At Rocha Mansion, Melissa meets with Elza and Dora in her private office.“Good morning, ladies!” Melissa closes the door.“Good morning, Melissa.” Elza has a catalog in hand.Melissa views the catalog, “May I know what this is, mother-in-law?”“Yes. It’s for you to properly call me mother-in-law in the future.” Elza hands Melissa the catalog.As she reads it, Melissa catches her breath.“Elza... It’s the new Happy Bride catalog!”Dora sits on the same sofa as Melissa, next to her, “Daughter, look at these beautiful and modern models... But the price...”Melissa giggles, “We can’t get too baffled about the price, Mom. Josias will pay for everything with a big smile. The important thing is that we’re finally free to formalize our union.”Dora chirps, “I thought this day would never come! I’m glad I’m alive to witness my daughter reuniting with the true love of her life for the second time!”Melissa puts the catalog on her lap and begins to meditate on the twists and turns of her life,
Josias is walking through the corridors of Rocha Constructions with Octavio, discussing the news.“Is it serious?” Octavio frowns, “Did Daryl try to snatch Ben from your restaurant to his? Can’t he win by his own means?”“I think his restaurant is down in popularity.” Josias smirks, “People aren’t enjoying seeing him be my enemy.”“Josias, how long will you endure this unreasonable persecution?” Octavio asks in exasperation.“Until he raises the banner of peace,” Josias calmly answers, “He started it, so he’ll stop it.”“But this is absurd. So far he has only been defeated. And now, there’s still a chance he’ll be arrested for trying to kill you.” Octavio sighs.“Didn’t Jane tell you about this?” Josias raises an eyebrow.“No, she probably wanted to spare me.” Octavio scratches the back of his head.Reuben approaches Josias, panting from the rush, “Uncle Josias, thank God!”“What is it, Reuben, why are you panting like that?” Josias holds Reuben by his shoulders, “Did something happen
Josias and Francisco continue to talk about the letter.“Francisco, first of all, I don’t want you to be mad at Reuben.”“Reuben?” Francisco squints.“That’s right.” Josias gestures, “He was just trying to help.”“How Reuben wrote a letter to Shirley—” Francisco choked on the words, widening his eyes as if to say ‘I get it,’ “...He took the previous letter I threw in the trash.”“He read the first letter and was outraged by Shirley’s boldness.” Josias tries to smooth over the situation, “So he reached out to me, and I suggested he impersonate you, replying to the letter to ask Shirley not to come here.”“And now, she’s suspicious of the letter’s legitimacy and wants to come back to town to see me!” Francisco complains, “This is absurd, Josias! You two should have left the matter alone!”Josias crosses his arms, “Did you read the previous letter, Francisco?”“No, I crumpled it up into a ball of paper and threw it in the trash!”“That was your mistake.” Josias snaps his fingers, “You di
Elza meets Vernon in his office. She has a notepad in her hands.“Hello, dear. Shall we have lunch together?” Vernon greets her while looking at something on his computer.“Only if we go to our hotel restaurant. Jane is raving about the dishes Benjamin cooks. It doesn’t matter what season he stays in: starters, meats, pasta, desserts... He rocks.”“And what are you waiting for to promote our child prodigy?” Vernon asks with a smirk.“I’m waiting for the current chef to retire.” Elza sat down in a chair that was lying around, “In the meantime, I am taking care of our son’s wedding ceremony.”“Melissa is in the kitchen talking to João Paulo,” Vernon informs her.“Hmm... I can’t imagine why.” Elza looks at the notepad, “I’m confirming the guests. Do you and João Paulo intend to attend? Will there be any last-minute appointments or editorial meetings?”Vernon stands up good-naturedly, “Write our names in there, and include João Paulo as best man. I’m sure Josias will want that.”“OK. What
The day of Josias and Melissa’s second wedding has arrived.Unlike the wedding with Katherine, Josias and Melissa decided that the ceremony would take place directly in the ballroom.As the number of guests was small, they found that everyone could fit inside.Dora and Elza helped the servants place the seats in two sectors, leaving a space in the middle to serve as an aisle for the bride to pass through. The stage where the band would end up serving as an altar.The guests and Maggiezine staff would walk through the mansion and into the ballroom, marveling at the decor. Flowers were meticulously placed to adorn the space. Extra lamps were positioned on the walls to make the place more illuminated. And the children marveled at the huge table containing the cake and other goodies.Benjamin was in a suit, but he directed the cooks as far as possible. João Paulo appeared, greeting him.“Today you must have fun, my comrade. Trust your team.”“I still need to give one or two directions,” B
In the Mountain Penthouse, Daryl shakes his head after relieving himself of the choking. Felipe still has a lot to learn...“Felipe, allow me to tell you something.” Daryl prepares to blurt out truths that bother Diane, “I understand you have a good heart. I understand that you want to do good without looking at who. But I think it’s time you understood a few things.”“Daryl, no...” Diane asks.“What is it, father?” Felipe gets serious.“You might have noticed by now that Josias and I don’t get along. And that’s been years ago. I tried to be his friend, helping him against his late wife who was never right for him. And he repaid it by believing the slander of his friends, hating me.”“Honey, it’s not like that—” Diane tries to retort.“Darling, let me open our son’s eyes.” Daryl stares at her sternly, “He can’t go on believing there will ever be peace between the Rocha and Mountain families.”“Why not?” Felipe does not accept it and gets up, “I have nothing against Mr. Rocha, against
Cláudio Guzman is received with applause as soon as most of the guests see him enter the ballroom.Olivia, unaware of how obvious she is, approaches him, being the one who says the loudest, “Congratulations, CONGRATULATIONS! Claudio, we are very happy that you made it. May God bless you and give you many years of life to come to crush your enemies!”“How can you include ‘God’ in a bloodthirsty sentence like that, Mrs. Vasquez?” Claudio asks jokingly, making the others laugh.Erasmo drapes his arm around Olivia’s back, “Forgive my wife, Mr. Guzman. Come on, the champagne is delicious.”“Thank you, Mr. Guzman. You know, I’d like to chat...”The gentlemen walk away, leaving Olivia behind.Dora approaches her, “Olivia, are you a fan of Mr. Guzman? My daughter told me about the mess with the dressing rooms.”Olivia wakes up from the immoral daydreams she was having with Claudio and turns to Dora, trying not to offend her, “Did your daughter also say that this was all her brother’s fault?”
When Octavio, Jane, and Augusto show up at Rocha Mansion, they run into someone different.“We’re late!” Octavio complains, “We’re later than the bride.”“Honey, Augusto wasn’t to blame if he got sick while we were getting ready,” Jane explains to him.Augusto still looks green, wearing his suit.Octavio takes his son in his arms, “OK, champ. I know you ate something that didn’t make you feel good. I think you better have just one slice of cake, OK?”Augusto smiles. The cake is always what children most want to eat at a wedding.With that in mind, they enter the foyer and find a young man in a gray suit, seemingly lost.“Can we help you?” Octavio asks.“Hi, I’m Felipe Mountain.” Felipe identifies himself with a charismatic smile, “Where is the ballroom?”Octavio and Jane are stunned.“Who invited you, kid?” Octavio is quick to be rude.“Nobody, but I thought—”“You thought wrong!” Octavio growls, “Get out of here! Josias will hate it if you show up uninvited. The ceremony is for frien
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