At Rocha Constructions, Josias’s friends are outraged that Katherine is filing for divorce as if she were the victim.
“Wait a moment,” Romualdo opines, “I read everything that happened last year. You were supposed to, Josias, ask for a divorce, but you decided to forgive her. Now that we have a mere rumor going around about you and Miss Alves, is it Katherine who goes to that extreme? Wouldn't it be her turn to forgive you?”
Tiago wryly opines, “It looks like Kate has the perfect opportunity to file for divorce and meet Claudio Guzman in the US.”
Josias shakes his head, “It won't be that easy. I already thought about what I’ll talk to her about.”
Octavio asks anxiously, “Are you going to accept the divorce?”
Josias sits in the chair at the end of the conference table, “Gentlemen, be honest with me: I had to fire my dear wife on television to calm the spirits of the citize
At Marçal Publishing, Caio decides to leave João Paulo's office, “Uncle, we'll talk another time. Excuse me.”“I’ll call you.” João Paulo guarantees.Caio looks at Gabriela suspiciously and leaves.Gabriela closes the door and speaks in an accelerated tone, “João Paulo, you must hate me for good reason. But allow me to explain.”“Explain what, Gabriela?” João Paulo suddenly smiles, “I know you aren’t a promiscuous adulteress. I was there, close to you, and I saw no immoral intent in the interaction between you and my older brother. Whoever took these pictures and sent this email is looking for trouble.”Gabriela gets mixed emotions, “Ehr… you don't see me as a bitch?”João Paulo stands up abruptly and, with the same magnetic and seductive gaze, walks slowly towards Gabriela, like a lion hunting a zebra without
At Café Montanha, Rodrigo is talking to Isabel and Francisco about his training as the new poster boy for Rocha Constructions.Isabel asks, “Rodrigo, don't you think it's weird that you're here wearing that attendant's apron?”Rodrigo chuckles, “I'm a humble guy, Mrs. Freire. Or can I call you Izzy already?”Francisco gives his son a playful push, “Isabel is fine.”Rodrigo laughs, “He, he, he. Anyway, Isabel, I'm getting some pose and posture lessons. My instructor says I'm photogenic and I'll replace Jack masterfully.”“There was another guy called Jock Russo, where is he?” Francisco asks curiously.Isabel smiles, “I saw it in an ad for men's underwear inside Maggiezine. It was a centerfold.”Francisco looks at Rodrigo askance, “I don’t know if I want my son to go to that extreme, huh.”Rodrigo has fun with the couple.Jo&at
At Rocha Constructions, Katherine feels that she will be working out the terms of the divorce right there in Josias Rocha's cold and impersonal office since they have not signed any prenuptial agreements.“If I had known it would come to this point, I would have remembered the agreement.” Katherine grits her teeth in dissatisfaction.“We thought our marriage would last forever.” Josias reasons, “I fought until the last moment, Kate. But you are the one who voiced the idea.”Kate barks, “It's because I don't want to be in this situation anymore! You were interacting romantically—” Seeing that Josias was going to interrupt her, “DON'T INTERRUPT ME! I don't care how many times you deny it; you were indeed romantically interacting with Gabriela Alves! All you had to do was feed her strawberries and whipped cream in some motel suite!”“You were supposed to be there.” Josias tries to
A few days passed.Katherine visits William's home. He takes advantage of the fact that Caio is not there but hastily attends to her so that the neighbors don't see her at the gate. From the street, she could hear the song “The Real Slim Shady”, by Eminem.“Will, won't you go deaf with the music so loud?”“Get in quickly, I don’t want no one to see you around here!” William is startled.Katherine smirks, “What's the matter? If your son appears, I’ll say I came here to investigate the photographs.”“So how are things?” William asks more calmly.“The divorce will be finalized today.” Katherine is beaming instead of crying her eyes out.“You are the first woman I have seen smiling at the prospect of divorce.” William scratches the back of his head.Katherine laughs, “Honey, I want to set a precedent for all Brazilian women not to
At the Rocha Mansion, the children are surprised by Katherine's primary concern.Alan scolds her, “Miss Bezerra, your son is leaving never to return, and you worry about my half-brother's whereabouts?”Katherine rolls her eyes impatiently, “I don't want to discuss this, Alan. First, my son will return to defeat you. Second, why is David not saying goodbye to my son?”Rosemary responds in the same impatient tone, “He went off to call and he hasn't come back yet. We're eating all the canapés, don't blame us!”Katherine rages at the word 'call', “Keep the party going and eat all the canapés!”Katherine withdraws, leaving the children.Alan frowns, “What did she mean by J.J. defeating me?”J.J. responds, “My mother is very upset, Alan, don't mind.”Alan smiles slightly, “J.J., I really hope you'll come back when we grow up to work together i
Hours later, Josias and Katherine go down the stairs of the historic building where the Family Court operates. A lawyer for each of them follows the steps of their clients.Josias has his head down while Katherine has her head held high in a haughty pose.“I finally fulfilled your dream, Josias.” Katherine was behind Josias and dared to tease him, “Or shall I call you ‘Mr. Rocha’ now?”Josias stops going down the stairs. The lawyer tries to pull Josias away so that Katherine cannot reach him. Why make things worse?But Josias didn't want to run away and waited for Katherine to reach him, “I won't care what you call me. I won't be around to hear you.”Katherine laughs, “Exactly. Today, I’ll take my flight to Victoria, and from there, I’ll go to São Paulo. Afterward, I’ll go to the USA. Claudio awaits me.”Josias smiles imperceptibly, “So you found him?&
Two days later, Josias is still trying to get used to the emptiness of the Rocha Mansion without Katherine neighing through the corridors. David, however, is quiet eating all the breakfast options.As he smears blackberry jelly on toast, he continues to chatter, “And don't forget, Dad, that heartless one pushed me and made me hurt my knee. She must have been very hysterical as she had lost all the wealth she had squandered at your expense. Now she must be on the streets of the U.S. looking for a guy she's only known for a few months. When is my Mother going to come back?”Josias gets puzzled, “What did you say, David?”David asks arrogantly as if it's already decided, “When is my Mother going to come back? Tomorrow?”Josias smiles with pity, “David, your Mother is famous in Rio de Janeiro and must remain so. If she wants to come to Lagoon City to expand her business, she has the Rocha Hotel at her disposal. But sh
Josias enters Rocha Constructions and feels that everyone throws him looks of regret. He doesn't understand what's going on.It’s only Pollyanna who dares to speak directly, “Mr. Rocha, we are sorry for your loss.”“Have our competitors overtaken us?” Josias jokes, “Is that why they're all looking like we’re in some burial?”Pollyanna is embarrassed, “No, sir. We... We saw it on the morning news. The plane Kate Bezerra and your son J.J. were on crashed into the high seas.”Josias's smile slowly fades, “But they survived, of course. Everaldo said they wouldn't die!”Pollyanna doesn't dare to confirm the worst.Josias goes like a sleepwalker to his office. He only finds himself when he's helping himself to a big shot of brandy.Tiago and Octavio enter the office also in funeral voices.“Master...”“Please, Tiago, no.” Josias doe
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