Daryl and Kelvin go to Crystal Blue's owner's office. He closes the door and faces his younger brother with serious concern.
"What's up, Daryl? Do you think it all fell apart?"
"I think something else was ruined, Kelvin. Have a seat."
"The service is about to begin."
"The only thing served was your wife on a silver platter for Josias Rocha," Daryl states grimly.
Kelvin sits up, startled.
Daryl sits face-to-face, "Kelvin, do you realize what's going on? Josias still loves Melissa. And Melissa decided to talk about our plan so he doesn't confess. Assuming Melissa doesn't open her mouth, what do you think would happen?"
Kelvin grows somber and admits against his will, "She answered that. If she didn't intervene, she might give in."
Daryl takes a deep breath, "I see. That's why you must get out of town."
Kelvin's eyes widen, "What did you say, Daryl? This can't happen! What about the kids? What about Melissa's soap opera? 'S
At Café Montanha, Rodrigo is ready to assist and help Nadia.And Nadia says his mission, "Could you accompany me to Happiness Slum to visit Roberto Reis?"Rodrigo is stunned by the proposal, "Happiness Slum... me?"Nadia is embarrassed, "OK, I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask you to go to such a dangerous place.""Why do you want to go there, Miss Lafayette?""I want to talk to Mr. Reis about being our manager, or another role at the supermarket." Nadia eagerly responds, "My father is sure he would be a valuable employee."Isabel chimes in, "Miss, I've lived in Happiness Slum and I've been there several times. My son here also lives in the Teodoro Building—"Rodrigo taps his hard chest like he's Tarzan, "Fear not, folks, I'll go there with Miss Lafayette."Francisco worries, "Son, don't take unnecessary risks, let Wallace—""Wallace is busy with Rocha Constructions’ chores, right, Wallace?" Rodrigo gives
With fear and apprehension, Rodrigo and Nadia arrive at Happiness Slum and locate the Teodoro Building. They are greeted by Enya's song "Only Time".Rosemary had her eyes closed, absorbing the song's excellence. Nadia narrows her eyes: if they're in the favela, how is this masterpiece played in the lobby of the building?"This building was built in the wrong place," Nadia tells Rodrigo.Rosemary opens her eyes and notices the presence of the couple, "Hello, welcome to— Rodrigo? Who is this elegant lady?""Rosemary, this is Nadia Lafayette, the new owner's daughter—""From the supermarket, I know. Pat and I went shopping and found mushrooms and artichokes. Also had asparagus and leeks." Rosemary praises the supermarket options, "My aunt Vera wanted to make a special dish for the tenants."Nadia smiles, "I'm blown away by the beauty of the building. How did it get erected right here?"Beto approaches them, coming from the ca
The wedding day of Isabel and Francisco arrived.As agreed, they wanted to have a simple ceremony for their friends and family. But since the groom's niece was editor-in-chief of Maggiezine, an honorable mention in the next issue was inevitable.Isabel wore a long white dress with lace detailing but without the classic wide skirt and stretching train. Francisco ditched the tuxedo and donned a simple-cut black suit.The reverend's speech was given in the garden of Rocha Mansion. Josias was more than happy to offer his place.The Reverend said, “Francisco and Isabel are the perfect examples that it’s never too late for love. As long as we still have breath in our lungs, we must never give up loving and being loved. And to the young couples who are present, a piece of advice: enjoy every second. Life brings us surprises. Do not waste moments that can be memorable.”Vera and Wallace look at each other, sensing that the speech is appli
Josias positions himself near the DJ and takes a microphone. He tests the sound first. When they see that the owner of the mansion is going to speak, the guests turn to him.“Testing, one, two, three... feedback is OK... Good afternoon, dear guests!”“Good afternoon!”“Well, it's about to become good evening.” Josias smiles, “Anyway, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for coming. I’m very moved to witness the marriage of two great friends. The bride has known me since I was eighteen, it's already... twenty-one years, oh, my! It's better to stop here, I don't want to give away her age.”Everyone laughs. Isabel is the one who laughs the most.“Anyway, I've known the groom for a few years now. He owns the famous Café Montanha coffee shop and his nephews run the trendiest restaurant in town, Crystal Blue.” Josias takes a deep breath, “Anyway, I joked about the twent
The next day, the Lafayette family was gathered in the dining room of their Europe Garden mansion. Unlike the other refined residences whose walls and furniture resembled the Georgian or Victorian style, the Lafayettes decided to go for a modern look, with wool-colored walls and granite floors. The dining table set was made of wood with white upholstered chairs and a marble table top.Ingrid read the LCN newspaper and enjoyed the gossip columns. But when she saw Isabel and Francisco's wedding...“Well... a fancy wedding at Josias Rocha's mansion and we weren't invited!”Nadia stifles a laugh, “Mom, we're new in town.”“We have been here since last year and Mr. Rocha’s youngest brother interviewed your father.” Ingrid frowns but continues to read.Thierry is disheveled and eating cheese bread indifferently to the news, “I’m glad I wasn’t invited.”“The young lady Rosemary
“Caio, can you go down and attend to your uncle?” William asks as he turns on the radio. Michael Jackson's new song “You Rock My World” sets the mood in the living room.Caio smiles when he hears William call Josias ‘uncle’, acknowledging that he still belongs to the family, as Caio always felt. He goes downstairs.William sits on the sofa and looks at the camera that is on the rack next to the TV. He worries. Did Josias find out?Moments later, Caio and Josias enter, “He's here in the living room, Uncle.”“It’s good that the son was able to come down.” Josias comments, “Will, I hope that you're okay.”“Hello, Josias!” William smiles, “How can I be of assistance? Sit down.”Josias accepts the suggestion and sits down in the armchair, “I need to talk to you about a subject that has been bothering me since last year. Now, another piece o
The next day, William visits his parents' house. Simeon and Dora receive their son with curiosity.“Good morning, son!” Dora greets him and notices the Italian-cut suit, “Where did you get that fancy suit from?”“There's a good store Downtown.” William responds proudly, “Like it, Dad? It would be perfect if I didn't limp.”Simeon puts both hands on his son's arms and responds lovingly, “That's perfect, son. And by your countenance, you came to bring good news. Sit down, sit down.”William obeys and sits on the couch. Simeon sits in the armchair.“So?” Dora asks, curious.“Looks like I will, again, make peace with Josias,” William announces.Simeon and Dora are pleasantly awestruck.“Sonny…” Simeon exclaims after a few seconds, “Will I see peace in this family before I die?”“Stop talking about death, Dad, this is the second time.” William frowns.“I’m approaching seventy.” Simeon sighs, “But I won't die of heartbreak when I see you fighting with Josias.”“How did it happen?” Dora asks
Simeon and Dora go to the Mountain Penthouse to take care of the grandchildren. Melissa is on the couch in the living room, checking scripts with Caroline.“Mom, you mistyped, you wrote ‘gouse’ instead of ‘house’.” Caroline points to a sheet.Melissa giggles, “Oops, thanks for letting me know, my baby girl.”“Hello, happy family!” Simeon exclaims.“Grandpa!” Caroline gets up and hugs her grandparents.Dora is overcome with happiness, “Melissa, has Will told you the news yet?”“No, Mother, but something tells me you will be the herald.” Melissa laughs.Dora sits down beside her, careful not to sit on top of the scripts, “Will told us he raised the peace flag for Josias! Yesterday, they talked and didn't fight!”Melissa and Caroline are thrilled.“Oh… Mom, Dad, what excellent news!” Melissa applauds, “William is back to being the sweet little brother I know.”Kelvin approaches from the corridor.“And Josias won't even suspect him about being the mysterious sender,” Simeon announces.Kel
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