In the Rocha penthouse, the tense and embarrassing situation continues. Alan approaches the others in the living room, stomping and scowling. “Uncle Will, how dare you to speak ill of my late father?” Melissa widens her eyes. Is the son speaking in the same firm tone as the father? William, however, just smiles petulantly, “Who are you to talk to me like that, brat?” “I am Alan Rocha, the heir of everything, so said my mother.” Alan boldly responds, “I still don't know what that means, but I don't like you cursing me, least of all my dad!” Dora approaches and takes Alan by the arm, “OK my grandson, don't get involved in the conversation, please.” “Ground him, Granny!” Alan demands of her. The two withdraw. Melissa smiles proudly for her son. “See why I wanted you single?” William doesn't turn the record, “Now you're alone and you're going to have to put up with two annoying kids.” “I ‘put up with’ both of them with the greatest pleasure.” Melissa counters, “The best thing I've
Melissa, Tiago, Igor, William, and Octavio are in the meeting room to discuss an important subject: the hotel. “Gentlemen, we need to talk about Rocha Hotel.” Melissa begins, “We need to move forward with my late husband's project.” “Bullshit...” William grumbles, frowning. “Melissa, do you think this is a good idea?” Tiago asks cautiously. Melissa hands them copies of the newspaper Carmen had taken for her, “See the news for yourselves. Josias told me that the construction of the hotel was in support of the expansion of the Lagoon City Journal which will soon become the Lagoon City Network. The construction of the studio where the news will be broadcast is at full speed. Later this year they will likely inaugurate the TV station.” “Yes, and Mayor Ibrahim commented that our city doesn't have a hotel that can accommodate people of this level.” Igor helps with the argument. Tiago smiles, “What do you say to us, Octavio?” “The floor plans are moldy in my living room drawers.” He re
More days passed. In the countryside, Maria Aparecida is reading a letter written by Frederick. She smiles, missing her only child. Nathanael enters the hut with an armadillo for his wife to cook, “Woman, have you finished reading the boy's letter? I need you to cook this armadillo the way you do so well.” Maria Aparecida sighs and gets up, “Have you read your son's letter, man?” Nathanael doesn't seem to miss his son, “No, I'll read later.” Maria Aparecida wiggles and takes the wildlife, “Let me take care of it.” Suddenly, somebody clapped outside. Nathanael opens the door and finds Ephraim. “Mr. Bezerra, what an honor to have you here!” Ephraim does not wait to be invited and enters. Maria Aparecida is intimidated by the aura of the most prosperous farmer in the region. “Would you like some coffee?” She offers. Ephraim makes an almost imperceptible move of lips indicating disgust. He only drinks the coffee made in his house, with the best-chosen beans. “I came to know if y
At Harold's house, Isabel was in the armchair while the family was on the sofa: Harold, Flavia, and Reuben. Uélton was on his feet. “OK, Freire family together.” Isabel begins the family reunion, “As you may know, I received a proposal from LCN, Lagoon City Network, to turn my first book ‘Love Just Happens’ into a prime-time soap opera. What do you think?” “I have already commented my favorable opinion,” Harold responds smiling. Flavia and Uélton still didn't know. “Mom, this is amazing!” Uélton says excitedly, “You're going to receive royalties for the authorization, aren't you?” “Of course I do, after all, they don’t own the work.” Isabel calmly responds, “I need to communicate this with Mr. Marçal, but I want to hear the family's opinion.” “I will be one of the loyal viewers!” Flavia opines, looking forward to watching the first episode. “What is prime-time soap opera, grandma?” Reuben asks. The adults laugh. “It certainly has nothing to do with our fishing program, my gran
Inside the apartment, Josias doesn't know if he's happy or upset that João Paulo discovered the secret.The radio is playing “Why” by Annie Lennox.“Hearing this?” Josias jokes, “That's the question I have for you, little brother: why are you here?”“I wanted to see you, big bro!” João Paulo is astonished, “Don't scold me for this. You don't know how much I've missed you!”Josias nods with a slight smile, “I know. Unfortunately, I didn't plan for that.”Ernesto joins in the conversation, “That's what we're talking about, João Paulo. Josias was apparently rescued by a farmer and was without communication with the real world for weeks. Josias healed his wounds at the Bezerra farm. But, he found out that Mr. Bezerra was planning to keep him stranded on the farm forever.”João Paulo is more shocked, “How crazy! This is kidnapping!”Josias and Ernesto sit on the sofa.“Yes, that's why I ran away from there.” Josias explains, “I hid in another place and became fond of the family there. When
At Crystal Blue, João Paulo enters looking for Frederico, but Kelvin blocks his steps.“Hi, young man, do you have a reserved table?”João Paulo thought Kelvin was mocking him. The restaurant is full of people in suits and ties having lunch, and he's in jeans and a denim jacket.“I'm looking for Frederick.” João Paulo responds with a reservation.“Hey, he's busy out there disposing of garbage bags,” Kelvin responds with a chuckle.Melissa walks in with Elza at this point.“Mr. Mountain, I have a table reserved for two.” Melissa turns to João Paulo, “Hello, João! Why are you here?”“For nothing.” João Paulo gets nervous.“Son, do not enter this illustrious restaurant in these simple clothes.” Elza advises him, “Where are those clothes that Josias told you about? They are of a good brand and more appropriate to be here.”“Okay, mom, I'll remember that.” Suddenly João Paulo remembers something to justify himself, “I wanted to see Ben.”“Ben comes in later since he studies in the morning,
Maggie, Melissa, and Elza, along with all the Crystal Blue customers, are ecstatic to hear that Isabel's first book will be turned into a soap opera.Everyone claps their hands praising Isabel.Maggie and Elza clap just to cover their despise.Bernardo enters at this very moment, “What's going on? Who is being applauded?”Maggie turns to him before Isabel yells again, “Darling, Mrs. Freire has just informed me that LCN wants to produce a prime-time soap opera based on ‘Love Just Happens’.”Bernardo smiles at Isabel, “Oh, how wonderful! It’s our work once again being spread throughout Brazil!”“Thank you, Mr. Marçal.” Isabel responds sweetly, “I needed to talk to you about this.”“I completely agree. Have you confirmed with them?”“Since Marçal Publishing does not object, I will sign the contract this afternoon.”Bernardo turns to Maggie, “Honey, you already know what to do!”“What?” Maggie is caught off guard.“Well, you will set aside some pages of Maggiezine to publicize the novel!
Josias doesn't know how to respond to João Paulo. He even mentioned that it would be nice to let Melissa follow her heart. But would he be ready?“João Paulo, I don't know if I can answer you now.”“If you can't answer me, it's because you still love Melissa, and you can't bear to see her with another guy.”Josias tries to disguise, “Kelvin Mountain is a good guy; he's a better choice than Adrian.”“Then I won't interfere if she decides to date him. Well, that was it, I'll hang up. In the afternoon I pass some gossip to Fred.”João Paulo hangs up. Josias turns to Frederick.“And then?” He asks.“Prepare your ears. We have more revelations later.”******Jack is in front of Daniel Oliveira in the director's office. Both are seated vis-à-vis.“Would you like some water, some juice, Mr. Motta?”“No, thank you.” Jack smiles, “I don't understand why I'm being treated like a celebrity.”“Perhaps because you really are a celebrity.” Daniel flatters him.“Why did LCN summon me?”Daniel leans
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