As conflicts arise between Hosni and his stepmother after he graduates high school, he decides to leave his father's house and move to Egypt to enroll in the Faculty of Engineering.
Hosni confesses to Rashid that he has gynophobia due to the cruelty of his stepmother. Zainab's mother rejects Madiha's attempts to get her married. Mahmoud kicks Gamalat out.
Hosni falls in love with his neighbor, Zainab, and Rashid tries to persuade him to marry her. Gamalat refuses to return to Mahmoud's house.
Hosni fails to convince Rashid to obey his uncle and get married so that he wouldn't disinherit him. After Mahmoud's reconciled with Gamalat, he decides to sign over his house to her. Mamdouh tells Dawlat the fact that Rashid owns the largest share of his company.
Hosni becomes jealous of Rashid over Zainab, while Rashid tells Bahja that he doesn't want to marry her.
Zainab rejects her mother's attempts to wed her to a wealthy young man. Hosni confesses his love for Zainab. Rashid decides to travel outside Egypt and nominates Hosni to work for his uncle, Mamdouh.
Hosni blames his father, Mahmoud, for selling his house to Gamalat. Hosni returns to Cairo to start his job at Mamdouh's company. Zainab causes Naima to be fired from her job.
Zainab intervenes to get Naima her job back. The relationship between Hosni and Zainab goes downhill because he is busy with his new job.
Hosni mends his relationship with Zainab. Bahja decides to end her relationship with Shaaban. By virtue of his disagreements with Gamalat, Mahmoud's health condition deteriorates and he suffers a stroke.
Hosni returns to work after his father's condition improves, but he refuses to listen to Zainab's advice to quit work and focus on his studies. Saeed gets engaged to Bahja.
Saeed withdraws from Mamdouh's company, whereupon Bahja ends her relationship with him. Zainab clashes with her mother, who is trying to find out the identity of the person she loves.
Mamdouh refuses to negotiate with Saeed on waiving the penalty clause to end their partnership. A young man asks Zainab's mother to marry Zainab, who agrees, thinking that he is Hosni.
After Zainab falls ill when Hosni abandons her, Hosni proposes to Bahja, whereupon things get complicated between them, after which Zainab dies of grief over Hosni's separation from her.