Days later, with Vera recovered and Elton going home, Maggie provided the cover story for Maggiezine. As agreed, the photo was taken in Wallace’s apartment, but no one realized that it was a Happiness Slum residence, due to the care that Rocha Constructions had in rebuilding the Teodoro building.That edition and the edition that showed Josias and Melissa on the cover, announcing the return of the Rocha couple, proved to be the best-selling editions of 2003.Access to the same news on the website also skyrocketed. Young people who did not have the money or desire to subscribe to the magazine looked for information on the Internet and shared it with their friends of the same age.Meanwhile, Daryl and Diane felt left out again. They wanted to visit Vera to congratulate her and meet Elton, but her apartment was always full of Josias’s relatives and friends.Until, one fine day, they took courage. Upon reading yet another article about them in the LCN newspaper, Daryl threw the newspaper
Daryl, Diane, and Felipe set foot in the lobby of the Teodoro building and bumped into Patrick.“PAT!” Daryl flashed the fakest smile ever, “Hello! Have a nice day.”Patrick was startled by his boss’s exaggerated greeting, “Sir... Mr. Mountain? What are you doing here?”“What do you mean?” Diane smirks, “We came to see our second cousin, Elton.”“I didn’t know he was your relative.” Patrick narrows his eyes.Felipe explains, “Well, Wallace Freire is the son of Isabel Freire who is married to my uncle Francisco. Symbolically, he is our relative, just as we accept Isabel and Wallace.”Patrick smirks, “You can include yourself in that too, my pal.”Daryl and Diane look at each other, witnessing from the front row how Patrick always takes the opportunity to make fun of their adopted son.Beto appears in the lobby. The radio is playing “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé & Jay-Z.“Good morning, Mountain family! Have you come to visit your symbolic cousin?”Daryl smiles at Patrick, “See? Even Beto r
As soon as the Mountain family left, Wallace locked the door and ripped all the clothes off his body again. Vera laughs.“Today you don’t want to get formal, huh?”Wallace shrugs, “No, it’s hot today. Do you want me to turn the fan on for you?”“Don’t put it too strong. I don’t want to risk Elton catching a cold.” Vera tenderly looks at her son.Wallace thus turns on the fan, “You know, Patrick came by, but he didn’t tell me what he wanted, and he left without answering.”“That was really weird.” Vera frowns, “He saw his bosses here and was embarrassed?”“Looks like he was late.” Wallace chuckles, “But he got weird saying that only Daryl and Diane were his bosses. He said that by the time Felipe’s turn comes around, he’ll already be at a better job.”Vera saw no strangeness in the phrase, “Every man wants a better job.”“But he said, I don’t know... As if he had something against Felipe. Did they fight?” Wallace scratches his chin.Vera shrugs. She is only interested in taking care of
Bernardo was resting in a hospital bed. He only had light cuts on his arm and didn’t even need to put on a hospital gown.Maggie enters his room, worried.“Is it visiting hours yet?” Bernardo asks playfully.“You stop with those jokes.” Maggie asks, “Thank God you didn’t get worse than those scratches.”“Don’t worry, honey, I’m fine.”“For sure?” Maggie crosses her arms, “So tell me what’s going on? Why did you have trouble seeing the light?”“I don’t even know if ‘trouble’ is the right word, my love.” Bernardo justifies himself.Maggie sits patiently beside him on the bed, “Bernie, Sergeant Ivan says Dr. Braggart is going to refer you to an ophthalmologist. He says you complained a few days ago that you couldn’t see properly.”Bernardo drops the smile and nods, “That’s right, honey. I’m getting worried. It started when Elton was born. I was putting together the puzzle with Henrique when I realized I was getting most of the pieces wrong. I couldn’t check and put pieces that obviously
Josias visits Bernardo at his apartment. As the case was quickly resolved, he was discharged.In Bernardo’s apartment, he is in an armchair, with a blanket over his legs, being watched by Maggie and Henrique.“Do you want the radio on, honey, or the TV?” Maggie asks, very helpful.Bernardo laughs, “Don’t make me get used to that, huh?”“We just want to help you, my love.” Maggie kisses him on the cheek.Josias chuckles, “Bernie, you’re being well taken care of.”Bernardo turns to Josias, “Thanks for coming, Josias. And Melissa?”“She’s at the mansion. My son wanted to have a little party for his friends. He invited everyone... Henrique, shouldn’t you be at the party?”“I want to stay and take care of my father, Mr. Rocha,” Henrique responds with a smile like a well-behaved boy.Josias smiles, but he’s still not over the ‘Mr. Rocha’. When will Henrique call him ‘Uncle Josias’, like the others?Maggie turns on the radio and Hillary Duff’s song “So Yesterday” fills the apartment.“I’m go
At Pizzeria Campos, William answers the call, “Hello?”On the other side, in Crystal Blue, Daryl is feeling like a king at his desk, “Hello, Will. Long time no see.”“Daryl?” William frowns.“Don’t make too much of a fuss, don’t let your parents find out. I need to talk to you tomorrow at my penthouse.” Daryl speaks with an evil smile.“In the penthouse that belonged to my brother-in-law?” William teases.“If you were a true person, you wouldn’t be calling Josias brother-in-law. You always hated him. Melissa told us how boring you were in the ‘80s.”“I changed when Josias helped me. I’m not ungrateful. And if I hated Josias in the ‘90s, it was because he cheated on my sister with two scoundrels. Did I have no reason?”“At least with one of them, it was a drinking accident, but you’ve always treated it as if Josias deliberately wanted to sleep with Angela. Anyway, let’s talk about your constant change of heart about Josias tomorrow.”“Are you out of your mind, man—” William realized th
Following day. William is wearing a real leather shoe in his living room. Caio approaches him wearing only sweatpants and rubbing his eyes, as he had just woken up. He finds it strange that his father is already wearing a shirt and dress pants. The supporter is near him.The radio playing Linkin Park’s song “Somewhere I Belong” left the scene darker for Caio, “Dad? Are you leaving already? Where are you going?”“Did you have a great time at the party yesterday, son?” William finishes putting on his shoes.“Yes, but you didn’t answer me.” Caio insists, positioning himself in front of his father.William smiles a little, “Don’t worry about me, son. Concentrate on the entrance exam and being an architect as famous as Octavio Motta.”Caio crosses his arms, “You’re not going to tell me, are you? If it was something normal and no harm, you would have told me straight away. Are you up to something?”William stands up, serious, “Definitely, Caio, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Your
William rubs his ears, sensing he hasn’t heard right.What did Daryl say?Was he, William, the anonymous sender who sent the photos of Josias and Gabriela to everyone, culminating in the divorce?Daryl smiles more and more with pleasure as he sees his enemy think and mull over lies and excuses. But he decided not to give him time, “Gotcha, huh?”“My nose, you got me!” William would have jumped on the sofa if it weren’t for his bad leg, “What are you talking about, you imbecile?”Daryl wags his index finger, “It’s no use coming smartly at me. William Campos, you are the most despicable and deceitful guy I’ve ever met. I never thought you were capable of such villainy. Josias was angry with everyone who clearly wanted to get rid of Katherine, but didn’t know you were one of them.”William frowns, “That’s a lie!”“Did you love Katherine Bezerra?” Daryl retorts.“No, I always thought she was a terrible wife for Josias. But since I hated him at the time for cheating on my sister, I had no