At Simeon's house, only William and Melissa remained. The TV is off, they've already watched the match and celebrated a lot. Now the radio is playing Morrissey's song "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get," practically translating what Melissa is feeling about Josias.“The more he gets away from me, the more I feel the need to be close to him, Will.” Melissa laments, “Why did things turn out this way?”The Campos siblings still wear the shirt of the Brazilian team.William doesn't know how to respond. Until 1993, he would be rude and blame his sister for her misfortunes.“Little sister, what about Kelvin?”“Don't get me wrong, Will. I love Kelvin and I want to marry him. But I cannot erase twelve years of friendship, courtship, and marriage with Josias at once!”Without realizing it, Melissa and Josias repeated the same thing!William sighs, “Melissa, as sad as the reality is, I think it's time for you to focus on your happiness. I don't agree with Kelvin Mountain one bit, but if
Melissa is welcomed by Shirley at the Mountain family's apartment. As said before, everyone was in a festive mood.“Melissa! Oh, thank God, you showed up to brighten my day! Come in, come in, Daryl warned me you were coming.”Melissa enters, but can't help but feel awkward. How could Shirley be sad on a day like today?The answer came when Melissa spotted Maggie and Bernardo together on the couch with Henrique on his mother's lap.“Maggie, Bernardo, how are you? Henry is growing fast.”“By the time we blink, he'll be huge, he'll probably be the one carrying me.” Maggie laughs.Shirley was going to offer Melissa butter cookies but freezes her steps when she sees her talking to Maggie.Kelvin approaches her from behind, “Isn't it great that Melissa and Maggie are friends?”“No.” Shirley responds curtly, “I don't want Maggie to teach Melissa how to cheat on you by getting pregnant with another man.”Kelvin rolls his eyes, “Mom, how long are you going to keep that bad thought?”Shirley do
Monday is the day for everyone to go back to work. So it was for Elza and Vernon, who eat breakfast already dressed for business, each one for his work.“Darling, you look very pretty in that brown suit.” Vernon compliments her, “I should be worried about perverts who work with you at the hotel.”Elza takes a sip of coffee and smiles, pleased to see that she is still loved and wanted, “No, I don't allow anyone to approach me with pornographic connotations.”Vernon remains concerned, “Okay, you don't have sexual harassment. And what about bullying? Are there annoying men insinuating that you don't boss them around because you're a woman?”“It is enough for me to say that I am Josias Rocha’s mother and they are silent like trained dogs.”Vernon laughs, “This is my wife. I got a lot of applause at LCN and my team respects me for ruining Pamela's reputation. What last name are we going to call her now?”“Pamela Chaves, the only last name she has left.” Elza chews a piece of bread, “Mr. Da
Beto shocked everyone when he announced that he was going to take on Rosemary.Cristina is offended because her granddaughter was very fine with her, “Beto, what's this story? Why do you want to do more harm to our family?”“What a beautiful family you are!” Beto disdains, “I want my daughter in a more peaceful environment. Mr. Damascene just wants to take care of his son, so I decided to do the same.”Cristina does not accept this, “Rosemary is very well here.”“In my apartment, I hired a nanny who takes care of Pedro. She is already aware and ready to take care of my daughter.”Daryl threatens him, “What if the Family Court finds out that you're dying to abuse my girlfriend?”Beto smiles sarcastically, “Don't even bother. The same judge will know what the wonderful Chaves family is like: the eldest daughter is a promiscuous fugitive and the patriarch had an adultery affair with the nurse... do you want me to continue?”Cristina clenches her fists, “I can't be blamed for Pam's mistak
Cristina desperately calls the Rocha Hotel. On the other side, Elza answers the call sitting at her desk.“Rocha Hotel, Elza Queiroz, good morning?”“Elza, you are the one I want to talk to!” Cristina relieves herself.Elza is reluctant to talk to Cristina, “Ehr... any problem, Cristina?”Cristina feels the distance when she doesn't hear the manager call her 'friend' or 'dear', “Is Mr. Damascene still staying at the hotel? What is his room?”“Yes, he's staying, hasn't returned to the Damascene house yet. They say he will sell it.”“What a shame. I need to talk to him about Rosemary's custody. He officially took over my granddaughter when he married Pamela, but now that she's gone and Mr. Damascene just wanted to be with little Theo, Beto wants to be with her.”Elza doesn't see any problem, “Oh, but if Beto is the legitimate father...”Cristina lumps in her throat, “Give him the phone, please.”“Cristina, Mr. Damascene is at his law firm and the son is with the nanny,” Elza informs her
Josias and Angela are walking in the foyer. The very white granite-like floor makes the room brighter than it already is.“Honey, when do you want us to formalize our union?” Josias asks with his jacket on his arm, “I want to end the conversation with the other schizophrenic.”“She's still saying she was the chosen one.” Angela laughs mercilessly, “Any time and day you want, Josias.”“Great, I'll ask Ernesto to find the best day.” Josias unlocks the double doors with his keys.“Honey, can I take the opportunity to ask for the wedding to be here?”Josias is about to leave, but is surprised by the request, “Do you want the wedding to be here?”Josias is afraid. If the ceremony takes place at the Rocha mansion, Melissa will not attend...“Was it a bad idea?” Angela notes his fear, “The mansion was perfect, very beautiful and spacious, and the covered garden could very well serve as a reception place. I've seen so many American movies where the romantic couple gets married in a house that
Josias enters Elza's office and finds her more relaxed, working hard on her computer. The headache was gone thanks to the aspirin.“Mom, can I talk to you for a moment?”Elza nods to the door where her son stands on the threshold, “Son! Come in, you can come. I'm going to ask Jane to bring you some coffee.”“No need, mother, the visit is brief.” Josias smiles slightly.“How can I help you?”“I think the family should be the first to know. Angie and I are considering formalizing the union later this year.”Elza nods, “After being four-time champions, there's one more reason to celebrate.”“Don’t you have any points against it?” Josias wants to know with some certain eagerness.Elza smiles assuredly, “Don't worry, my son. Of course, I wanted to see you and Melissa always together, but we can't cry over spilled milk.”Josias pulls a seat to him, “That's where my biggest concern is. Angie wants us to get married at the Rocha mansion, and Simeon and Dora have informed me that Melissa swore
Melissa is at her house, on the computer, focused on writing more episodes for the soap opera 'Sweet Love'. The radio helps her with inspiration from the song “Around the World”, from East 17. Melissa nods her head to the beat of the song.Dora approaches and smiles when she sees her daughter concentrating, “Whoever sees you like that, thinks you're not working.”“Let them think.” Melissa smiles defiantly, “I'm going to prove to everyone that I can do it.”Dora stands by her daughter, “And who thinks you can't?”“There's always someone,” Melissa grumbles.Dora prepares to communicate what Josias has decided at the mansion, “Daughter, your father has authorized me to inform you of a decision Josias made while we were at his mansion.”Melissa shows little interest, “Mom, please, I just want to hear from Josias when I talk about our children. His new life with Angela cannot be of interest to me.”Dora catches the word, “Cannot? What radicalism is this? No, honey, I'm going to tell you ri
Josias visits the Rocha Hotel since he didn’t have a day off for the staff. In the management room, Eugenio gathered David, Benjamin, and Sybil. “Why is that mere cook present at this meeting?” David asked disparagingly. “Because that’s how our boss ordered it,” Eugenio replied dryly. “I didn’t say anything and didn’t call this meeting, so if you’ll excuse me...” Benjamin and Sybil were horrified to see David leaving the meeting just like that. However, when he opened the door, David came face to face with his father. “David, where do you think you’re going?” “DAD!” David exclaimed, extremely surprised. “I didn’t know you were coming!” “Didn’t Eugenio tell you I was coming?” Josias asked with a scowl. David understood who the ‘boss’ was. Benjamin and Sybil felt vindicated. Josias sat down at the desk, taking Eugenio’s seat, while the manager remained humbly standing. “Very well,” Josias began the meeting in a formal tone, “I’m here just to make things crystal clear. First
Melissa and Mary visit the Mountain Café.“A guava juice for me, Mr. Mountain!” Mary requested, smiling sweetly.“Of course, my princess!” Rodrigo replied, thinking Mary was very adorable. “Neil will make a delicious cup for you.”“Thank you. But the princess is Carol,” Mary responded, striking a serious pose.Melissa and Rodrigo laughed heartily. Mary is something else...“Rod, how has it been managing the café in your father’s absence?” Melissa asked seriously.Rodrigo served a baked chicken pastry with ketchup to Mary. “I'm getting by, Melissa. Josias was here earlier, more concerned about my loss than his own, as always. Isn’t he supposed to be resting?”Melissa nodded. “My husband is like that: he only relaxes when all of us are relaxed.”“An impossible mission because of certain people.”Neilton approached with the glass. “Who ordered a guava juice?”“I DID!” Mary grabbed the glass and went to a table.Melissa leaned forward, “Neil, Rod, how are Daryl and Diane? Behaving?”“Cont
At João Paulo’s house, he and Josias were about to have a significant conversation.“Walter, do you want to go with your mom to the kitchen?” João Paulo asked, looking at Helen. “I think she made some walnut cake.”“It was carrot cake,” Sandra replied, already getting up from the couch.“You got it.” Helen appeared and picked up Walter in her arms. “Let’s let Dad and Uncle Josias talk.”“Bye, Uncle!” Walter waved goodbye to Josias.“Bye-bye, I want a piece later!” Josias chuckled.Once alone with João Paulo, Josias became serious. “Don’t let anything or anyone ruin this family scenario, little brother.”“I’m fine. No one wants to ruin anything,” João Paulo replied casually.“Well, I hope David hasn’t caused you any trouble.”“He probably doesn’t even know I exist, man.” João Paulo shrugged.“But I stopped by Café Montanha and found out that the Vasquez family has replaced the Mountain family as the ‘annoying people.’”João Paulo sighed in disappointment. “Yeah. They—”The doorbell ran
Josias visits Café Montanha for a coffee and finds Rodrigo there. “Rod, how have you been?” Rodrigo is taken aback. “How am I? You’re the one who suffered a horrific loss recently!” “But you also lost your father. We’re in the same situation,” Josias explained as he sat down on a stool. “I’m okay, Josias. Life has a way of cheering me up. For example, I’m back at the diner after Thierry decided to take his place at the supermarket.” Rodrigo smiled. “What about the photography studio?” Josias smiled back. “It’s still going to operate, and Thierry will make periodic visits. But he’s going to appoint one of the staff to manage the studio.” Rodrigo served a pizza pastry to Josias. “Thank you. Well, I hope everything is alright between you two. I need to visit Rosemary and meet Jean Luc — is that the name of the baby?” “Yes, the name of the supermarket heir. Meanwhile, Frank will be here or somewhere else.” Josias interjected, “If Frank wants to work at Rocha Constructions, count
At the Rocha Mansion, Josias receives a visit from Benjamin. “How have you been, Ben? Any news about your parents?” The two embrace. “Actually, that’s what I want to talk about.” Benjamin scratches the back of his neck. The embrace breaks. “Let’s go to my office.” The two gentlemen enter Josias’s imposing office. “Any problems with Adolfo?” Josias asks, becoming serious. “Not yet, but I hope not to have any,” Benjamin replies with some sadness. “You know, Josias, what happened with your father made me think about my family, about how important it is for all of us to be together in the final moments.” “That’s true. João Paulo can tell you that better than I can.” “I think you can say it too. Vernon was the father you never had.” Benjamin clears his throat. “So, I’ve been looking into some hotels and realized there’s a demand at the Rocha Hotel in Victoria.” Josias looks at Benjamin, understanding where he’s going with this. “You want to go to Victoria to be close to your pare
Someone rings the doorbell at João Paulo’s house. The homeowner goes to answer after taking a shower and putting on clean clothes. But when he opened the door, João Paulo felt like slamming it in the visitor’s face. “Don’t be rude!” Erasmo exclaimed. “What do you want, you old bore?” João Paulo shot back. Erasmo barged into João Paulo’s foyer. “The mourning is over. Let’s pick up where we left off.” “Are you crazy? Who decides how long mourning lasts? We just got back from the trip!” “Not exactly, it’s been a day. Life goes on, my friend!” Erasmo replied mockingly. João Paulo remained serious. “But I don’t want to continue living this way, where fights and intrigues are the order of the day. Mr. Vasquez, you have a business to run, and I have a family to raise.” “But you found time to slap my son-in-law when he was here defending his family, didn’t you?” “Alan was extremely rude, but that was some time ago.” João Paulo frowned. “I don’t feel the same anger as before.” “So a
At the Vasquez Mansion, Alan could hardly believe that the people were thinking about more intrigues and disputes. “Guys, don’t you understand that I even forgot the reason I slapped Uncle João Paulo?” “Ridiculous!” Erasmo gestured. “You just maintained respect because it was a difficult occasion. But now, the mourning is OVER!” “Do you think João Paulo will rest, dear?” Sofia asked, sitting next to him. Alan shook his head. “If Uncle João Paulo doesn’t want to rest, then he is truly despicable. But my dad is back in town. He wouldn’t dare to do that.” The news should have been uplifting, but the members of the Vasquez family merely exchanged silent glances. With Josias present, it’s quite likely that he will put a stop to their fighting. Alan turned to Olivia. “In the meantime, we should celebrate the recovery of my dear mother-in-law!” Olivia and Sofia smiled awkwardly because of the secret they were keeping. “That’s right, let’s celebrate life!” Erasmo wrapped his arm arou
Josias Rocha and his family returned to Lagoon City. Those who were waiting for them stayed in the mansion and greeted them cheerfully in the foyer. “WELCOME BACK!” Melissa, crying, embraced her parents, William, and the twins fervently. Josias greeted them with a light smile. “Where’s João Paulo?” William asked. “He went straight to his house. His kids needed to rest from the trip.” Melissa wiped her tears with her fingers. “Alan went straight to his mansion. Especially now that his mother-in-law has woken up from the coma.” “That was a scare; I thought we’d have two funerals,” Simeon commented. Everyone headed to the living room. “Is Paris very beautiful, Mom?” Mary asked. “Yes, sweetheart, it’s stunning. We’ll go shopping together another time, okay?” “Do you have pictures?” Ignacio asked anxiously. “Yes, son, we took some pictures.” Melissa sat on the couch, pulling out a package from her bag. Josias sat in the armchair, taking a deep breath. William approached him.
At Café Montanha, Daryl walks in for a coffee and finds Rodrigo at the counter while Neilton serves the others. “Hey, are we back to the old tradition?” “Don’t be a clown, man.” Rodrigo laughs. “Yes, Thierry is at the supermarket, as we agreed.” “Hi, Neil. Can you make me a cappuccino while I enjoy a natural sandwich?” Daryl places his order. “Sure thing, Mr. Mountain.” Neilton heads to the back. Daryl sits on the stool. “So, how do you feel after getting back to your element?” “I don’t regret at all helping my dear wife at the supermarket, Daryl,” Rodrigo admitted while preparing the natural sandwich. “I’m not talking about regrets.” Daryl joked. “But it’s undeniable that after Uncle Francisco’s passing, you prefer to stay here, carrying on the legacy he left.” “Just like Crystal Blue.” Rodrigo smiled. “Hey, I’m aware that you’re looking to open another restaurant in Sunset Village. Do you think you can manage it? How’s the prospecting going?” Daryl picks up the sandwich but