The next day, Josias is walking towards Crystal Blue to confront his enemy Daryl.He crosses Ibrahim Square, looking out over the cityscape. The city is growing bigger and bigger, passing 300,000 residents and reaching the 400,000 population milestone. They say that a rural district called Vale do Cajá will be integrated into the city and receive urban improvements.Josias smiles as he is part of the city’s growth. He has grown along with it.As he entered the sidewalk, Josias was tempted to go around the back and turn off the restaurant’s electrical supply just to frighten them. But he resisted the prank and decided to enter through the front door.Upon opening the door, Felipe is the first to see him, “Mr. Rocha! Good morning. How can I help you?”Josias smiles gently, “It’s funny. You like me, Felipe, but your father tried to kill me.”Felipe keeps his smile, “Well, I respect you as a
Josias and Daryl are face to face, staring at each other with distrust and resentment.Daryl decides to break the awkward silence, “How did you hear about that?”“Does that really matter? I fear you’ll want to kill the person responsible.” Josias crosses his arms.“I can only conclude that it was Rodrigo.” Daryl shakes his head, “I didn’t know he would gossip.”“He didn’t tell me to cause gossip!” Josias vehemently asserts, “He was feeling guilty because he thought that Claudio would blame him for the shot when he recovered his health.”“Oh, I see.” Daryl smiles devilishly.“But Rodrigo wasn’t the one who fired the shot, right?” Josias leans forward, “We know that he and Claudio disagreed about the dressing room.”“Yes, I don’t know why Mrs. Vasquez did it.” Daryl winks evilly, “Or
Josias enters the company making an effort to greet his employees in the same way. But they felt something was wrong and didn’t insist on chatting or bothering the boss.“Good morning, Mr. Rocha.”“Good morning, guys. Sorry for the frown, I started the morning on the wrong foot.”“Everything will be fine, sir.” The entrance staff responds respectfully.Josias meets with Pollyanna, “Hello, Pollyanna. Is it true that you’re gonna get engaged to Ritchie?”Pollyanna nods proudly, “Yes, Mr. Rocha. You’re invited to the betrothal and marriage.”“Oh, I feel privileged.” Josias smiles slightly, “Any messages?”“The young Reuben Freire is coming here. Mrs. Freire telephoned just now to let me know.” Pollyanna informs him.Josias feels happy again, “I know why. Let him in as soon as he arrives, Pollyanna, no matter what
Vera and Teresa are worried about Flávia panting and finding it difficult to stay on her feet.“Flavia, please tell us what’s going on!” Teresa is distressed.Flávia tries to control herself, “I... I tried...”Beto shows up and finds the women in this predicament, “Oh God, can I help you with anything?”“Honey, make some chamomile or passion fruit tea for Flávia,” Teresa asks hurriedly.“Is she scared of something?” Beto squints his eyes, worried.Vera takes a chair and makes Flávia sit on it.“Thank you...” Flávia starts to get the color back on her face, “I tried to do something, but I couldn’t...”“Take it easy, dear, take your time.” Vera comforts her.“No, I need to say... So you don’t get too stressed.” Flávia is embarrassed to draw attention.
Cláudio’s interview is published in the LCN newspaper. Countless readers rushed to buy an issue, forcing the printer plant to double the print run because newsstand owners were complaining.Dr. Braggart took a copy to Cláudio, who recovered his health in record time. It seemed that he decided to fight against the odds and come back to rub his victory in the faces of his enemies.“Look, Doctor, how handsome I look in this picture!” Claudio laughs and points to the open page.“It was a really good story, Mr. Guzman. Congratulations. Keep it up, and you’ll be discharged.”Claudio’s eyes sparkle with this perspective. Getting discharged and getting back to his life at the agency... that’s all he wants.******On the Mountain Penthouse, Diane is walking around like a dizzy cockroach around her residence, looking for the newspaper.“Honey, where is the newspaper?”Daryl is sipping his coffee with a grimace, “I told you I was going to cancel the newspaper subscription.”Diane rolls her eyes,
At Saint Gabriel’s College, Caio and Alan talk in the open courtyard, enjoying their recess.“What’s up, Alan? Have you talked to Sofia this year?”Alan smiles hopefully, “I’ve been chatting with her online. I intend to arrange something with her, maybe some cinema.”“That’s cool, man. Looks like we will have ‘Shrek 2’. Does she like movies like that?” Caio suggests.“I intend to ask her later.” Alan takes his phone and checks for calls.After checking, Alan looks up and notices that Caio is far away, “What happened?”“I wonder if you heard about Sofia’s mother yet.” Caio is gloomy.“Mrs. Vasquez? Has she done anything reprehensible?” Alan is curious.“You can say that again.” Caio nods, “My father is furious because he asked Mrs. Vasquez not to favor Cláudio Guzman, and she did the opposite: she reserved a dressing room for Mr. Guzman, resulting in Rodrigo Mountain staying outside with the inexperienced models.”Alan is outraged, “That’s crazy! Rod is already a famous model, one of t
At Saint Gabriel College, the bell rings, ending recess. Several university students run to their classrooms.Caio and Alan remain where they are, looking at each other suspiciously.Alan breaks the awkward silence, “Caio, I can’t believe Sofia purposely supported something like this. She probably didn’t even know about it.“Would she tell you if you asked her?” Caio asks, getting up.Alan also stands up, “Why wouldn’t she tell? Something tells me this was her mother’s ruse. Cláudio Guzman is an attractive guy, no wonder she had a crush on him.”“Married women tend to have a crush on him.” Caio alludes to Katherine.Alan grows somber, “Whoa, Caio, don’t get Kate in the middle. My father won’t like this.”“But it’s the truth!” Caio insists, “This guy is a married woman magnet. Hopefully, he learns his lesson and doesn’t repeat the mistake.”“We better go to our classrooms before the professors forbid us to enter.” Alan tries to smile to break the ice.Both walk away and go to their cla
In Daryl’s office, he finds it somewhat impossible that Rodrigo accepts without much resistance that Claudio owned a dressing room and he didn’t.Daryl decides to question this, “I don’t believe you. Are you really going to try to convince me that you didn’t fight for your right to have a dressing room like the renowned model that you are? Where was Mrs. Vasquez at this crucial hour?”“I don’t know. I didn’t look for her!” Rodrigo asserts.“So you let your rival triumph.” Daryl shakes his head and steps out from behind the desk.Rodrigo smiles wryly, “You talk as if you care about my career. What you want is to see the circus burn. You expected me to make a bigger scandal so that people would remember me later and point to me as the shooter!”Daryl waves his hands in frantic gestures, “No, Rod, I didn’t want that!”“The fact remains that you shot Josias. Pictures don’t lie.” Rodrigo boldly asserts.“Those Thierry Lafayette’s photos prove I was there, not that I shot him!” Daryl veheme
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