Josias shows up at Rocha Constructions and is greeted by everyone, from the girls who work in the lobby to the elevator operator and the cleaning ladies. He is truly respected and revered by all.When he arrives at his office floor, Josias finds Tiago waiting for him in the hallway.“Master, can we speak in your office?”“And when we couldn’t talk?” Josias jokes.“The matter is serious. I understand that the succession of this company is open again. Would that be necessary... or prudent?”As they walk to the office, Josias replies, “My successor is still Alan, Tiago.”“But it's that word 'still' that concerns me, master.” Tiago asserts, “You don't want Angela and Katherine to fight again and be Melissa's enemies, do you?”Josias takes the key from his pocket and unlocks his office door. Pollyanna had left the air conditioning on and the room was cool, “No, I don't. But my son is not making it easy for me.”Tiago rolls his eyes, “What did he do now?”“My ex-father-in-law said he was be
In the Mountain Penthouse, Kelvin is outraged by a visitor mistreating the lady of the home.“Mrs. Rocha, Katherine, I don't know what you want to be called: don't come to my home to insult my wife.”Katherine smiles venomously and retorts rudely, “Don't you realize that none of this is really yours? You are living in the penthouse that was purchased by Josias and you are married to a woman who once slept with the same Josias, and to top it all off, you are raising two of Josias's children!”Melissa can't take it anymore and raises her hand to slap the insolent one, but Kelvin catches it in time.Katherine widens her eyes, “Let her go, Kelvin! Let's see if she has the nerve to slap me. In the next issue of Maggiezine, her reputation will be ruined!”“Maggie would never low herself to that role!” Melissa screams.“My dear, before she was your sister-in-law, she was editor-in-chief of the magazine that has grown the most in circulation. She wouldn't pass up this hot gossip.”Kelvin is d
Caio arrives from school still wearing his uniform, just in time to see his family arguing once more.“This is the height of absurdity!” Dora exclaims, “Caio said he would stay at the pizzeria helping you and you encouraged him. Now you want him to steal Alan's throne?”Caio widens his eyes at this information. But the adults have their backs to him. William could see him, but he's focused on pestering his parents.“Yes, I want the best for my child.” William asserts, “I agreed to let him stay with me at the pizzeria because I didn't see how he could own Rocha Constructions. But now that Alan is failing and proving to be an annoying guy, why can't I dream about the possibility? Josias is fond of my son and is sure to see to it if you ask—”Caio can't take it anymore and chimes in, “OK, let's stop this insane conversation now! What's going on here, can't you spend a week in peace in this family?”William smiles slyly, “Sonny, the position is open for you to succeed Josias in the compan
At Marçal Publishing, Bernardo is turning on his computer when the secretary appears in the doorway.“Excuse me, Mr. Marçal. Mr. Oliveira, from LCN, would like to speak with you.”“Send him in, even though we don’t have an appointment.” Bernardo is curious.Daniel enters the office in a suit and tie and with a sly smile, “Hello, Mr. Marçal!”“Mr. Oliveira, I am curious about your presence.” Bernardo greets him by shaking hands, “What can I do for you?”“Remember our proposal to adapt Isabel Freire’s latest book, ‘Love Spins the World’?”“Exactly. You came to give the answer.” Bernardo sits down.Daniel takes a seat in the visitors' seat, “Actually, I came to ask another question. Isabel Freire appeared on LCN announcing that she intends to write the biography of Uélton Freire.”“It's her late youngest son, you know.” Bernard nods.“The Board asked if it wouldn't be more interesting for us to do a limited series based on his biography instead of the other book.” Daniel smiles, showing
At Marçal Publishing, Maggie was about to enter when she overhears the conversation between Daniel and Bernardo.“Mr. Oliveira... the biography of Uélton Freire is still being written.” Bernardo explains, “And Mrs. Freire has not signaled that she intends to authorize the book to be adapted for TV.”Maggie's eyes widen. What is that? Is LCN wanting to explore the sadness of others?Daniel doesn't give up, “Maybe we should talk to her properly.”“If Mrs. Freire knows that the biography will be adapted, she will feel unable to write interesting details.” Bernardo raises his index finger, “And we're still forgetting one detail.”“What detail?”“Certainly Josias Rocha will be included in the biography,” Bernardo responds as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.But Daniel shrugs, “Jack Motta could perfectly play the role of Mr. Rocha, and—”Maggie can't take it anymore and chimes in, "Hey, Mr. Oliveira, stop dreaming big! We have already given you an excellent book, 'Love Spins
William is startled and unbalanced when Caio asks if he wants a taxi. He wanted to be alone so no one would know he was trying to phone the police.“Son, don't scare your father to death. My defective leg is enough.”“If you didn’t play Spider-Man—”“Are you going to forever throw this in my face?” William crouches down to pick up the crutches, “How's the pizzeria? Ready for today's service?”“Now are you worried about your business?” Caio crosses his arms, smiling wryly, “Why don't you stay here and see for yourself?”“Your grandparents didn't like to see me near the cash register not doing activities,” William responds in mockery.“You were behaving like a lazy Roman emperor, that's right!” Caio asserts, “And why do you want to talk to Sergeant Moraes? Isn’t he the policeman who hates Uncle Josias?”William slowly walks out, “Don't make me correct you about who your uncle is, boy. Kelvin Mountain is the one who should receive the title. Now excuse me, or do you want to knock me down
“Hey sir, you were not allowed in!” Pollyanna complains.Josias and Octavio hear the secretary's indignant voice and turn to the door after breaking the hug.Daryl is walking in and gives Pollyanna a sh*t, “Josias, will you please tell the secretary that I’m entitled to enter?”Octavio doesn't like the interruption, “It's not like that, my friend...”Josias thinks Daryl = Melissa and gestures to Octavio, “Okay, Pollyanna. Mr. Mountain can enter.”Pollyanna adopts an apologetic stance, “Oh, I didn't know he was Melissa's family. Excuse me.”“She is my sister-in-law,” Daryl responds dryly.Pollyanna hastily leaves, closing the door. Josias goes to the drinks table and starts pouring, “A drink?”Daryl smiles slightly, “I won't refuse.”“How can I help you, Daryl? Got a problem with Melissa?”Daryl doesn't like that Josias was soon asking about Melissa, but he fears running out of drink and hides his real feelings from him. Taking a few sips, he responds, “It's practically her. Josias, so
A few days passed. Ronaldo notices his children eating breakfast in silence. Weird silence.“OK, can someone tell me what's going on?” He asks seriously, “Any fiancées give up the double wedding?”“There was no withdrawal, but a removal,” Octavio responds while munching on his bread and butter.“What do you mean, removal?” Ronaldo leans forward.“We won't have the Mountain family at the wedding. Maybe we can keep Kelvin and Mrs. Marçal, but...” Octavio shakes his head in displeasure.“Is Daryl Mountain out?” Jack is amazed, “Bro, Veronica is his cousin. How are we going to explain this?”“I don't want him at the wedding!” Octavio rages, “He's plotting and sowing discord while pretending to be Josias's friend. He's imitating his mother's footsteps!”Ronaldo reacts in displeasure and forgets the tofu he had in front of him, “How unpleasant. That woman is far away, to the delight of all of us. She wasn’t invited.”“Don't worry, father.” Jack wipes his mouth with a napkin, “We promise you
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