Carmen and James show up at the Teodoro building to say goodbye.“Guys, we need to go away for a while.” Carmen announces, “Tiago fears for our safety.”Teresa and Vera are stunned.“Who threatened you... ‘they’?” Vera asks in a whisper.Carmen looks to the corner of the lobby and sees James saying goodbye to Pedro, Henrique, and Alan.Then she faces the adults and confesses, “Tiago feels there will be war when Josias makes certain decisions involving the Mountain family.”Beto is surprised, “Oh, my... He’s going to snatch Melissa back, is he?”Carmen is suspicious, “Something like that, we’re not sure yet.”Wallace is next to ask, “But would they be able to contest something like that? After everything my mother told me, Kelvin doesn’t deserve to be her husband!”“And I’ll never forget Everaldo&r
A few days passed. Josias organized a farewell party for Carmen and James at his mansion.Thus, all friends and acquaintances were able to say goodbye properly to them.However, only Isabel, Francisco, and Rodrigo were invited among the Mountain family.“Carmen, we’ll miss you.” Isabel hugs her.“It’s only for a while.” Carmen responds, “You know why, right?”Isabel gets a somber face, “There’s a conversation going on between them. Daryl is not happy with the way things are going.”“But what right does he have to like or dislike?” Carmen asks, crossing her arms, “Guys, so much have happened since 1999 that I can’t tell the story from the beginning.”“Anyway, protect yourself and protect your greatest asset, James.” Isabel winks, “One of these days, I’ll visit Victoria to chat with Cristina.”“I&rsq
The result of the DNA test has arrived.At General Hospital, Gabriela was pacing the lounge, anxious to the extreme, looking like intoxicated on energy drinks.“It’s today, it’s today, IT’S TODAY! Today, finally, we’ll have the result. Sandra will be declared Josias’s daughter, and he won’t deny himself a complete family for her sake! I know Josias said no, but I hold fast to that hope!”The lounge door opens and Vernon and Elza enter. They feel disgusted in front of Gabriela as if they were facing a putrid corpse full of worms and larvae.“Good morning to you too!” Gabriela greets them ironically.“We have no manners for harlots.” Elza retorts.Gabriela raises her hand to slap Elza, but Vernon’s voice stops her.“Put that hand down!”With Gabriela’s hand still in the air, it’s Elza who slaps her as hard as she can.&ldq
At General Hospital, it’s time for Josias to find out if Sandra’s father is him or João Paulo.Josias darkened his face when he read the result, making the others more apprehensive.“Come on, Josias, tell us the result!” Elsa exclaims.Josias stares at everyone present, and when his gaze meets Gabriela’s, he squints.“Sandra’s father... IS JOÃO PAULO!”João Paulo and Vernon are flabbergasted. WHAT? NO!Vernon can’t help himself, “You mean we paid money for that doctor to falsify an exam that was already real?”“That’s why he ran away to Serra!” João Paulo exclaims.“YOU DAMNED ONES!” Gabriela screams, already getting hoarse, “So it was really true? Did you bribe the doctor to stamp on the DNA test result that Sandra’s father was João Paulo?” She starts walking in circles and laughi
Josias now visits Marçal Publishing. All the employees don’t dare look Josias in the eye, and some even back away when he’s passing by. No one rode the elevator with Josias, fearing his murderous aura. When Josias arrives on the floor of Bernardo’s office, Maggie was returning from the bathroom and finds him. “Josias, good morning!” She greets him excitedly, “How are you? João Paulo said—” “Yes, João Paulo.” Josias cuts her off with a not-so-gentle smile, “You guys really like his contribution to the magazine, right?” Maggie responds satisfied, “We have to admit your little brother is a gem. Readers like him a lot.” “Well, that’s a shame. I expected there to be complaints.” Josias states wryly, shaking his head in regret, “I’ll have to remove my little brother from here while he’s still in his prime.” Maggie is stunned. What did Josias say? Josias doesn’t give her a chance to ask and continues to walk directly to the editor’s o
João Paulo and Gabriela go down the stairs of the Family Court, each one beside their lawyer, after the conciliatory hearing. Behind them, Gabriela ventures to ask, “João Paulo, wait! Is it true that you are leaving Maggiezine?” João Paulo stops going down and waits for Gabriela to catch up with him, “Who told you?” “I still keep in touch with some friends from Marçal Publishing,” Gabriela responds with a slight smile. “I’ll probably leave the company, not just the magazine.” João Paulo responds neutrally, “Josias wants me to go to LCN to take your place.” “Oh, how interesting,” Gabriela just says that, and walks past him, down the stairs with her lawyer. Not far away, a famous limousine was waiting for Gabriela to appear on the sidewalk. The vehicle’s radio was playing “En el Muelle de Sán Blás”, by Maná. When Gabriela said goodbye to her lawyer, Josias said to Hector, “Go closer to her.” Hector started the engine and approached Gabriela in first gear. She noticed the limousin
João Paulo enters the apartment. Elza and Vernon watch television with Sandra between them on the sofa. She is having fun with her grandparents. When they see their son arrive, their interest is immediate. “Son! Tell us how it did?” Vernon asks him anxiously. João Paulo sits in the armchair, “Gabriela accepted my conditions.” Elza applauds, “So she will agree to give you full custody of Sandra? We need to celebrate this fact!” “At Campos Pizzeria?” João Paulo asks playfully. “It could be.” Vernon accepts, “We have nothing to hide.” Vernon had alluded to the photographs taken of Gabriela and Josias. “It was very kind of Josias not to be upset about the faked DNA test.” Elza reminds the men, “But for God’s sake, people, let’s not repeat this shamelessness. I’m not married to any forger. And I didn’t raise a son to go around bribing people.” “Mother, Dr. Antenor was mired in debt.” John Paul tries to justify himself, “It wasn’t like he was forced to do it.” “But he tricked you.
At Simeon’s house, the conversation continued to be interesting, but controversial. Dora was genuinely worried about the divorce. If Melissa returns to Lagoon City, Mary and Ignacio would suffer for it. Either they would stay with their father in the capital, or they would return with their mother. She asks Josias, “Josias, would you be willing to take care of Mary and Ignacio if they came with their mother?” “Yes, I would take care of them.” Josias responds with some irony, “After all, Kelvin always took care of Alan and Caroline in my place.” Simeon purses his lips, “Mary and Ignacio shouldn’t be a hindrance.” “Remember, dear. They’re also our grandchildren, William’s nephews, and Caio’s cousins.” Dora insists, “Guys, I really wish Melissa had never divorced Josias. But, she didn’t want to wait and concentrated on getting to know Kelvin in depth, until she fell in love with him. We cannot simply ignore these details.” “I can, and I will, Dora,” Josias states categorically. Wi
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