A few days passed. The book signing held in Victoria by Isabel was the biggest success. Isabel got a swollen hand from signing so much, but at the end of the queue with the last fan, she was smiling and satisfied.One of the sessions was broadcast live on the state network. In Lagoon City, Uélton and Reuben recorded the transmission on cassette tape for posterity.“Grandma Isabel will be proud when she finds out we recorded it, huh, dad?” Reuben suggests.Uélton takes the cassette tape out of the VCR, “Yes, and we’ll remember this moment forever, or at least until the tape dies.”“Why?” Reuben scratches his head.Uélton sighs, “Because if there's one thing I've learned in this life, my son, it's that nothing lasts forever. That's why we have to enjoy the life that God has given us.”“Like Grandpa Harold?” Reuben asks, a little sadly, “I wanted him at my wedding.”Uélton goes to his room and Reuben goes after him, “Don't worry, son. I’ll, of course, be applauding this glorious moment.
William and Uélton are about to fight at Campos Pizzeria. Some customers who were nearby are bothered by the scene. Parents who brought their children don’t want them to witness the aggression. That's why Caio is outraged to see that Reuben is the only child who actually WANTS to see fights and bloodshed.He and Simeon close in and separate the two troublemakers.“Hey, you two, let go!” Simeon orders, “You look like you're going to kiss!”“Yuck!” Reuben wipes his mouth as if it were him, “Don't say something like that, Grandpa Simeon. My father is a real man. Your son is the one who is a pussy.”Adults laugh at Reuben's tirade, though Flavia would scold him if she were present.William boils with wrath, “I can see how the boy is not polite when his mother is away. I see two children here.”“My father takes very good care of me!” Reuben screams.“Then what are you doing here? Go home and eat vegetables, kid!” William barks.Simeon puts his hand on his hysterical son's shoulder, “Will,
At Pizzeria Campos, William answers Flávia's call, “Pizzeria Campos, good night!”Flávia recognizes her cousin, “Cousin, this is Flávia. Are my son and husband around by any chance?”Furious, William simply hangs up on Flavia and walks away in a huff. He unplugs the phone cord to prevent Flavia from trying again.On the other hand, Flávia is appalled by what happened. Yes, she tries to dial again, but this time, the call doesn't even go through!“Hey, what happened? Hello? Hello?” Flávia slams the mouthpiece hard against the device.Raymond and Isabel are amazed.“What happened, Flavia?”“Izzy, Cousin Will hung up on me without even telling me if they were at the pizzeria!” Flavia exclaims, “Do you know what that means?”“Is William still a pain in the neck?” Raymond asks nonchalantly.“That too, but that means that Uélton went to the pizzeria the other day and made trouble. That's why Cousin Will didn't even want to answer me. Ah, we urgently need to get back to Lagoon City, Izzy!”“
At dawn, Josias and Katherine slept spooned in the master suite. Katherine wore a lavender silk nightgown while Josias... well, you know.But Josias was forced to at least put on some sweatpants because the butler who replaced Ernesto kept banging on the door, “BOSS! BOSS ROCHA, for the love of God, WAKE UP!”Josias and Katherine wake up in fright, thinking that J.J. was dying.“Not that, dear, MY SON!” Katherine exclaims as she pulls on the matching robe.When Josias is presentable, she opens the varnished double doors to find the butler, similarly robed and pale-faced.“What happened?”“Madam... Boss Rocha, you must go to the general hospital.”“What happened, Hector?” Josias exclaims in anguish.“I got a call... Mr. Freire’s house exploded... father and son are in the hospital.”“WHAT?” Josias exclaims, “But Mrs. Freire and her mother-in-law won’t be back until tomorrow!”“Let’s go to the hospital now.” Katherine states as the lady of the house, “You guys take care of J.J.”“Yes ma
Josias and Katherine enter the corridors of the General Hospital. Dr. Silvana was nearby and greeted them.“Mr. and Mrs. Rocha, we are very sorry for what happened.” She states, “Everyone heard about Mr. Freire and his son.”“A tragedy indeed,” Josias says, dryly, “Anything new?”“The doctor is talking to Eldest Mr. Freire.” She points to the left of the hall.Josias and Katherine turn left and find Wallace talking to the doctor. Wallace was wearing pajama pants and a tank top. His hair was messy.“Mr. Freire, your brother had a head injury and inhaled a lot of smoke. We're doing our best, but...” The doctor shakes his head in regret, “Your nephew ran to the garage and inhaled less smoke, he was still conscious when the firefighters found him.”“Poor Reuben...” Wallace holds back tears, “He got scared. It's understandable, he wasn't going to stay where it was burning everything.”“We'll keep an eye on your brother. Excuse me.” The doctor hurries away.Josias and Katherine approach car
Doctor Silvana is pleased to see that she managed to intimidate Ivan.“Well then, sir, you are warned.” She states, “Treat the child with sensitivity.”“I need to do my job.” Ivan huffs and hastily withdraws.Doctor Silvana enters the room and finds Reuben with an angelic smile. He asks, “Is the cop coming back?”She pats the child's head, “No, Reuben, your interview is over. You need to rest.”“Yes, I need to be in good shape to go home. Did you know that I am going to marry Caroline Rocha?”Doctor Silvana gives a hearty laugh. These kids today...Meanwhile, Ivan dashes the adult wing. As he approaches Uélton's room, he freezes his steps and breaks out cold sweat when he sees Josias standing at the door.Josias smiles slightly, “Sergeant Moraes, long time no see...”“Cut that one!” Ivan barks, “You weren't dying to see me!”“Not at all, but I imagine they assigned you to this case,” Josias responds derisively.“I came to see if your clumsy friend forgot to turn off the gas.” Ivan rep
Everyone is apprehensive about Uélton losing strength. They leave the room just as the doctor and two nurses bustle in.“We need space! Wait outside, please!” The doctor orders them.In the hallway, Isabel begins to have tears in her eyes. Wallace hugs her.“Mom, don't even think about it! We won’t lose another family member, no!”“Son...” Isabel sniffs, “I think it's time we must accept...”“No, mother, NO!” Wallace walks away, disgusted, “What's going on? Everything was wonderful when I was in prison. When I came back, only tragedies occur! Everyone will die because of me!”Josias grabs Wallace by the sleeve of his shirt and shakes him, “Wallace, STOP! This is not the time to panic!”“Josias, it’s my little brother!” Wallace starts to cry, “How would you react if you were João Paulo, huh?”“I would have to be strong for my mother and my children!” Josias asserts, “And cut the talk about it being your fault, that's not true!”Wallace takes a deep breath and calms down a bit, “Still,
Isabel enters Reuben's room and finds him with a nurse. When she realizes that her son looks exactly like his father, her heart sinks. Reuben doesn't have the large ears like his father, but he's just as chatty.“Nurse, did you know that I am going to marry Caroline Rocha?” He excitedly comments, “Of course, first I have to get out of here, heal my wounds, wait for my dad to wake up, and then I have to grow old enough to propose. I want to propose in the middle of Ibrahim Square with everyone watching. Do you think she will like it?”The nurse bursts out laughing, “Of course she’ll do, Reuben. Women love romantic guys.”“I hope your boyfriend does the same thing,” Reuben speaks with no sense of being rude.But the nurse points out that Reuben is a child, “He already proposed to me, and we were already married.”“But was it in the middle of Ibrahim Square?”“REUBEN.” Isabel decides to interrupt the conversation, “Don't bother the nurse with personal questions.”The nurse promptly gets
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