Josias is typing something of paramount importance on the computer. His face shows a lot of concentration.Ernesto cautiously opens the door, “Sir, Uélton wants to speak to you urgently.”“Send him in.” Josias allows it without taking his eyes off the computer.Uélton enters out of breath, “Josias, help us! I mean, help your ex-in-laws...”“What happened to them?”“Dora called the storeroom. William is back, and it looks like he's got a screw loose!”Josias looks up at him, “Are you serious, Uélton?”“The screw loose part, not so much, but Dora was so worried that Simeon ran away.”Josias nods, “I get it. But what can I do, Uélton? If I show up at Simeon's house, William will become as violent as before.”“Do you trust that he won't turn violent without you around, just his parents and Melissa?”“Melissa can count on Kelvin Mountain.” Josias ponders, “For now, Uélton, I will have to stay out of this family matter.”Uélton is slightly disappointed but doesn't blame Josias, “Okay, buddy
Jack Motta returns home to find his father watching television. Ronaldo turns to him with an astonished face.“Oh, son, I'm so glad you're here. Can you explain to me what happened at LCN? An advertisement just aired announcing the latest episodes of ‘A rose in the desert’!”Jack sits next to his father, nodding, “That's right, old man. The show will end in the first season.”Ronaldo is not satisfied, “This can't be! How can they do such a thing to my son? After so much toil?”Jack is touched by his father's dedication and pats his head, “Don't worry, Dad. That things do happen. Besides, my book didn't have much to stretch out.”Octavio enters the house at this moment.Ronaldo asks ironically, “And the book by Mrs. Freire is Bible-thick to continue the story in a second season?”Jack laughs.Octavio takes off his suit, “What happened, guys?”“My TV book format will be finished in a few weeks, Octavio.”“Oh, little brother, what a shame.” Octavio sits in the armchair to take off his sh
Inside Simeon's house, the radio now plays “Turn the Beat Around”, a version by Gloria Estefan. Melissa enters the house and finds the environment hazy.“Why am I feeling like Sharon Stone in a place about to explode?” she asks ironically.“Well, I'm muscular like Stallone!” William brags and flexes the muscles in his right arm.Melissa rolls her eyes and approaches her father, “I'm here, Dad. I have good news: LCN has approved my spec! I will be their next author, my soap will replace ‘A Rose in the Desert!’”Simeon rejoices and hugs his daughter, “O, my little princess, what a joy! Congratulations!”“And how was poor Jack Motta?” William asks mockingly.The hug is broken and Melissa looks impatiently at her brother, “He didn't have any hard feelings.”“Of course, if he had, I would have smashed his face!”Melissa drops her bag on the dresser, “So, Will, what are you doing here?”“Why, I came to get my son and live happily ever after with him!”Melissa laughs, “You can live happily,
A few days passed. At William's house, Caio is surprised by the breakfast ready in the kitchen. William is buttering the bread. The absence of dark circles indicates that he's sleeping properly, not spending a sleepless night with whores.“Good morning, son! Ready for school?”“Today I have a math test,” Caio speaks with reserve as he sits down.“Your grandmother made this homemade bread. It's delicious, try it.”Caio helps himself and starts to eat. But curiosity speaks louder.“Father, are you going to disappear again?”William chuckles, “Of course not, son. I can't let the madwoman get revenge on me.”“So that's all my mother wants, revenge?” Caio chews a piece and swallows, “I thought she cared about me.”“Son, you are still young. When you're older, I'll tell you exactly what she did before you were born and after you were born.”Caio is confused, “Wow, so much?”“Exactly. Now continue to eat, I don't want to take away your appetite.”Caio decides not to bring the matter up again
William is surprised that Beto knows about Pamela's plan. The two gentlemen continue to chat in the manager's office.“How did you know that?” William asks intrigued.“The maids know everything,” Beto responds with an enigmatic smile.“OK, I got it.” The riddle didn't last on William, “You still have to visit her house to pick up Pedro.”“Yes, the name I gave my son in retaliation for Josias.” Beto wiggles, “Why did I get carried away by her ideas?”“And she named her son with her current husband ‘Theodore’ just to get at you.” Beto ponders, “Indeed, Pamela is a cruel woman. Why don't we team up to defeat her?”Beto bounces in his chair, “What is this, the rejected guys’ club?”“Almost that. We cannot let this shameless woman triumph.”“She has already triumphed, William.” Beto frowns, “She has a powerful husband and a law firm at her disposal. No one will want to defend you.”“ANY lawyer in this world will want to, Beto!” William grows impatient, “By the law, I can't be without repre
In the schoolyard, Caio talks to Alan and Reuben about William's change.“My dad is now making breakfast, cleaning the dishes, and not staying up late yelling at girls in his room,” Caio reports.The boys still don't get what means William "yelling" with "girls".Alan is unconvinced, “He's pretending to be a good father, Caio. So you take his side.”“And how am I going to stand by my mother? I barely know her, folks.”Reuben asks, “Don't you know why you lived with Seu Josias for so many years?”Caio sits on a bench, “My father promised to tell me the whole story when I grow up a little more.”Alan smiles, “Yes, good times when you lived with us and we were all close. Junior wrote another letter.”“Did João Paulo meet him?” Caio asks, curious.The boys continue to talk, not understanding that Victoria is not a small town.******At Crystal Blue, Daryl is opening a computer in his office. The moment was attended by the siblings, Shirley, Diane, Benjamin, and Frederick.“We are moderniz
Isabel is walking through the halls of LCN when she bumps into Vernon.“Hello, Mrs. Freire. Do you already know the news?”“Is about Melissa having her story produced? Yes, I am aware.” Isabel smiles at him.“It's not like that.” Vernon grumbles, “OK, I'm happy for her too, but I wanted to flaunt that I'm getting promoted to the print newspaper!”Isabel can't be happy for Vernon, “Is that a threat?”Vernon says wryly, “Well, if you don't bother me, I won't do what I did to William Campos.”Isabel is shocked, “So you admit it had something to do with that bust last year. How can you sleep on your pillow, Vernon?”“I take some tranquilizers and a glass of hot milk before I go to bed. And Elza's body keeps me warm.” Vernon thinks he's a joker.But Isabel is not amused, “I am now very busy with the renovation of 'Love Just Happens' and thank God your wife has become the hotel's manager. We have no more reason to fight, let's forget about this intrigue!”“Keep living your life and I'll tak
Josias enters the kitchen at Rocha Constructions. Shirley is serving her famous butter cookies to a cheerful Octavio and a reluctant Jack.“Cheer up, Jack. Shirley's cookies will leave you in paradise.” Octavio advertises.Shirley giggles modestly, “What is it, Mr. Motta? It's just cookies, I don't have fairy hands.”Jack tastes one that melts on his tongue, “Hmm... delicious, Shirley. And how is your daughter's pregnancy?”Josias watches as Shirley's smile fades within seconds.“She's fine, still working.”“It's almost six months old now, she better worry about not straining herself.” Jack gets worried.Shirley suddenly turns to the novelist, “You know her very well, don't you, sir?”“You can call me Jack. And yes, we are friends and I like her a lot. Mr. Marçal is a lucky man.”“Believe me, Jack, Bernie is unlucky.” Finally, she realizes Josias, “Oh, Mr. Rocha. We have fresh cookies for you.”“Thanks, Shirley. Bring a plate with a cup of tea to my office.”“Just now.” Shirley prepar
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