The traditional Taques Penteado clan is intimately linked to the history of São Paulo itself and is considered a significant representative of the São Paulo business world. Ill, Cândido Taques, brother of the matriarch Guilhermina Taques Penteado, lived isolated from everyone on the third floor of the family mansion in the elegant Jardim Europa neighborhood. Cândido's death puts the clan members on alert, awaiting his inheritance: a large fortune in cash, jewels, and stocks. The dispute over the inheritance, in an environment dominated by Guilhermina, and the game of interests among heirs unleash several conflicts, generating an atmosphere of oppression. The characters reveal themselves through their greater or lesser commitment to gaining access to the fortune. Some show no scruples whatsoever in obtaining it, while others, more skillful and diplomatic, resort to less petty means: they seek, for example, to take advantage of a close relationship with the matriarch.