1992Ernesto takes Alan to school. The heir to Rocha Constructions will now attend the first grade of elementary school.“I'm so nervous, Ernesto! What will I find?” Alan asks anxiously.“New classmates and new teachers. Continue to behave like the good student you always were.” Ernesto smiles and makes 'ok' with his thumb.“Yes, I will behave so that Dad can be proud in heaven.” Alan comments.Ernesto's heart sinks. It's been hard to hide from everyone, including his wife, that Josias is actually alive and about to return.After Alan disappears among the countless students, Ernesto goes to the usual payphone and dials the number he already knows by heart.At Josias's hideout, which appears to be a rustic wattle and daub house, the phone rings, and a bearded Josias answers.“Hello?”“Boss, here I am again.”“Did you research what I asked for?”“Yes. The Bezerra family currently consists of the farm's owner, Ephraim Bezerra, and their only child, Katherine Bezerra. He has a younger bro
At Crystal Blue, Maggie was with a Maggiezine photographer about to take a picture of Kelvin. The middle brother was smiling, arms crossed and chest cocked, in a sexy, confident pose.“Done, it was perfect!” Maggie gets excited.“It's best to make it clear to your readers that I'm just the maître d, not the owner of the restaurant.” Kelvin jokes.“Don't worry, I'll send Caesar to warn them,” Maggie responds between giggles.Daryl approaches wearing a dolman, “Dear sister, don't you think you're exaggerating? I don't know how to cook, I only know how to manage.”Maggie isn't overwhelmed by doubts and objections, “Trust me, bros. This publicity article will bring more customers here.”“We are thinking about hiring more employees because we are not keeping up with the customers' flow.” Daryl asks, “And you want to get me more customers?”Maggie kisses Daryl on the cheek to answer the question.******At the Rocha penthouse, Ernesto returns from the street and finds Melissa having a cup o
Josias is going around in circles, wondering how to get home without causing harm to family and friends.“Now that I know enough about this Bezerra family, I can go back. And if they want to make a fuss, I have Igor and the entire Lagoon City to defend me.”The door of the house opens and Nathanael enters, the owner of the house who welcomed our hero.“Mr. Rocha, are you up yet?”Josias notices that Nathanael is with what appears to be a pig, without the head.“Is this our lunch?”“No, this will be our dinner.” Nathanael wisely responds, “My wife will cook this pork for hours to stay healthy. The doctor at the medical post right there taught us that it's bad to eat undercooked pork.”Josias is moved by what Nathanael says. He has known since the age of ten that raw meat can give worms, especially the dreaded 'solitary'. But the people of the countryside had to learn in adulthood with the doctor at the medical post that is 'right there', that is, five kilometers away.“Nathanael, I hav
Uélton, Isabel, and Harold enter the police station and are led by a female police officer to Detective Amoreira's office.Tiago is surprised to see the family, “Huh? I thought only Uélton would come.”“I came here to help my baby.” Isabel talks like any loving mother.Harold holds back a laugh. Uélton had a two-day stubble of beard. Where's the baby?Amoreira takes the floor, “Mr. Uélton Freire, I am Detective Amoreira. I'm handling the case involving your friends' accident, Mr. and Mrs. Barbosa.”“So tragic,” Uélton speaks.“Can you confirm if you saw Moacyr Barbosa’s car not being able to brake?”Uélton sits down where Tiago was, “Yes, that's what caught my attention. It seems that Seu Moacyr was totally distracted and emotional about the wedding. He was looking forward to finally marrying Cristina. The one who didn’t like it was her ex-husband.”Isabel puts her hand on her son's shoulder to ask him to focus.“In his first statement, Moacyr Barbosa claims he does not remember havin
In the hut where Nathanael's family lives, he and his family have breakfast with Josias at a table that seems to have been carved by him.“Woman, our guest will have to come home.” Nathanael announces, “And our son will go with him.”Frederick’s face lights up with a smile, “Really, Dad?”Maria Aparecida is worried like any mother, “Who will take care of my son?”“Don't cry, woman, our guest will direct him.” Nathanael frowns.“Frederick is safe with me, Dona Maria.” Josias smiles to comfort her.“Oh, I don’t know, the big city is very dangerous.” Maria is still suspicious, “I hear every crime on the radio.”“I live in a penthouse on the top floor of the building, we have security,” Josias confirms.“Then I'll pack your things, son.” Maria Aparecida gets up and blesses herself for her son.“Remember, son: you go to work. No rowdy. Don't get involved with delinquents or get that AIDS thing, okay?”“I don't even know what AIDS is...” Frederick scratches the back of his head with bacon g
Outside the hut, Josias admires the scenery one last time before heading back to the city. The dense forest and the singing of canaries make him relax. He takes a deep breath of the pure country air.“I wish I could have a place like this... but duty in the big city calls me.”Frederick leaves the house with an improvised backpack on his back, as if he were going camping, “I'm ready, Mr. Rocha.”“You better call me Josias from now on.” Josias smiles at him.Maria Aparecida appears wiping tears with an old handkerchief. Nathanael hugs his wife from the side.“God bless you and protect you, dear son,” Maria says goodbye to her only child.“I will always write, mother.” Frederick hugs his parents.The problem is that the postal service is precarious in rural areas.“Nathanael, thank you so much for taking me in. You don't know how much you helped me.” Josias says goodbye to the farmer.“You're welcome, Mr. Rocha. I'm still amazed that Ephraim was able to do that.”“It was certainly that
Josias and Frederick are at the BR 101 bus stop, waiting for transport to go to Lagoon City. Josias sees the excitement of the change of air stamped on the farm boy's face.“Looking forward to seeing Lagoon City?”“Yes sir!” Frederick starts to chatter, “Is the beach at Sunset Village as beautiful and full of kittens as people say? And where do you work? Does everyone wear a suit like the fancy people on TV?”Josias chuckles, “One step at a time, Fred. First of all, I must warn you that we are not going to the penthouse.”“It's all right.”Josias is startled. Someone else would already be cussing Josias, but Frederick accepts his decisions without batting an eye.“I need you to help me probe the ground and see how my family is doing.”“OK, I'll help you.”Josias takes pity on Frederick and begins to wonder if he is exploiting the humble boy. But, the Lagoon City road bus approaches and he gestures to stop it.******At Marçal Publishing, the situation is tense between Shirley and Magg
Vânia enters the Rocha Constructions kitchen and finds Shirley noisily arranging the delicacies table.“Shirley, for Christ's sake; what happened?”Shirley hits the serving dish with the cups that almost fall over, “I fought again with my daughter, and I couldn't unmask her in front of the so-called husband!”Vânia rolls her eyes and approaches to steal butter cookies, “Again, my friend?”“She now wants to explore my second child's body.” Shirley whimpers.Vânia widens her eyes, “What? Will Maggiezine become an erotic magazine featuring naked men?”“That's what it looks like!” Shirley snarls, “This is what this crap is going to become now that control of the magazine is in her hands. If that other editor was still there, the idea would be barred.”Vânia throws some cookies in her mouth and says while chewing, “'That other editor', in this case, would be Vernon Queiroz.”“Himself. If he wasn't stupid about waging war against the Freire family, he would stop my daughter from exploiting
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