Melissa is stunned to see how her parents forcibly want her to not be traumatized by the Rocha penthouse.The radio plays “Think Twice”, and it seems like Céline Dion is advising Melissa to think twice before acting.Melissa stands up and tries to fight back, “Mom, you're not serious. If I live in the Rocha penthouse, memories of my past with Josias will surface in my mind like ghosts. I will be miserable knowing that my ex-husband will no longer walk through that door to hug me, kiss me, and love me!”Dora takes pity on her daughter, “Honey, I know, but now you have Kelvin for that.”“Then it gets worse! Do you think Kelvin will want to live in a penthouse that was coined after another man?”Dora shrugs, “You can change it to 'Mountain Penthouse'. Or maybe Kelvin doesn't even care. Have you discussed this with him?”Melissa doesn't respond. She just realizes how she and Kelvin have stopped talking about a lot of things...Dora takes the opportunity to advise her, “Talk to him, dear.
At Crystal Blue, Daryl says goodbye to Kelvin. Waiters are cleaning the hall after the noon service.“Little brother, I'm going to date Diane before Roberto rapes her. Do you take care of the restaurant here?”“Sure.” Kelvin smiles displaying perfect teeth, “Melissa comes over and we'll talk.”“Ah, hence that smile.” Daryl pats his younger brother's shoulder.Melissa enters at this moment and finds the two, “Good afternoon, everyone. How is Diane, Daryl?”“Intact, that's what I hope. Excuse me, I'm heading there right now.” Daryl storms off, somewhat paranoid.Kelvin leads Melissa to the bar where Benjamin is cleaning the counter.“Ben, pour my girlfriend a shot of cognac.”“Is it Ben who's bartending here?” Melissa asks in surprise.Benjamin smiles, “I'm learning a few things, cousin.”Kelvin comments, “Ben told me that he tried to learn to cook in the past. If he dedicated himself, he could go from being a waiter to being a chef here.”Melissa smiles, “Are you listening, Ben? There
Miguel decides to stop being a mystery before Beto and Cristina suffer a massive stroke.“Rosemary goes to an Institution for Minors.”The bomb had the same effect as a massive stroke for both of them. WHAT?!Cristina splays her hands on the desk and stands up furiously, “WHAT? Will my granddaughter go to an orphanage?”“Exactly. She has no living biological father and her mother is a slut who abandoned her. This is what happens to children who are abandoned.”“But she has her maternal family that is still around!” Cristina roars like the lioness.“When I take all the confusions that Beto has just told me to the Family Court, no judge on this Earth will give custody to a crazy grandmother who raised a prostitute daughter.”“You DAMN IT!” Cristina slaps another ex-son-in-law.Beto rages, “How cool, you crazy old woman! Now you have complicated our situation!”“Shut up!” Cristina also slaps Beto and runs out of Damascene Lawyers.Beto tries one last time, “Please, Miguel, think carefull
Diane is amazed when she hears Cristina announce that she is going to repeat Pamela's mistake.“Auntie, no! Why are you going to run away, where? Can't you see that's exactly what Pam did? Then you get offended when they compare you to her!”“I don't care about anything else but my granddaughter's safety! Where is she?” Cristina screams at the top of her lungs.“She is in the Rocha Mansion, playing with the other children.” Diane responds.“That's great, they're mixing Rosemary with the grandchildren of our enemies!” Cristina turns on her heel to leave.However, Daryl wheels Moacyr out of the canteen and into the lobby.“Wait, honey!” Moacyr exclaims.Cristina freezes her steps in the doorway and turns to her husband.“Where are you going?”“Moacyr, I'm going to rescue our granddaughter. Miguel decided to put her in an orphanage instead of leaving her with us!”Moacyr is shocked, “What? But what about her maternal family? And Beto?”“Beto was with me in Miguel's office. We both fought
The next day, Ronaldo and Octavio don't quite understand Jack's decision not to pursue his artistic career on TV.Gathered around the table for breakfast, Jack explains, “I'm still getting used to the camera flashes. My dream was to be a novelist, guys!”“You can write your books in your spare time.” Octavio asserts, “It was a golden opportunity, little brother.”“It certainly won't be the only one.” Jack smiles confidently, “I know LCN won't give up on me.”“That's what you say, son.” Ronaldo congratulates him, “That's why you have the opportunity to join an acting school so that no one says you don't have natural talent.”“I'm going to start looking today.” Jack takes a sip of coffee.******Shirley is standing in front of the radio playing “Endless Love,” a version by Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey. Francisco's visit left her like that, rocked and in love like a teenager.Daryl and Kelvin see her, dreaming.“Mother, have you seen cherubs?” Daryl asks worriedly.Shirley disguises, “
Josias is surprised to see Miguel wanting to walk naked through the corridors of the Rocha Hotel as if this were some American comedy movie. Elza almost faints and covers her eyes, hiding nestled against her husband.“Miguel, what does that mean?” Josias asks very outragedly.Miguel loses the color in his face, “Ehr... sorry guys, I meant to go to my suite!”“So?” Josias points to the lawyer's nakedness, “Where are your clothes?”“Katherine tore them apart with scissors. Last night we did it worse than wild animals...”“No details!” Josias sees that Elza is about to faint, “Get out of here before the maids see you.”Instead of Josias having at least one robe provided with the room service, he had Miguel parade how he came into the world through the halls to his room.But Miguel bumped into hotel guests and staff every three steps!“Argh! Help, a pervert!” People shouted in horror.“Sorry, sorry...!” Miguel has never experienced vexation of this magnitude, but there is always the first
If Katherine couldn't move a muscle, her survival instinct made her reinvigorate herself just to escape the slaps and aggressions coming from Elza. She jumps out of bed and ends up tripping and falling to the floor like a sack of potatoes.“That's it, you promiscuous, get away from here! The maids will take a week to sterilize these blankets and sheets!”“Mother, what is this?” Josias is embarrassed.Katherine does her best to stay upright. Miguel surpassed himself in brutality... “Josias, are you going to stand still and let your mother insult me like that?”“I can't even understand what happened here!”Katherine smirks, “Well... Miguel and I bumped into each other in the hallways and just HAD to come here to quench our heat.”Elza slaps her son's concubine once more, “Putana!”Josias only cares about one thing, “And where is J.J?”“You didn't want him meddling with your bastard sons? I left him at the Rocha mansion!”“Tramp!” Elza slaps Katherine for the third time. Now blood is c
In the halls of LCN, Isabel is talking to Melissa about her failed attempt to cast Jack Motta as an actor.“He was very kind and respectful, but he flatly refused my proposal.” Isabel frets, “And I haven't even dared to tell Mr. Oliveira about it.”“Daniel Oliveira is a good man and he won't slaughter you for it,” Melissa assures her with a smile.“Jack Motta feels he's going to steal the spot from an actor more prepared than he is,” Isabel speaks reverently.“People with their feet on the ground are always like that. Unlike others...” Melissa tilts her head in the direction Vernon is approaching them.Vernon approaches them like they're best friends, “Have you heard the news yet?”“No, but you will tell us anyway.” Melissa mocks him.“Josias and I caught Miss Bezerra all worn out after a whole night of debauchery with Miguel Damascene! Has he divorced Pamela yet?”Melissa and Isabel are equally shocked. What?“Vernon, this is not funny!” Melissa complains, “You're accusing the mother
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