorry.

Okay. I was going to leave anyway.

[Fernanda] Go on then. I'll see you out.

-Don't let my mother see you. -[Pascal] All right. I'm going.

[opening theme music playing]

THE SURROGACY

[somber music playing]

[Kika] If I ever have children, I'm always gonna tell them the truth.

I wouldn't want them to go through what Luciano's going through.

[Elvin] Well, I'm sure that if you do have kids someday,

you'll understand what your dad and Yeni are doing.

Well, actually, he told me something and it reminded me of something

my grandma told me about how my dad and you were

-more than just good friends. -All right.

-Well, why didn't you say anything then? -I talked to my dad,

but he told me it was better not to say anything

because you might feel awkward and to avoid any kind of issue.

But after that, he told grandma to stop saying prejudiced things to me.

Well, sweetheart, Bruna has never hidden how she feels.

But remember that the most important thing

is that I'm one of your dad's best friends.

-I'm also your godfather, okay? -Mm-hmm.

Is that why we stopped seeing my grandma, because she's prejudiced?

I don't think I'm the right person to answer that question,

but yes, that might be one of the reasons.

Another reason is that Bruna never understood that Sonia,

and me, and your dad are-- well, we're a family.

We're not a family that people would consider traditional either.

We're a group of people that chose each other.

-Mm-hmm. -We made our own family, okay?

-Mm-hmm. -All right then.

Why don't you tell me what Luciano said to you?

Luciano said...

he told me that he also likes boys,

but he doesn't know what to do.

He's scared people will discriminate against him.

-I'll see you later, all right? -Yeah, whatever you say.

-But you'll answer my calls, right? -No, no.

-You want me to take the stairs? -Yes, please.

-Oh, come on. -I'm sorry.

I don't want anyone to see you.

[tense music playing]

What's the matter?

Uh...

What's wrong, Nico? Tell me. Come on.

What's going on with you?

Uh, mom is with Pascal.

I think we should go somewhere to talk. Come on.

[Francisco] Hello. Come in.

Are you okay?

Hi, Yeni.

I'm sorry.

I know it was wrong to tell Luciano to accept the interview,

but I had no idea they were setting him up.

My dad, well, he already explained who Roberto,

Pascal, and Marcela are.

[Luciano] It wasn't them,

and there's nothing to feel guilty about, Kika.

I thought it over and I decided that the best thing

was to let the people who abandoned me know that I wasn't gonna hide from them.

Now, I wish I hadn't.

[somber music playing]

[Francisco] Yeni, I know you probably want to talk to your son right now,

but if you need to talk or anything, we're here for you.

[Yeni] I wish that none of this had happened.

I thought that the worst thing that could happen to Luciano

would be to meet Carlos and Julia, but it wasn't.

It turns out that...

Tessa is my daughter.

No. Yeni, they told you that lie before.

No, Sonia.

It's the truth.

All right, Nico. I want you to tell me everything that you heard them say.

Right here?

What? Were you expecting ice cream?

Nico, I can't waste any time.

Didn't you say there's a plan to charge me with the murder

of the women in the protocol?

Is that all you care about?

What? What do you mean?

Mom is cheating on you. I just heard it was Pascal, Dad.

But I guess you don't really care about that.

[sighs]

Your mom, I do care about her Nico.

But this is also a double betrayal.

Even if she leaves me for Pascal, I'll still be able to see you.

But if I'm charged with a crime I didn't commit,

then I'll go to jail and we won't see each other at all,

which is why I need to know what they said,

so that I can do something.

What else did you hear?

I can't remember what they said. I really can't.

[sighs] Oh, Nico.

[somber music playing]

[Carlos] Honey, the boy we saw outside the pharmaceutical offices,

the blond boy, you know.

His name is Luciano, and he's your brother.

What your mom and I wanted more than anything in the world

was to have a family.

It was the only thing we truly wanted, to have our very own family.

And we weren't able to.

Medically, everything seemed fine, but we just couldn't conceive.

There was no real explanation for it.

And so, we made the decision to hire a surrogate.

[scoffs]

That indigenous lady? She was the surrogate?

Honey, her name is Yeni and yes,

-Yeni was able to give us you and -Oh.

- your brother, Luciano. -Okay.

But we're still your children, right?

It's just-- why did you choose someone indigenous?

I mean, does grandma know about this?

-Yeah, she's aware. -She does. Yes.

Well, what does she want? Why did she come here?

Don't you wanna know why Luciano stayed with Yeni and why you stayed with us?

No, Dad. The only thing that's important to me right now

is that you promise me you won't say anything to anyone

about that person giving birth to me.

I would die.

[door opens]

[sighs] Hi, Mom.

Oh, Nico. Where were you? And why weren't you answering your cell?

I was with Dad.

What did you do to him? He was in rough shape.

-What? -He had just come from your office.

Honey, I didn't see him.

I have no idea he was even here at all.

I didn't answer because I was calming him down.

Honey, come on. I'll speak to him and find out what happened.

If you hurt Dad just because you don't wanna be with him,

I'll never forgive you.

Nico!

[door slams]

Yeni, these are the results from the test

that Carlos ordered from the United States.

But they're the same results from the test that Marcela did.

I don't know, Sonia.

Right when I saw Tessa,

I suddenly felt a connection that I had never felt before.

But that's impossible. If she's your daughter,

-then what does that make Luciano? -[Francisco] You were already pregnant

with Luciano when you conceived Tessa.

[Carlos] Yes, sweetheart.

Yeni is your mother.

Luciano.

[Carlos] When they implanted the embryo in Yeni,

she was bleeding a lot, and I was so scared.

It was the very last embryo that Julia had.

And I made the decision, your mother had nothing to do

with it at all,

to then spend more time with Yeni,

-and in that time together-- -Did you have sex with her, Dad?

I came from an affair with a native?

Mm-hmm. Yes.

You can't be serious right now, Dad. We don't have the same skin color.

-I'm light-skinned. -No.

And I'm blonde like grandma.

That Totonac has brown skin.

Tessa, stop calling her that.

-She's your mother, and you -No.

have a lot more in common with her than you think, sweetie.

And you even have the same birthmark on your stomach.

[somber music playing]

-She is your mother. -Hey. Come on, Tessa, honey.

I know it must be really hard to understand everything and--

give it some time, okay?

I know it's a lot to process.

Julia and I are both so grateful to Yeni because she gave birth to you.

-No. She's not my mom. -She gave us you and your brother.

She is your mother.

She's not my mom and I'll never accept that.

-My love, yes, she is. -You can say whatever you want,

but I'm not going to accept that.

I understand perfectly now why you never loved me.

Don't say that.

You were always so sad,

but nothing I did could ever make you happy.

-It was never enough. -No, sweetheart. Don't say that.

That's a--that's totally unfair. Your mother has always been there for you.

She's been totally devoted to you. She loves you. We both do.

Tessa, you are my child, and you've got to believe that I love you.

You guys are both liars and you're to blame for all this.

You make me sick.

Honey, I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I don't know how it happened.

Francisco said that Marcela could explain it all to you.

The important thing is that you know that Tessa is your daughter.

No, sweetie.

What's important is that you'll always be my son.

Luciano, you're my life.

You're the best thing that's ever happened to me.

From the very first moment you called me your mom...

I knew that whatever pain came after would be worth it.

I'm sorry, Mom.

I'm sorry for all the times that I didn't understand what you were doing for me.

-I'm sorry. -No. No, no, no.

I wouldn't change a thing.

The days we've gotten to spend together have been the very best of my life.

And what I felt with Tessa was-- it was a maternal instinct.

But the way you've given me your love has made me feel like a real mother.

A maternal instinct, but I'm not yours.

Look, the thing I feared the most is finally over,

but the two of us are together,

and that's something that will never change.

But you need to understand, Luciano,

if Tessa is my daughter,

I'm not going to abandon her.

How could you get involved with a filthy native?

Don't ever say something like that again, Tessa.

No one'll ever find out about this because I'm not staying here.

I'm leaving, so I don't have to see you or that native woman ever again.

You've both been lying to me my whole life

-Please, sweetheart. -and I hate you.

Please, will you just calm down a little?

I'm staying with Grandma because at least, she loves me.

Ever since I was a little girl, she's been there for me.

She's been a much better mother than you ever were.

Tessa.

Hey. Hey, hey, hey.

Let's go get her. Come on.

-Tessa. -[Julia] Tessa.

Sweetheart, come on. I'm talking to you here.

This isn't finished and we need to resolve it.

Nora will reject you when she finds out your Yeni's.

-Julia, don't say that. Come on. -It's the truth, Carlos.

And I don't want Nora to hurt her.

Nora was never on our side about Yeni becoming our surrogate

because she simply cannot accept who Yeni is and what she represents.

Nora rejected Luciano because he was born with clubfoot.

[Nora] He'll never be normal,

and I don't accept anyone in the family being abnormal.

[Carlos] She forced Yeni to take him when he was born.

And then she lied to me.

She made me believe he was dead.

Was he cremated? You didn't even ask me first?

[Julia] A while later, I found out he was alive.

But I was too scared to go looking for him because I felt panicked

that Nora would just reject him

and that's something I'll always carry, Tessa.

That's the sadness I have to bear.

And it's never had to do with you.

[Carlos] And that's why we stayed away from your grandmother

and from your Aunt Fer for a long time.

We didn't wanna share anything about you or your life.

My love,

I know that you grew up adoring your grandma,

but when she finds this all out, you need to be prepared.

Yes. But actually, none of that matters.

If your grandmother rejects you, it doesn't matter.

-[Tessa] No. -I know it doesn't.

The two of us are your parents. We love you no matter what.

We'll care for you and protect you forever.

No, no. Don't tell grandma anything about this.

I don't want her to know. Please don't tell her, you guys.

Sweetheart, even if we don't tell her, she's going to find out sometime.

But why?

Do you want me to go live with that native?

-Tessa. -Tessa, come on?

What? It's the truth.

I don't wanna go and live with her.

-Sweetheart-- -Don't call me things like that.

I'm not your sweetheart. This is all your fault.

Both of you.

Now, you have to fix it.

If you want your son to come live with you,

I don't care about that, but don't take my grandma away from me.

Don't take grandma away from me.

I'm not going to abandon her.

All right.

I refuse to abandon her the way they abandoned you.

Yeah.

Mom, when you were talking on the phone with Carlos

before he took me back to the office,

Julia told me that one day, she almost stole me from you.

[Yeni] Yes, that's true.

[Luciano] But then she said she regretted it and gave me back to you,

to protect me from Nora.

I'm tired of all of your lies.

All I want is to leave here in peace with my son.

You thought you were forcing him on me, but I decided to love him for real.

I knew I had to put myself in her place,

to understand what might have pushed her to do that to me.

I have protected you in every single situation

where someone could have hurt you,

and I'm going to do the same with your sister.

[Tessa crying]

I guess we have to give her time to process everything,

and then we'll talk to her.

I need to go find my mom and figure out what to say.

-Please. -What?

Don't tell her about this yet.

And then what?

Should I just lie to her?

You think it's a good idea for us to keep hiding the fact

that Yeni is Tessa's mother?

No, Julia.

I've also gotta talk to Fer and tell her about Balo's accusations.

If Yeni doesn't find out that we're innocent,

she'll keep Luciano away from us, is that what you want?

Of course not, but do you think Yeni will let us get close to Luciano?

I hope so. But that's why we need to clear things up.

Do you know what I think?

I think we should stop acting like the victims in all this.

The ones who've suffered the most are Yeni and the kids.

I think we need to remember that.

I think the first thing to do is apologize to Yeni

for everything we did before she found out Tessa's her child.

Do you agree?

Either way, what's done is done.

[tense music playing]

[Arturo] She's been fucking Pascal? [scoffs]

Did you know?

What did you expect?

That because you're a man, you can roam around like a dog

with other women and no one will bat an eyelash?

The difference is, I don't have a plan to destroy your daughter.

Because you hooked up with Irene first.

Or did you need a bit more of a reminder about that whole thing?

It was one time.

Mm-hmm. I suppose so since you murdered her.

You know they found your semen in her corpse.

And I guess that's what Briseno said?

How did you find out about Fer and Pascal?

What? I mean, they didn't know I was in the office and I overheard them,

but none of that matters.

Besides, isn't the Irene thing all settled?

Oh, please, Arturo.

Do you really think that kind of thing just goes away?

Briseno presented me with the security footage

from the cameras at the complex.

I told them there were a couple of people on there that work for me.

One of them was Marcela.

And the other one was probably Nestor, right?

Who, for your information, also had a sexual relationship with Irene.

It's really amazing what communication can do, huh?

Just now when you said the words "also had,"

you've just confirmed that you and Irene had something going on

and, apparently, that something ended pretty badly.

My point is that they reviewed everything that happened

in the building the day of the murder.

And they also looked at what happened the night before

and that is where you become important, Arturo.

I did it because I wanted Irene on my side. And then that way--

I get it. Yes, obviously, you wanted to modify all of the contracts

signed by the women in the trial.

For God's sake, Arturo, we already know all that.

Don't you see that this is exactly what Fer is doing with Pascal?

Hmm? You can't beat your enemy, join them.

Roberto and his team simply weren't going to sit still, so they sent us Pascal.

So we've been using him to shift all the blame

over to Briseno and painting him as the person

responsible for the murder of those women and for murdering Irene.

And Yeni?

Because Pascal is waiting for her to help us.

Well, I would be worried if I thought they could prove something.

Just relax, Arturo.

Why do you think that I kept you out of the company,

and then insisted that you get involved in politics?

Because of the jurisdictions.

You're protected, Arturo.

No one can do anything to you.

And Fer? Think about it.

Do you really think she's going to leave you for a starving journalist?

I agreed to let you marry my daughter because--

well, because I thought you could be useful to me,

and I still believe that.

And the other reason was because I assumed

I'd always have your loyalty, which I'm now beginning to doubt.

Am I wrong?

No, you're fine.

Just rest it and tomorrow, it'll be good as new.

Yeah.

Kika, can you bring me a bag of ice for Luciano?

-Sure. -Thank you.

You okay?

We're going to see Marcela over at Julia's house.

-Want me to take you? -No, no. That's all right.

I would rather you stay with Luciano.

No, Mom. I don't want you going there alone.

But why not? I mean, everything's going to be fine.

Luciano, what's wrong?

I'll give you two some privacy to talk on your own.

Your foot's all good.

You got this, champ. Excuse me.

-It's just-- -What's the matter?

I'm not as good a son as you think I am, Mom.

Come on. No, no, no. Why are you saying this?

Not now. You have more important problems.

Luciano, you are always going to be the most important thing to me.

I'm gay.

What?

-I'm attracted to guys. -Okay. Well, I know what gay means.

See? I'm not the son you think I am.

Don't you ever say things like that, honey.

It's just

I don't want you to think it's your fault.

But when you're saying you don't want me to feel like it's my fault,

it's almost like you're saying--

like you're saying being gay is a bad thing.

Then why are you so upset?

Because--

because I'm afraid it'll be a reason for people to reject you.

Because...

I can't imagine how much you've been suffering since you've realized it.

Luciano, you're so very special.

I thought we trusted each other enough to share anything.

Yes, Mom.

Of course, I trust you, but I don't know why this was so difficult to tell you.

It wouldn't come out of me. I couldn't say it.

And you've taught me so much about respect and not to discriminate,

but I just wanted to be like everyone else.

Just normal. Just a normal kid.

How can you just be a normal kid, Luciano?

Don't you understand how special you are?

I just want you to be happy.

And I don't want you to sacrifice anything for that happiness.

Honey.

I will always love you.

-Always. -And I'll always love you.

Thank you.

Hey.

You and me, always.

Yeah.

-[Fernanda] That's all I know. -Well, that's fine.

Ma'am, Mr. Carlos is here and he wants to--

Thanks, Ana.

Fer told me that my granddaughter saw you with--

-Yeni? -With Yeni, yes.

-[Carlos] Mm-hmm. -With Yeni.

Yes. She also knows that Luciano is her brother.

And how is she?

Was it necessary to tell her?

-Yes, Mom, it was necessary. -But why?

Yeni doesn't want her son having anything to do with us.

She also doesn't want us near him because Balo gave her proof

that we tried to kill her,

and that we also played a part in murdering the women from the study.

-Just a couple of reasons. -Oh, please.

He may as well have said that we were responsible for hanging Ochoa.

And I very much doubt they can prove something we had nothing to do with.

I'm not sure about that, Mom, but--

Carlos, you know that we're already collaborating with Roberto,

Marcela, and Pascal in order to resolve this.

Yes, thanks to Mom, we got ahold of some of the records

from the commissioner's office.

And the idea behind that is we want to clear Ochoa's name,

so that we can show how erratic and irresponsible Briseno's process is.

But, Mom, you're involved now.

When he's extradited, he's gonna blame you the minute he testifies.

-No, he will not. -No?

The only thing he'll be able to say

is that I never ordered him to do anything.

Mother, please, you're talking to me here.

Mm-hmm.

When Irene was murdered, you met with him, right?

-[Nora] Yes. -Why? What did you talk about?

About insisting that he would solve the murder.

-And also to clear our name? -Yes.

And if you think that makes me a murderer, then I suppose

all mothers who defend their children are too.

And Arturo?

He's not your son.

You didn't order him to do anything either?

Because Balo has accused him directly.

No, I don't really know about that.

I can't speak for Arturo, but maybe Fer can?

Mother!

Do you know anything, Fer?!

Carlos, I'm sorry.

-I wanted to tell you, Carlos. -Oh, my God.

-Please listen. Mother?! -What?

[Fernanda] Carlos.

-Carlos. Please wait. Listen. -[sighs]

[sighs]

Yeni.

What's wrong?

Are you all right? What did--what did Luciano say?

He told me that he's gay.

Oh, Yeni, I thought it was gonna be something bad, and?

I don't know. I thought it might be better to stay with him

and give him a bit of support.

But mostly, I want him to know that he really is the very best son.

Luciano, more than anyone, knows what you're going through, Yeni.

He knows you support him and he knows

you'll have more time to talk it over calmly.

Yeah, you're right. You're right.

-I'm sorry. I don't wanna worry so much. -Are you all right?

-Yes. Yes. -Now, let's go.

-Front or back? -Get in.

[Yeni] Hmm? The back.

Carlos, Carlos. What will you do?

[sighs] What will I do?

I'm gonna tell Yeni to bring all the evidence to the police.

-Please, Carlos. -If you're indicted,

that's your responsibility.

-You know that, right? -Listen to me. Carlos.

-Carlos, listen to me. -What?

Just for a second. Just listen to me, please.

What more is there to say?

You asked me why I'm still with Arturo.

What I don't answer, Fer, is why you married someone

like that in the first place.

He's such a terrible guy.

He's a criminal.

Why do you think? To appease mom.

Arturo was the perfect kind of partner.

To have around someone like you-- and it seemed like together,

we'd be capable of anything, but I just couldn't do it.

And then I started cheating on him with Pascal

without realizing Roberto and Marcela set me up.

He told me everything when he realized that Mom and I wanted to help them.

He's always been suspicious of us and that's fine, he has his reasons.

Same as you do.

So I'm right about you?

You're Arturo's accomplice and you always have been.

No, no. I'm not involved in anything.

I practically forced him to admit that he--

that he murdered Irene.

And I'm sure that he did everything that Balo told Yeni,

-but it's still his word against mine. -Is that why you kept quiet, Fer?

'Cause that's supporting him?

You've let him further his political career.

You've let him do what he likes.

You've given him his freedom

and his son admires a man who doesn't exist.

What do you think will happen when Nico sees what a criminal his father is?

You think he'll respect you?

[tense music playing]

[engine revving]

[Keyus] Well, we're here.

And there's Marcela.

It's just gonna be us.

Julia doesn't want Tessa to know we're here.

Could you wait for me in the car?

Ready?

Yeah.

[closing theme music playing]