Codrut and Irina have been in love for as long as they've known each other. They both dream to start a happy and have many children.

But Codrut is a Gypsy! He left the Gypsy camp to go to school and graduated from the Medical School with high grades, but he never made it more than an ambulance doctor because his ethnicity is discriminated.

Codrut is proud of his Gypsy origin until the day when it becomes apparent that, according to the Gypsy tradition, he is supposed to marry Roza, the daughter of the Gypsy chieftain in Paris. He was betrothed to her a long time ago. When Roza shows up, she becomes the most important obstacle in Codrut and Irina's relationship.

In spite of Codrut's resistance, underlay by the belief that a marriage should only be based on love, his father decides to send the woman he was promised to right to his place. All the family hoped that, by sleeping with her, Codrut would take a life vow to Roza. But Codrut resists her temptations, although she is very beautiful and has a passionate nature, and sends Roza back to her father. The fact that Roza returns a virgin will be seen as the ultimate insult; chieftain Aurica, Codrut's father, is ready to sacrifice his life in order to wash the shame: "Kill me if you want, but I can't force him and I don't want the Gypsy curse upon our offspring".

On the other side of the ethnic barrier, in the Romanian community, reigns Gigi, a worldly and affluent character who finances election campaigns. He's waiting for an heir from Flori, his beloved, to take over the business empire he built. Until then, he looks over his daughters: Renata, Irina and Felicia.

Gigi, like many Romanians, looks down on Gypsies who, in his opinion, are "lazy and smelly thieves with an antisocial and vulgar behavior". He doesn't agree that Irina bring one of "their kind" under his roof. Besides, Gigi has his own plans for his daughter: she must marry Luca, Gigi's godson, whom he raised and educated to take over his business.

To save his father, Codrut breaks up with Irina. Luca also "helps", by offering him a large amount of money and by threatening him that he will never practice medicine again if he doesn't stay away from Irina.

In the meantime, Codrut's brother, Giani, loses his wife Zambila gambling, throwing more shame upon their father. To save his family, Codrut will have to humiliate himself by borrowing money from Luca to buy Zambila back.

Irina feels hurt and abandoned. But she knows that her beloved Codrut had to save his father, so she begins to accept the fact that he gave up on her. She even tries to get along with Luca, according to her father's wish.

An so the two protagonists end up marrying people they do not love: Codrut marries Roza (who is not as eager to marry him as she used to be, having found her true love in Thierry, her father's bodyguard), while Irina reluctantly becomes Luca's wife.

Given these circumstances, neither of the marriages is meant to last; real love proves to be more powerful than social conventions. So in the end, the only real obstacle that Codrut and Irina are left facing is Gigi.