Andrés Ferreira, son of Antonia, is the rich and callous owner of Mundo Express, a transport business. He has a supermodel girlfriend, Fernanda San Miguel, and a picture perfect life of luxury, but does not enjoy either as he is a perpetual workaholic. Brayan Galindo, son of Leonidas, is a poor yet jovial and popular man, frequently unemployed and living in a conventillo with his father, fiancée, and her siblings. Both are arrogant, Andrés in his attitude about the people in his life, Brayan with his responsibilities in work and with his fiancée, Rosmery.
Their lives are forever changed when one of the nurses that helped delivering the men as babies reveals to Antonia that she accidentally switched them at birth.
Antonia reaches out to and introduces herself to Leonidas to tell him about the switch. The two decide that their sons could benefit from seeing life from the opposite ends of society, so they plot to switch the men back to their biological family's respective social strata. The parents legally change their surnames so that Brayan is now Brayan Ferreira, heir to the Ferreira fortune, and Andrés is now Andrés Galindo, heir to nothing but a life of poverty. Antonia invites Brayan to live at her house, and transfer all of Andrés' possessions to him: bank accounts, credit cards, cell phones, cars, wardrobe, everything; including the presidency of Mundo Express (a role, however, he was wholly unprepared for). Andrés is relieved of all of his inherited fortune and even his position and is forced to scrape by. While he initially aggressively denies the reality of the situation, he soon joins Leonidas at the conventillo and begrudgingly learns what it is like to have nothing in life.
Brayan's relationship with Rosmery is complicated by his rapid rise to the social elite. Rosmery loves Brayan for his personality and finds his new relationship to power is changing him on the inside. Andrés comes to learn that his beautiful girlfriend, supermodel Fernanda San Miguel, did not care for him as a person at all, and jilts him once he becomes penniless. Although her and Andrés's ex-cousin, Mateo, were devising a plan for Fernanda to marry Andrés, steal his money, and then marry each other all along. Once Brayan becomes the heir, Mateo convinces Fernanda to stick to the plan, further complicating Rosmery and Brayan's relationship. Rosmery, meanwhile, is also tempted in a new situation, as her former boss, Andrés, is now living with her and slowly growing closer to her...
Tropes
- Accidental Misnaming: Fernanda can not remember the name of Rosmery, no matter how many times she talks with her.
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: When Andrés asks Maritza what Rosmery sees in Brayan, Maritza states that she's seen Brayan leave the shower naked in the past and alludes to this.
- Big Damn Heroes: Fernanda, owning 50% of the shares of Mundo Express, starts her presidency by firing several employees, including Rosmery. Andrés shows up to interrupt the party: he's the legal representative of Antonia, owner of the other 50%, so nobody will be fired without his consent.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Mateo is this type of villain to the Ferreiras. He's generally aloof and commanding to the people around him, with the exception of business associates and his cousin and aunt. He spent three decades being Andrés's closest, sometimes only, friend and manipulated him into dating and marrying a woman who doesn't love him so that he could steal the Ferreira fortune. He similarly puts on a false face around Antonia and later Brayan who he ensnares in the same trap he'd set for Andrés.
- Black Widow: Fernanda married Brayan, with special clauses for a divorce if he cheats on her, so she can set a trap to him, divorce him and get his money. But when he almost drowned in the sea during their honeymoon, she opted to ignore his cries for help: let the guy die, and she can be rich without complications. Damn that hero guy who saw him and rescued him...
- Business of Generic Importance: Mundo Express, a shipping company, is working on an important deal with the American company, Redex. Yet we don't really ever find out what that deal will do or what Redex even does.
- Cain and Abel: Mateo to Andrés, later Brayan. Mateo is their father's nephew from his sister and thus has no inheritance rights to the Ferreira fortune. Mateo orchestrates a plan to use his supermodel lover Fernanda San Miguel as a pawn to steal the riches of both men via seduction and then leave them heart broken once she breaks up with them to marry Mateo. He believes that he has been in the shadows of Mundo Express and wants the company and wealth all for himself.
- The Driver: Averted with Hugo. Initially introduced as Andrés's driver, he becomes a significant character beyond driving when he's paired with Antonia when she returns to Colombia and becomes her confidant and personal investigator to keep tabs on Andrés.
- Evil Former Friend: Mateo and Fernanda to Andrés. Mateo exclusively refers to Andrés as his ex-cousin whenever he comes up in conversation with Fernanda or talks to him face-to-face. He pretends to be sympathetic of Andrés when talking to Antonia and Hugo, though.
- Facial Dialogue: Often Hugo raising his eyebrows to Antonia when another character says a lie, or occasionally glancing off-screen and raising his eyebrows if Antonia isn't present.
- Fat Comic Relief: When Fidel isn't being accused of being an idiot by strangers, he's usually being used as the butt of the joke by his loved ones for being gordito. His friend and coworker Lizeth is also guilty of this, leading to her not understanding Fidel's pining for her.
- From Stray to Pet: Chanda the dog at the conventillo. Leondidas tells Andrés that she was a stray that wandered around and all of the residents of the conventillo liked her and gradually adopted her. Much like Andresito himself.
- Gold Digger: Supermodel Fernanda San Miguel. Initially dating, later engaged to, Andrés, Fernanda does not have any actual feelings for Andrés and is only dating him in the hopes of marrying him and stealing all of his money in a messy divorce. Andrés's cousin Mateo is the mastermind of this plan, and forces Fernanda to continue the scheme with Brayan once Andrés is removed of his titles and wealth.
- Identical Grandson: Jhon Álex Toro plays both one of the lead roles of Brayan Galindo/Ferreira, and that of his character's biological father, Bernardo Ferreira in the prologue to the series.
- Idle Rich: Subverted. What Brayan assumed being a Ferreira would entail. Antonia appoints Brayan as president of the company that gave the Ferreiras their fortune, Mundo Express. Brayan assumes this is an honorary title and that his subordinates will handle every aspect of his job, but is crestfallen to learn that he is expected to conduct meetings and business deals.
- Jealous Romantic Witness: Whenever Ingrid is home at the same time as Brayan and Rosmery, she is always watching them from a window or listening behind the door or wall, crying when they are kissing or making up from an argument and emphatically gesturing in agreement with Brayan when he defends himself.
- Also Rosmery when Fernanda meets Brayan at the office and obviously flirts with him in a public area. Rosmery maintains professionalism and doesn't intervene, but is livid after they leave to go on lunch together.
- Lazy Bum: Brayan is both unprepared for the job as president of Mundo Express, but is also reluctant to do any job. He looks for ways to avoid working or rest on the clock, leading to him being fired twice in the span of a week from two different jobs, going home to nap and lie about being fired for as long as possible. While Antonia consistently asks him if the job of Mundo Express is too much for him, Brayan relentlessly confirms he can handle it and then looks for excuses to avoid his actual tasks.
- Literally Loving Thy Neighbor: Brayan and Rosmery meet as Leonidas and Brayan are bringing their belongings into the conventillo.
- Mrs. Robinson: Maritza Buenahora, owner of the conventillo. She tries to seduce Andrés, coyly reject's Senor Afanador's advances in favor of his younger son Miller, and solicits sex from Brayan to compensate for rent money while outright threatening to evict his father moments later for being late on the rent for the same room. None of the younger men are interested.
- Oblivious to Love:
- Brayan to Ingrid
- Lizeth to Fidel
- Odd Name Out: Brayan Galindo/Ferreira. Even the nurse is bewildered when a young Leonidas announces the chosen name for his son.
- His non-traditional name is one of many reasons why Fernanda is disgusted by him.
- The odd name is also possibly the only reason why Antonia was able to find Brayan as he was difficult to trace. When Fernanda mentioned running into a man named Brayan in disgust, Antonia and Hugo's dead end in their investigation was resolved.
- Pottery Barn Poor: Averted. While the conventillo is nicely decorated, has a television, kitchen, and both living and dining room, it is shared by many people who rent individual bedrooms and all share one bathroom. Leonidas and Brayan (later Andrés, too) share a room with the latter sleeping in a small bed at the foot of his father's twin-sized bed. Rosmery and Ingrid also share a bedroom and both sleep on single beds.
- Poverty Food: Andrés acts disgusted at the idea of eating sweet rolls, garbanzo soup, and "delicacies" from the bodega at first, but whenever he actually does eat them, he savors and enjoys the food.
- Rags to Riches: Brayan Galindo found one day that he was actually a Ferreira, with all the money and power that means.
- Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Andrés suffers from realizing this at every step of his entry into poverty.
- He tries to go to the bank to ask for a multimillion peso loan with nothing to back it up against, claiming that his business record should be proof enough that the bank should have faith in the loan.
- Andrés does not even correct Rosmery when she asks him if he's ever washed anything in his life before when he has a hard time understanding how to wash his clothes without a washing machine. Andrés states that he used to just put his clothes on the floor and someone else cleaned them.
- Riches to Rags: Andrés Ferreira found one day that he was actually a Galindo, and lost all the riches he had.
- Sigh of Love: Ingrid over Brayan, often.
- Upper-Class Twit: Brayan after he receives access and roles related to the Ferreira fortune, much to the chagrin of the socialite Fernanda who is obligated to be in public with him at the behest of her lover, Mateo.
