Katherine again uses the survival instinct to get rid of the announced death. If before she was exhausted and sore, that didn't stop her from running to the bathroom to throw up.Josias laughs evilly and goes after her, being careful not to step on the broken glass.When he enters the bathroom, Katherine is already throwing up like she has bulimia.“What do you think you're doing, Kate?”Katherine straightens up and turns to Josias with a terrified look, “What do you mean? You poisoned me with arsenic and you still ask what I'm doing? I don’t wanna die! How did you get this poison?”“In Agatha Christie's books, everybody gets that easily,” Josias responds jokingly.“I'm not in the mood for jokes, bastard!” Katherine roars like the lioness.“Control yourself, you crazy girl!” Josias breaks the mocking smile, “You weren't poisoned, it was just tap water!”Katherine no longer knows what to do. What is a lie and what is true?Josias continues as if he were her Chemistry teacher, “Do you t
A few more weeks have passed, enough for Carmen to deliver James to the world (and to Tiago).She was at home trying to sweep the living room. Her radio was playing “Everlasting Love” by Gloria Estefan.Tiago appears in a short-sleeved shirt and jeans, ready to work from home. Carmen looks at him and feels like a burden.“Darling, I really think you should work in the comfort of your office.”Tiago sits at a table in the corner of the room, “Nothing like that. I want to be close to my wife who is almost nine months pregnant. Why would you risk having the baby alone when I can be around? And our master Josias allowed my absence.”“Josias has always been considerate of us.” Carmen smiles.“Yes, that's why I think your mother's idea that we're his and his family's enemies again is ridiculous.” Tiago watches after putting on his glasses.“Correction: Josias loves us, but his ex-family doesn't. Good thing I have nothing else to do with the Campos clan.”The doorbell rings and Carmen walks
Uélton catches Melissa off guard by asking point-blank if she still loves Josias. Melissa turns to the new stereo and turns it on. The song “Anytime you need a friend”, by Mariah Carey, translates what Uélton came to do.“I still have feelings for him, Uélton.” Melissa eventually admits, “But I wouldn't call it love. If I really loved Josias, I would have forgiven him.”“And now, don't you think you failed not to forgive him?” Uélton sits on the sofa.Melissa frowns, “No... he cheated on me twice, Uélton, and he's going to marry one of his mistresses. I think I would be more relaxed if Josias were with another woman.”Uélton speaks as if he were a fan, “If you still love Josias, run to him and say that, girl! In time he will send Angela back to Capital. He got rid of the crazy Bezerra.”Melissa smiles in pity at Uélton, “Uélton, you are a good friend, thank you for cheering me up. But we need to be realistic. I don't know if Josias still has feelings for me.”“I can guarantee you one
In Teodoro's building, Daryl and Diane talk while the lobby radio plays Nirvana's song “About a Girl”.Diane is shocked by the information received, “Your mother is in love with her son-in-law and wants to harm her own daughter? But how is that possible?”“I still couldn't digest it. I was with you when Kelvin decided to go to the apartment. He found our mother in tears, being comforted by Uncle Francisco, and was told that Bernie almost assaulted her.”“Oh dear, I'm sorry.” Diane hugs him, “But why did you just tell me that now? I have noticed that you are upset and withdrawn.”“I didn't want to give you another burden to carry.”Diane wiggles, “No way, you carry my burdens with a smile on your face; why couldn't I support you in a burden of yours?”Daryl smiles and strokes her hair. The counter phone rings and she answers it.“Hello?”“Diane? This is Tiago. Let Cristina know that Carmen is in labor! We are already heading to the hospital!”“How wonderful, Tiago! We're going.” Diane
Melissa is now meditating on Uélton's words. The radio is still on, now playing the Scorpions song “Under the Same Sun”.Dora approaches her daughter thoughtfully, “Daughter, the school van is about to arrive. Should I prepare lunch now?”Melissa smiles yellowy, “Before we had Lilian or Flávia to help me. Now I am alone in the world.”Dora sits next to her daughter, “That's not true. You are not alone, you have your family and Kelvin. He's a good guy and he loves you.”Dora visualizes the Maggiezine on the coffee table and grabs it angrily, “You shouldn't let this affect you. I’m going to throw this crap in the trash!”“No, mother!” Melissa reacts negatively, “Leave the magazine there. It's for me to remind myself that I missed every chance with Josias, my first love!”Dora frowns, “What the heck is this?”“I need to remember not to yell ‘I object’ at the time of ‘hold forever your peace’,” Melissa responds like an embarrassed little girl.“You didn't even answer if you're going to th
In Teodoro's building, Moacyr is talking to Daryl and Diane.“Dear ones, if you want to go to the hospital, you can go and I'll stay here taking care of the lobby.”Diane responds good-naturedly, “Uncle, I came here to take care of you. How can I leave my post and leave you alone?”“I still think you shouldn't stop living your life because of me.” Moacyr kindly responds, “So I feel like a burden to you. And I sincerely hope I don't get in the way of your married life.”“It won't get in the way, Seu Moacyr.” Daryl taps Moacyr's legs.“Well, I'm really curious to know how Carmen is doing,” Diane admits.“And I need to go to the restaurant. Shall we go then, my dear?”“Let’s go.” Diane kisses her uncle's cheek, “I won't be long.”“Say hello and congratulations to the new mom,” Moacyr says goodbye to her.Daryl and Diane go. The radio is playing “Amazing” by Aerosmith. Moacyr positions himself behind the counter.******In the General Hospital lounge, all family members are waiting for th
Vânia returns from Rocha Constructions massaging her forehead, indicating that she has a migraine.“Argh, too bad there was no aspirin in the company. Josias was very kind to let me out... wow, the lobby is empty.”The radio was still on, playing “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” by Crash Test Dummies.Vânia narrows her eyes and goes behind the counter, “I wonder if Seu Moacyr...”When Vânia goes behind the counter......Moacyr's face is bloody and lying on the ground!“Moacyr!”Vânia approaches him and finds that he is still alive.“Moacyr, answer me! What happened?”Vânia's gaze goes to the drawers that are ripped out. Then she notices coins scattered on the floor, but no bills.“Oh, someone robbed here!” Vânia gets up and picks up the phone to call the police.******In the hospital lounge, Diane enters and finds the rest of the family.“Hello, guys. How is Carmen?”Cristina is startled, “Diane? What happened, why did you leave the lobby?”“Don't worry, aunt, uncle Moacyr is better, and he let me
In the lobby of Teodoro's building, paramedics take Moacyr, resting on a stretcher, to the ambulance that didn't fit in the tight Hope Street. Amoreira is present because it is the Chaves family.“When they said it was Moacyr Barbosa, I had to attend.” He explains to Vânia.Vânia drinks a glass of water with the desired aspirin, “I was caught off guard, detective. I just took a leave of absence from having a horrible migraine, and found the lobby desk all overturned.”“Unfortunately, you are in a highly dangerous place.” Amoreira looks around the well-built building, “I feel like I'm in a hotel. This exquisite appearance of the building made the crooks think there was a lot of money here.”Vânia disagrees, “There's not a lot of money. Here, all residents are of the same social class. Rich people stay at my nephew's hotel. I can bet that in these drawers it didn't even have R$ 100.00. They didn't need to overthrow poor Moacyr, even more so since the family withdrew because the landlady
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