Lenu and Lila continue their lives in different path: Lila works in the show store and Elena returns to school.

Antonio is mad as Lenu for trying to stop his draft to the army. Stefano hits Lila and opens his heart to Lenu. Lila is mad at Lenu for trying to reconcile Stefano and her.

Lila continues to hold a grudge against Stefano as the shoe shop opens and she goes to work at his new grocery store; Elena brings Lila to a party at her teacher's home.

On Lila's request, Lenu joins her and Pinuccia at Ischia for the summer. They meet Nino Sarratore, and both are attracted to him.

Lila and Nino get dangerously close to each other during the summer vacation in Ischia. This breaks Lenu's heart, feeling twice betrayed.

Following the vacation in Ischia Elena disconnects from Lila and Nino. Lila decides she cannot go on with her life, so she leaves Stefano and moves in with Nino. Elena travels to Pisa for her university studies. Antonio returns broken from him military service and looks for work.

Elena enjoys her life as a student in Pisa. When she is sick she reads the notebooks Lila gave her during her visit to Naples, and learns what Lila has gone through during the years.

Elena graduates university, meets a man from a nice family and returns to Naples. When she returns home she is told that Lila left home with her son. While in Pisa Elena wrote a novel based on her life.