Josias is disgusted by the prospect of Carmen being hired as a secretary in Melissa's place. Romualdo, Tiago, and Octavio are apprehensive."What is all this despair about?" Romualdo feels entitled to be surprised."You, in addition to catching me by surprise with my fiancée's firing, are you going to hire the sister of her archenemy?" Josias questions him.Romualdo shrugs indifferently: "Josias, again you don't address the issue objectively. Note that you didn't mention 'Melissa' or 'Carmen', for you it was 'my fiancée' and 'sister of the archenemy'. I, as a businessman, can't stick to the mess you're always making.""If you hire Carmen, you're going to get involved in the mess," Josias warns him dryly."Is this a threat?" Romualdo raises his voice."She is the threat!" Josias slams his fist on the table.The atmosphere gets even tenser. Tiago clears his throat."Josias, let me take responsibility for Carmen. She

Carmen descends the stairs in a new beige desk set. She descends as if she were in a Miss Lagoon City pageant. Pamela, Cristina, and Raymond applaud her enthusiastically."Congratulations, sis!" Pamela cheers, "You're the perfect secretary for that imperfect company.""Don't make fun of my new workplace." Carmen warns her lightly, "If Tiago listens to you, he fires me.""I don't think anyone thinks about this fight between the Chaves and the Campos anymore." Raymond opines, "Otherwise the Bentos wouldn't hire you.""Since Melissa just wants to be a stay-at-home mom, I'm here to take her place." Carmen declares and everyone goes back to cheering and applauding.********************************************************The landline phone in Vera's apartment rings and she answers, fearing it will be Isabel again. "Hello?""Vera, are you feeling sick?" It was Adrian's voice.Vera is relieved to hear the voice of the man she urgently

Melissa enters, her eyes are red from crying. Josias is startled and quickly gets up.He asks in astonishment: "Honey! What happened? Why are you so desperate?" He chokes on his words, "He... you couldn't reverse it?"Melissa approaches Josias and the two hug each other tightly.Melissa sobs: "How cruel Romualdo is! What happened to him? The growth of the company made his ego grows!"Josias replies tenderly, "Shh, calm down, my love."Melissa sniffles. "She is here, Carmen Chaves, mocking and laughing in my face, acting as Romualdo's mistress."Josias decides not to throw more gasoline on the fire. "Melissa, go home or to our penthouse. By the way, you need to get a copy of the keys."Melissa frowns a little, "I'll get the copy of the key, but I don't intend to go to the penthouse. I think it's better to go there only when we get married."Josias smiles at Melissa's sense of decency. "But, if you want, you can spend as much tim

Stacy wanders through the house under construction, looking for William. Some construction workers shamelessly whistle at her. As she approaches the doorway of the future master bedroom, she overhears the ongoing conversation between William and Milton.William says, "I promised to talk to Stacy, but she didn't show up for lunch. Well, I'll tell you right away, Milton. I'll be playing soccer again."Milton's eyes widen. From where Stacy stands, she is stunned.Milton asks, "Are you sure about that, William?"William replies impatiently, "Why do people react as if I'm announcing that I'm going to sell drugs? I want to give my son a better future."Milton is offended. "Oh, I'm sorry! I can't feed my wife and two kids being a construction worker!"William replies, making amends, "It's not like that. You are already experienced, you have a higher salary. I've been starting as a helper for over a year now, almost two. Coach Ferreira's appearance

In the living room, Cristina has dressed Pamela, putting gauze and adhesive tape on her left hand. The two are sitting on the sofa. Raymond is standing next to them, worried sick. Carmen is taking her purse to leave.She speaks in a nonchalant tone, "Well, folks, I need to get there early..."Pamela stops her from going by retorting, "Wait, Carmen, you need to explain to me what this Jeremiah nonsense is all about!"Carmen turns to her. Is it serious that she wants to continue to deny it? "You're the one who needs to explain to our parents. Who is Jeremiah? Some neighbor from Mr. Teodoro's boarding house that we don't know about?"Pamela's eyes widen. She doesn't answer immediately. "So it was Seu Teodoro, that damned old man? Well, I'll tell you then who the father is. Yes, he was begotten in the boarding house, but it wasn't with Jeremiah."Cristina gets very curious, "Who, daughter?"Pamela pauses dramatically. Cristina again feels inside