Broken Bonds

SYNOPSIS

“Broken Bonds” tells of the adventures of a shepherdess who’s spent all her life in a remote village in Serra da Estrela and is suddenly forced to go and live in the city. It’s a romantic story that touches on topics such as family and friendship, ambition and greed. But mostly, love.

Maria Rita lives in Serra da Estrela with her grandfather. They are shepherds and small producers of traditional local cheese. She loves her life and wouldn’t exchange it for anything, but her freedom and the world she knows are at risk, as the dairy is threatened by imminent bankruptcy.

One day, a city lawyer, David, arrives on the mountain, bringing a message from a man who claims to be Maria Rita’s father. She has always believed that her parents had died a long time ago and begins to doubt what he’s saying, but her grandfather tells her the truth. She’s the daughter of a very rich man, owner of a ceramics factory in Aveiro, who abandoned her mother before she was born.

This man is Henrique Trindade de Sousa, married with three children, and he’s in jail, accused of embezzling the family company. He tells Maria Rita that he wants to make up for all she’s missed out on and offers to pay off the debts of the dairy if she goes to live in Aveiro and takes her rightful place in the family. But she doesn’t know that that’s not all her father wants.

Maria Rita initially refuses but her grandfather’s poor health and her love for him make her agree to the proposal. She moves to Aveiro, not realising that she’s going to be drawn into a maelstrom of interests and caught in the crossfire between two families. But it’s also where she finds her first love.

David is a city lawyer. He comes from a wealthy family but without the love of his father, who he never knew. He grew up with an ambitious uncle and a mother who paid little attention to him. He moves in a world where interests are above love and affection and he’s fine with that.

Maria Rita’s arrival in Aveiro causes quite an upset in the Trindade de Sousa family. Nobody knew of her existence and she is immediately rejected. Henrique is in jail and that house is like a nest of vipers. Maria Rita ends up leaning on David. The problem is he’s the boyfriend of her older sister, Vera.

Vera also grew up without much affection. Her father was always too busy getting richer and richer and her mother is an ambitious socialite with a lot of secrets. The arrival of her unknown sister is an insult that she just can’t put up with. Especially because she immediately sensed that she was a threat to her relationship with David.

Meanwhile, the date set for Henrique’s trial is fast approaching He has always protested his innocence and asks Maria Rita for help. She’ll have to commit perjury for him and give him a false alibi. This is a huge disappointment for the shepherdess and she initially refuses. She goes back home, set on forgetting the whole thing, but she later finds out that her father really is innocent. Henrique had been framed by his wife, Mercedes, and his partner and best friend, Rodolfo Quintela. David’s uncle.

Maria Rita decides to help her father. Henrique is acquitted and released. The relationship between father and daughter becomes closer, to the despair of Vera, who sees her sister taking everything she wants most away from her. Her father’s affection and David’s love.

Maria Rita, who used to think she was an orphan, had fantasised about her father being a true hero, but Henrique eventually reveals that he’s anything but. Obsessed with getting his revenge on the people who put him in jail, he uses everything he can, ending up becoming the same as them. Maria Rita is on her father’s side. She tries to understand him and forgive him, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult. Especially because David is on the other side.

AVAILABLE AS: Readymade
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