Melissa and Kelvin enter the Mountain Penthouse still stunned by what happened. Dora is vacuuming the carpet in the living room. The song “(You Drive Me) Crazy”, by Britney Spears, tries to compete with the noise of the vacuum cleaner.Melissa jokes, “Mom, no one is listening to the music with that set on.”Dora turns off the vacuum and the music becomes more audible, “Someone needs to clean up the mess. Hey, you look serious, Kelvin.”Kelvin stares at the stereo, “The song seems to have been tailor-made for crazy Katherine. She is driving us crazy with her absurd outbursts.”Dora sits on the sofa, curious, “Tell me about it! What did she do? Did you find her on the street?”Melissa shakes her head in disdain and sits down next to her mother, “She should rest, right? But she was walking down the street unsteadily, looking like she was going to have a nervous breakdown again.”Kelvin scratches his chin, “Actually, honey... we were not far from the police station. Could it be that she w
In the next issue of Maggiezine, Gabriela Alves's retraction was finally published concerning the article she wrote speculating on a forbidden romance between Katherine and Cláudio.Many readers were disappointed, as they really wanted the thing to be outrageous and juicy. But...Pages later, another writer published another bombshell article about Kate, with a picture of her being slapped by Melissa!“The former and current Mrs. Rocha fight in the middle of the street! Who will win this contest?”At Rocha Mansion, Josias was smiling after reading the retraction. He even considered insisting on giving Gabriela financial compensation. Poor girl, she deserves it.But when he turned to other pages and saw the article, the smile disappeared like thin air and clouds gathered in his head.Unsatisfied, he took the cell phone that was on the table next to the armchair and dialed a number.In the master suite at the Mountain Penthouse, Melissa and Kelvin were still waking up after a perfect ni
At Marçal Publishing, Bernardo, Maggie, and Gabriela content the final result of the latest issue of Maggiezine.Gabriela retorts ironically, “Well, now Josias Rocha can't accuse me of wanting to offend his wife again! I didn’t write the article!”Maggie and Bernardo burst out laughing.Bernardo's secretary appears, “Sir, a young man named Cláudio Guzman wants to speak with you.”The laughter ceases.“Tell him to come in.” Bernardo gestures aristocratically.Cláudio enters and faces Gabriela, “Hey, you were the one who almost died, right? Are you already healed?”“Nice to meet you, Mr. Guzman.” Gabriela greets him, “It seems that we already know each other, but that's because we became famous.”Bernardo takes the floor, “Mr. Guzman, how can we help you?”Claudio is straight to the point, “Mr. Marçal, do you intend to publish what I said to Vernon Queiroz?”Maggie, Bernardo, and Gabriela are embarrassed.******Melissa shows up at Rocha Mansion without really understanding what Josias
At the Rocha Hotel, Elza is checking the cleanliness of a VIP suite. The chambermaids who performed the task are sweating in anticipation, waiting for the boss's approval.Elza smiles, “Well done, girls. Cleaning approved!”“We do our best, Mrs. Queiroz!”Jane fills in the data on the clipboard, “Keep it up, and our guests will always rave about us.”The chambermaids leave more relieved than when they entered.Jane continues to encourage Elza as she fills out the form, “Elza, have you read the new issue of Maggiezine?”Elza's smile fades, “Yes. Melissa assaulted Kate. But I'm sure Kate is to blame. Melissa wouldn't do something like this for free!”“But your son will defend his wife.” Jane slyly comments, “That's why I said on the night of Vera and Wallace's engagement that it would be best for Josias to return to Melissa.”Elza holds the collar of her blouse, denoting anxiety, “Hey, I told my husband that just today. But Melissa won't want to divorce Kelvin. The poor young man is not
Josias enters Rocha Constructions and, upon entering his office, goes straight to the drinks table to help himself.Tiago and Alfred enter, “Master, we need to talk to you.”“Please, good news!” Josias exclaims and drinks the drink in one gulp.Alfred clears his throat, “Ehr... The customer service team was able to rescue a Europe Garden client.”Josias smiles, “OK, great! Now, what's the bad news?”Alfred continues, “One of the cement companies is wanting to terminate business relations with us... because of your wife's bad behavior.”Josias notices how nobody has the heart to mention Kate's name. It's just 'his wife'.Our hero faces Tiago.“Master, Mr. Guzman refuses to accept the money and a ticket to Boston. He said he was joking and doesn't settle for these tradeoffs so easily.”Josias's eyes widen, “But doesn't he know he won't be prosecuted anymore?”“Master, I think Mr. Guzman is so spiteful that he wants to see bloodshed,” Tiago responds fearfully.“Let's see if that settles
Katherine is watching television in one of the living rooms at Rocha Mansion. This time she decided to rest, obeying her husband.She was watching the TCL music video “No Scrubs” when the programming was interrupted by an LCN news presenter.“We interrupt our programming for urgent news: Josias Rocha has called a press conference at the entrance of our studios for a last-minute announcement!”Katherine smiles, thinking that Josias would order all the haters to leave her alone.Josias is solemn when he appears. Several microphones from different broadcasters and radio stations were nailed to the platform to capture his magnetic voice.“Dear citizens of Espírito Santo. Here, Josias Rocha, executive director of Rocha Constructions, is speaking to you. Anyone who has known us since the 1980s knows that we always strive for excellence and professionalism for our clients. We are very grateful for the trust given and we are delighted to serve you.”One of the maids left tea and biscuits on t
Claudio couldn't believe that Katherine was inside the apartment demanding that they talk as if they were still companions in some adventure.“Hey, who let you in?” Claudio exclaims.“Throw me out, then!” Katherine challenges him.Cláudio, fearing being accused again, controls his instincts, “Okay, just say what you want.”“I want you to get out of town.” Katherine declares through gritted teeth, “I want everyone to forget you exist.”Cláudio smiles mockingly, “Look, your husband sent Mr. Bento to pay me whatever I wanted to let the matter drop. I joked that I wanted to receive a million reais and a ticket to Boston, but they paid me the same day!”Katherine's eyes widen, “Why would my husband be willing to spend money on someone like you?”Claudio laughs, “Wow, I used to be so sexy and desirable, now I'm just 'somebody' to you?”Katherine swallows her sexual urge, “I didn't come to talk about this—““But ‘this’ is the only thing that keeps us tied together!” Claudio blusters, “You go
Katherine could hardly believe it. Behold, she was slapped by someone who is below her husband!She gets up and massages her sore cheek, “My husband will kill you!”“I guess the opposite is happening, huh?” Daryl rubs his hand on his clothes like he's touched a garbage bag.Katherine narrows her eyes, “It seems like the whole world saw my husband's press conference.”“Kate, why do you subject yourself to these humiliations?” Daryl crosses his arms, “Why don't you act like Melissa when she was Mrs. Rocha?”Melissa's eyes catch fire, “I'm not like that bitch!”Daryl raises his hand to slap her again, but Katherine screams and recoils, trying to protect herself, “ARGH!”Daryl holds his hand in the air and looks at Katherine with as much contempt as possible, “You aren’t worthy of uttering my sister-in-law's name. How embarrassing! Josias is not done with you enough!”Katherine straightens up and smiles defiantly, “Continue to root for the ruin of my marriage! This will only make it easie
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