Melissa shakes hands with the Mountain brothers. Daryl and Kelvin try to be as nice as possible.“Mrs. Rocha, we are so sorry for the loss.” Daryl comments, “Josias Rocha was our most distinguished customer.”“Don't worry, we will continue to frequent the restaurant.” Melissa responds to the kindness, “Crystal Blue has been a top-notch restaurant.”“Thank you for your preference.” Kelvin thanks her.At this moment, a Maggiezine photographer snapped a photo. Kelvin's hand was still holding Melissa's.Bernardo and Maggie enter next.“Look, honey, our photographers have already shown up.”Bernardo frowns, “Can we forget about the magazine? We came to pay our condolences to the widow Rocha.”“OK, I won't mention the biography.” Maggie frowns for another reason, “Argh, my mom came!”“Wasn't she supposed to come?” Bernardo asks intrigued.“Of course not. She does not miss an opportunity to offend me.”“One more reason for us to maintain the politeness today, we are at a wake.” Bernardo pull
Ephraim is in Itaporanga village, in a rustic bar, reading one of the few copies of the newspaper you can get in those parts. On the first page, the headline announces the wake of Josias Rocha.A 1960s radio is playing Gloria Estefan's song "Coming Out of the Dark," as if she's saying something to Ephraim.But Ephraim doesn't know English nor did he know about the accident that almost took the life of Gloria Estefan. He returns the newspaper to the bar owner and pays for the drink.“It’s happening.” He comments as he leaves, with a smart smile.******In the arena, more people gather to say goodbye to Lagoon City's hottest businessman, even only for a short time.Mayor Ibrahim and Tobias respectfully greet Melissa, and countless flashes pop to capture the moment.Moacyr and Cristina arrive and notice the venue is fuller.“Are we going to get a place to sit?” Cristina worries.Carmen stands up and waves at the couple, showing that she has saved seats for them.As they are in a row behi
Father Mathias continues, “With faith in God and the strength of his fists, Josias Rocha built a full and prosperous life for himself. From a few reais in his pocket to a bank account containing infinite zeros, Josias Rocha became an important part of Silva Constructions until he fully owned it and renamed the company with his last name.”Everaldo remains uncomfortable with the posthumous honors given to Josias. Something inside him said it wasn't the end...“Josias was also very fortunate in love. A wife, children, a devoted mother, and a younger brother who looks up to him. Josias will be missed, but the mark he left on the world will never be erased.”“It won't go out because he's still alive!” Everaldo can't take it anymore and bursts into the wake, catching everyone's eye.João Paulo gets up and yells wildly, “Where were you, you wizard? Why didn't you stop my brother from dying?”“Son, take it easy.” Elza tries to pull him back into the seat.Father Mathias is confused, “Excuse
The Bezerra family doctor leaves Josias's room at the same time that Katherine wants to come in with the newspaper. She murders the doctor with her gaze because of his permission for Josias to return home.“My dad waits for you in his studio to pay you,” she growls.The doctor walks away without understanding why Miss Bezerra is bitter and sour.Katherine slams the door so hard that Josias has a bad feeling.“Hey, what's up, Kate?”She disguises her irritation by pretending she's like this because of the newspaper, “That's what happened!”Katherine throws the newspaper into Josias's lap. He picks it up and reads it...And he loses all the color in her face as if he were really in the coffin being veiled.“What does that mean? My funeral? Who told my family that I died?”“After so long without meeting you, they must have come to that conclusion.” Katherine plays dumb.“But this is unacceptable! I need to get back, I need to undo this mis—”Josias's face in white turns red.He saw the p
Moacyr and Cristina are displeased when they see Adrian's unwelcome presence.“Son, respect to my fiancée,” Moacyr demands with a frown.But, Adrian becomes more petulant, “I will have no respect for this witch, ever!”“Enough!” Cristina walks away, “I'm not going to stand here listening to insults!”“Stay right where you are, you slut!” Adrian bellows at the top of his lungs, “You're nothing but a slum dweller, you don't have rights or privileges like me!”“Who are you calling a slut?” Out of nowhere, Raymond appears and grabs Adrian by the shoulder, making him turn to face him.An accurate punch is delivered to Adrian, causing him to stumble backward.Moacyr interposes between the two, “Hey, no fighting here!”Raymond is outraged, “What do you mean? This idiot is insulting your fiancée and you do nothing?”“I'm not in the mood to create scandal in the building where my fiancée works.” Moacyr asserts.“Then kick that worm out of here! I will not tolerate this behavior!” Raymond dodge
Katherine breaks into a sweat as she imagines herself in the same bed as Josias, screaming in pleasure and pain as he brutally, savagely, and sickeningly possesses her.However, she just says, “We'll be waiting for you at seven o'clock.”“Are you sure your dad is going to allow me into his living room without my underwear under my dress pants?” Josias insists on provoking and fanning Katherine's impure desires.“Tomorrow we provide something!” Katherine doesn't face Josias.“It's not very difficult. Your maid just needs to take the same measurements she took to sew the pants.” Josias responds as if insulting the intelligence of the Bezerra family maid.Katherine takes the hint and strides out of Josias's room.When she slams the door, she scowls, “Today you'll still be naked, Josias, and with me!”******Melissa crosses Main Square with shopping bags. In the opposite direction, Kelvin performs his jog, already sweaty. He slows down to meet Melissa.“Mrs. Rocha! Can I have a minute of
Dinner normally takes place at the Bezerra farm. Josias is delighted with the lamb loin and the tropeiro beans.However, his wine glass remains intact.“Aren't you going to drink the wine, Josias?” Katherine urges him, “It comes from a good vintage.”“Do you make your own wine?” Josias asks as if he is interested.“Yes, and we are very proud of it,” Ephraim responds with his cocked chest.“I'm asking it because of my future hotel.” Josias responds excitedly, “Imagine if we struck a deal to serve your wine to my guests?”“Wow, that would be great!” Katherine responds only to cover up.If their plan works, Josias will never return to Lagoon City, so he can forget about the hotel and all.“Well, for that you need to taste my wine to see if it's worthy of being in your pantry.” Ephraim cleverly suggests consumption.Josias chuckles and finally takes the cup to drink.Wow! Josias didn't know if the wine was grape juice or alcohol!Josias had never drunk such strong and concentrated wine in
“DAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDYYYYY!!”Ephraim runs still in tacky pajamas from his room to the guest room when he hears his dear daughter's crazy scream.If last night he didn't want to open the door when his daughter was being brutally possessed by Josias, now he breaks down the door like Indiana Jones.Katherine's face is expressing panic and terror. She's wrapped in the blankets and is now able to lean back against the headboard.“DAUGHTER, what the hell happened to you?” Ephraim asks this foolish question.“Where is he, daddy, where is my husband?”“What are you talking about?”“I woke up and he's not here!” Katherine cries like a little girl, even though yesterday she was moaning and screaming like a mature woman.Ephraim calms down, “Ah, daughter, is that it? Surely your husband is in the bathroom cleaning himself.”“The window was closed yesterday!” Katherine points to the open window.Ephraim frowns, not understanding what Katherine is getting at. He goes to the window.Their house is on
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