Diana grows up in the Italian village of Santa Lucia during the 1950s. In a farming environment, honour, respect, and the judgement of others are of the utmost importance. Abused by both parents, her childhood slips away. At age ten, while caring for the very sick Aunt Maria, she receives love for the first time and becomes acquainted with the past. From Maria, she also learns the value of education and a career. Diana strives against all odds to study and obtains a Diploma in accountancy. In her last year at college, she also falls in love with Paolo.
Diana’s secret relationship with Paolo is solid and pure, but his shyness prevents him from declaring his feelings. When Diana’s parents find out, they keep the girl prisoner in her room. As a result, her contact with Paolo ceases. Diana finds employment in the nearby town of Galliano, searching for Paolo without success. She escapes from her unbearable home life through success in her job and the dominant figure of her seventy-year-old boss, Mr Bozzi. Her accidental meeting with Marco, a doctor-to-be, means disobeying the family’s rules. The consequence is a violent beating from her father. Mr Bozzi finds her and takes her to the hospital, where she discovers Marco is his son. They take Diana to live with them.
Mr Bozzi becomes the rock in Diana’s life, but his wife, Elisa, hates her. Diana marries Marco. He is a good man but with sexual difficulties, and she barely manages to become pregnant. An unexpected meeting with Paolo brings back old feelings and is a possible cause of her unborn child’s death. Mr Bozzi retires, leaving Diana to run the business, but she experiences his wife’s total hate when he dies. Marco’s lack of libido induces Diana to seek medical advice, but to no avail. To become pregnant again, she forces herself on him. During an unexpected meeting, Paolo tells her of his marriage, disabled child, and determination to be with her. She tries to deter him, causing his fury. The birth of her daughter Sandra gives Diana strength, but she misses a sexual relationship with her husband. Her romantic involvement with the charismatic Carlo, a lawyer, ends in a torrid affair.
Forced by the circumstances, Diana seeks Paolo’s help. He ignores the truth and agrees to help her, but a phone call from Carlo causes her to write a goodbye letter to Marco, telling him the truth. Overcome by remorse and shame, she intends to die by swallowing some pills. Paolo, however, after learning Carlo is her lover, shoots Diana. She wakes up in the hospital, where Carlo’s wife, Rosalia, unveils Carlo’s lies. Once recovered, Diana learns the drama behind Marco’s sexual behaviour and the reason for his recent detachment from his mother. Diana feels responsible for Paolo’s actions and sets out to help him and his family with Marco. When Paolo surrenders to the police, Carlo’s wife, Rosalia, forces her husband to defend him, and Paolo receives a short sentence. However, after the bad publicity, Diana must strive to work harder. For her husband’s sake, she takes the lead in seeking reconciliation with her mother-in-law, Elisa, who proposes to sell the business, leaving her without a job.
Diana’s forgiveness, however, results in her daughter Sandra’s death. Suspecting Elisa, Diana is determined to discover the truth, proving the woman’s guilt to herself. But the outcome is an estranged husband and a terrible reality, leading to personal neglect and a death wish. Finally, Paolo, out of prison, finds her at death’s door. Through Paolo and his family, Diana regains her sanity and a promising future with her husband.