Episode 25 - Betty Rejects Bribe

Betty was still at El Corrientazo with the cartel and was dreaming about what she’ll do with the money from the RagTela deal. We saw her arriving at EcoModa in a chauffeur (Freddy) driven Mercedes Benz. She was dressed in a Chanel-type outfit in black and white, with a ridiculous hat and huge Bette Davis-like sunglasses. She invited the cuartel to lunch at the club and they all pile into the Mercedes like in some old movie where you could just fit tons of people into a car with no problem.

They had lunch at the club, and were joined by Armando and Mario, who are fawning all over Betty. After lunch, Armando and Betty took a stroll through the club’s grounds, and in the distance we see the cuartel and Mario actually FROLICKING, with Mario doing a cartwheel!

Betty introduced her parents and Nico to Armando, telling Armando that Nico and Hermes run a business that does accounting jobs for large corporations. Julia was wearing a tennis outfit, while Nico and Hermes are dressed in golf outfits. Armando told Betty that he’d like to take her out to dinner that evening, but as usual, she woke up and realized it was ONLY A DREAM! (especially the part where Marcela and Hugo are actually civil to her).

What a Dream! Poor Betty.

Betty got a call from Miguel, who told her that the shipment with the supplies was on its way and that he still needed to know how to get the money to her. Betty told him that they’ll talk in 10 minutes.

She then called her dad and told him what was going on with RagTela. Her father was furious that she’d even consider taking a bribe to help him. Betty told him that this was exactly what she needed to hear from him, and that she was at peace and will not take the bribe. Daniel got to EcoModa, ready to rumble with Armando to give him the news about the bribe.

Daniel was about to talk to Armando when Betty asked if they can talk in private about something very urgent. She told him about RagTela’s bribe. Marcela walked in on them and starts asking Armando why he was making Daniel wait, and Armando told Marcela about the bribe offer. Daniel joined them (Betty was not there at this time) and played the tape that Olarte made of his conversation with Miguel.

Betty was about to walk back into the room and overheard the tape. Marcela told Daniel that they already knew about the bribe from Betty. Armando argued with Daniel about the tape, and asked why he was so intent on getting Beatriz (Betty) in trouble. He defended her and reminded Daniel that Olarte accepted bribes all the time. Marcela and Daniel left the room obviously annoyed with Armando’s reaction and his defense of Betty.

Armando went back to his office and found Betty who told him that she overheard the argument and felt terrible and wanted to resign. Armando got upset with her and told her that she did the right thing by letting him know ahead of time about the bribe and that she couldn’t resign just when he needed her the most, that everything was okay. Betty told him that she should have told him about it as soon as she knew of the bribe and that she actually was quite tempted to accept the bribe because of the problems at home. That she was about to betray him and her family, and that this is why she needed to resign.

Armando told her that he trusted her absolutely and that she was a human being with weak moments like everyone else. That he never expected her to be a perfect woman, but just a human being who faced her weakness and was able to make the right decision. And that because of this he cannot accept her resignation. He hugged her and helped her dry her tears.

Daniel told Marcela that Armando stands up for Betty more than he does for Marcela herself, and that if things go on this way, Betty was going to end up as President of EcoModa (Oh! Daniel, what a way to fight!).