Lilian suddenly appears and slaps Angela on the back so she can stop choking. J.J and David are desperate with her bluish face.“Mummy, MOMMY!” David screams at the top of his lungs.Josias gets up to help, but Angela doesn't want Josias's big hand to break her ribs, “OK, OK, I already unlocked the throat! Sorry, guys.”“What a fright.” David pouts.Josias pats his children's heads, “Calm down, boys. It's okay, no one here is going to die.”Lilian offers, “Anything else, ma'am?”“You may leave, Lilian, and thanks for your help.” Angela thanks her with a smirk, “Josias, why did you ask me that question just now?”Josias sits back down with a puzzled face, “What? What question is that? You took a while to get home and I wanted to know if everything went well.”“I told you I was going to be late.” Angela responds without daring to face Josias, “I had some backlogs to take care of.”“I think I will follow up on your observation of putting together a client service team.” Josias smiles, “T
Josias nods like a teacher who catches his student pranking in the back of the class, “Vernon, you like to cause trouble, huh?”Vernon lets out a chuckle, “I'm like this, what can I do? I love strong emotions.”“Who are we talking about this time?” Josias looks at Elza.“We're talking about Katherine.” Elza responds by looking at the clock on the wall, “I hired her, but the lazybones didn't show up for work.”Elza cleverly omits that she called Katherine at the last minute.Josias frowns, “That girl should go back to the country. It would be the best thing for all of us. The problem is, the only person who could stop her is also here.”“Who?” Vernon asks.“Jock Russo, her cover husband. He's quite robust and attractive, he might as well put out her fire.”“But the boy also wants to try life in the big city,” Elza responds by guessing the former foreman's mind.“And can I blame him? If anyone denounces Ephraim Bezerra, Jock will also be arrested for being an accomplice.”“OK...” Elza s
Katherine rubs it in the face of the enemies that she managed to arrive in fifty minutes, “See? Madam ordered me to arrive in an hour and I arrived with ten minutes to go!”“But my mom was about to tell Jane to fire you, which means you're late!” Josias thunders.Katherine breaks the snobbish smile and outrages, “What? She perfectly told me to arrive in an hour! Why did you hire me, you common old woman?”Elza puts her hand on her glabella, “To have the pleasure of firing you, you insolent! And apparently, that won't be long. Why did you come to my office?”Katherine again feels lost and dazed, “But... if I don't come here, how would you know I came at the appointed time?”Elza doesn't answer and confuses Katherine's mind, “It turns out that ten minutes from now the hired maids will have training with the head of staff in her office! Go now to Mrs. Rosales!”“And who is Mrs. Rosales? Where is her room?”“NINE MINUTES!” Elza screams like the lioness and Katherine escapes leaving her so
The next day, Melissa is standing in the living room of the Mountain Penthouse, waiting to be answered by phone. The radio sets the room with the song “You Are Not Alone”, by Michael Jackson.At the Rocha mansion, Lilian answers the call from the hallway, “Hello?”“Lilian, long time no see. This is Melissa.”Lilian smiles, “I recognized your voice, madam. Do you wish to speak with Master Josias?”“Actually, I'd like to talk to Angie. Is she there?”Josias walks past Lilian and she holds out the mouthpiece to him, “Sir, Melissa is on the phone.”Josias more than quickly picks up the mouthpiece, “Hello, Melissa!”Melissa is startled when she hears Josias's powerful, magnetic voice, “What is this? Is Angela taking male hormones?”Josias laughs, “You fool, it's Josias. What you order?”Melissa smiles friendly, “I'm not in charge. I wanted to talk to Angie about the wedding.”“Angie is deservedly at a spa they opened in Sunset Village,” Josias responds smiling.“Soon we will be spa compani
Josias is embarrassed to hear Melissa inform him that she intends to bring Kelvin to the penthouse. Melissa senses his nervousness.“Hello? Josias, are you still there?”“Yes, Melissa, I heard.”“But as seen, you didn't approve of the idea.”Josias clears his throat, “Melissa, I have no right to stop you from doing anything. You guys already changed the name of my old penthouse, it’s only fair that Kelvin moves there.”Melissa smiles and her tone is reassuring, “Don't worry, Josias, Kelvin will sleep in another room. In fact, he was quite embarrassed by my request.”Josias reassures himself, “He knows the great responsibility he has.”“Okay, Josias, that's what I wanted to say. Let Angie know when she gets back.”“See you around, Melissa. Bye.”“Goodbye.” Melissa turns off the phone and radio. She looks at her wristwatch, a gift from Josias...******At Crystal Blue, Frederick and Benjamin clean tables and chat.Benjamin complains, “My stepsister escaped from some forceful acting. I t
Josias and his partners are talking about the possibility of expanding Rocha Constructions.He continues, “Let's look at the benefits of setting up a second office in Victoria: we have two teams of builders just in the capital, one led by our friend Milton. We have projects and clients that call here, wanting to have their homes built or renovated. We can expand HR there as well.”Tiago nods, “Yes, we can handle the hiring and firing of employees who live in and around the capital. Less work for Vânia and her helpers here.”“Then it's settled!” Josias pretends he slammed a hammer with a clenched hand on the table, “Meeting adjourned.”All gentlemen get up. Tiago approaches Igor.“Little brother, don’t you want to take the opportunity to be the legal representative of Victoria’s teams?”Igor is surprised, “Me, working in the capital? Why?”Tiago smiles mischievously, “Because someone told me that Stacy Moreira is still single.”Igor raises his eyebrows pleasantly, “Really? Did our boys
Josias returns to Rocha Constructions and finds Angela at the desk with a new hairstyle and well-groomed skin."Good morning, my love!" He greets her, “I can see that the SPA did you good.”“Yes, thank God. It’s a wonderful place, dear, I advise you to go.”Josias leans down and kisses her lightly, fearing to spoil the work done, “Melissa is also looking forward to going with you.”Angela breaks her smile and has a slight tremor, “And how does she know I went to the SPA?”“She called the mansion, but you were already gone.” Josias responds calmly, “So I informed her. Oh, and there's more: she confirmed her presence at our wedding.”Angela gets more scared, “Didn't she say she was going?”“Angie, her parents said she was uncomfortable showing up at the mansion. Remember, she was my first girlfriend and wife. Now she's slowly getting over what she's been through, living in the penthouse again and getting engaged to Kelvin.”Angela forces a smile and reassurance that she didn't have, “OK
Josias and Igor are saying goodbye due to the lawyer's decision to move to Victoria.“I’ll miss you, Igor.” Josias hugs him.“Me too, master. But we have the older brother to still watch over you.”“We already have fifteen years of trust and friendship, huh?” The hug is undone, “How time passes.”Igor nods, “And you were a boy, now you are a man with four children!”“And married a second time.” Josias sighs, “I'm glad the two ladies hit it off.”******At Rocha Hotel's restaurant, Melissa and Angela meet.The two ladies exchange three kisses, but Melissa has the feeling that Angela is not at all warm.“Let's sit here.” Angela chooses a table, “We'll see if the food here is as delicious as the one at Crystal Blue.”Melissa notices her friend's detachment, “Angie, did something happen?”“Do you want to talk about it now or would you rather ask first?”Melissa is startled, “If the conversation is unpleasant, I'd rather talk now than lose my appetite over a roast lamb.”Not far away, Kath
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