La Dueña (1995 Mexican TV series)

Life smiles at Regina Villarreal (Angélica Rivera), a young and beautiful woman who inherits a fortune from her deceased parents. Regina lives with her aunt Berenice Villarreal Vda. de Castro (Norma Herrera), whom she loves as if she were her own mother, her unbearable cousin, Laura Castro Villarreal (Cynthia Klitbo), and Laura’s inseparable nana, Martina (Josefina Echánove).

Laura envies her cousin and believes that she is more deserving of all that Regina has, so she decides to make Regina suffer. Her first move is to seduce Regina's fiancé, Mauricio (Eduardo Santamarina), who is only after Regina’s money. On her wedding day, Mauricio leaves Regina at the altar, which shatters her heart and makes it grow cold and bitter.

Regina moves to one of her properties, Los Cascabeles ("The Bells"), a ranch far away from the capital. She becomes a resentful and indomitable woman, “La Dueña” ("The Owner"), as her employees call her, and her reputation earns her the nickname “Víbora” (“Viper”) from the locals.

She meets José María (Francisco Gattorno), owner of the neighboring hacienda Los Encinos. Both fall for each other, but José María does not reveal his feelings for her out of fear of getting hurt in a relationship again.

Around this time, Berenice, Laura, and Martina move to Los Cascabeles. Macario, the foreman, is in love with Regina, and he and Laura scheme to keep Regina and José María apart. Laura has fallen in love with José María, because of it, Regina will become once again a target for her cousin even though La Dueña will not let anyone steal the heart of her beloved.

• La Dueña at IMDb