In the office of the CEO of Rocha Constructions, Josias is surprised to see that Octavio is not accepting his transfer to Belo Horizonte.“Josias, you’re gonna forgive me, or not.” Octavio declares with feverish eyes, “I won’t accept moving to a strange city with a wife who also works for you and a two-year-old son. I prefer to resign.”Josias drops his smile and turns somber, “Don’t be ridiculous, Octavio. How are you going to get a job? You are my age. We know you need to settle down, and I’m the one you’re going to do that with.”“Sorry, Josias, but I can manage.” Octavio starts to walk away.“Think of your family, think of your son!” Josias argues.“I’m thinking. Augusto will have a future here in Lagoon City. He’s not going to start over in a strange city because his father made a mistake. Don’t punish my son, Josias!”Josias lowers his head and thinks for a few seconds. Afterward, he goes back to eye-to-eye with Octavio, “Octavio, what if Daryl tries something?”“What else can h
In the Mountain Penthouse, Felipe is in his office, studying for his math test. He researches some simulations on the Internet to practice what he has learned.Shirley opens the office door with a silver tray in hand, “My little grandson? Grandma brought you more shortbread cookies!”Felipe feels his stomach turn, “Ehr... Grandma, no more, I’m satisfied.”“Now, don’t be shy, I’ve baked a lot.” Shirley places the tray on her grandson’s desk, “There’s still plenty for your parents.”“They still haven’t shown up?” Felipe asks smartly.“No, I think I’ll call them.” Shirley decides to withdraw, “Keep studying, I want to see you get an A!”“Thank you, grandma.” Felipe manages to smile a little.Shirley thinks she is pleasing and leaves, closing the door behind her.Felipe pushes the tray away as far as he can, “If I eat any more of these cookies, I’ll become diabetic! Looks like my parents managed to escape to the restaurant.”Felipe nods, now understanding why Daryl wouldn’t let her in.**
At Crystal Blue, Francisco and Isabel see Daryl almost having a stroke after receiving a call from Shirley announcing her return.Francisco grabs Daryl, “Nephew, CONTROL YOURSELF! Don’t let your mother take you to the hospital, let’s solve this situation together!”“How are we going to solve it, uncle?” Daryl asks in a whisper, so as not to startle the customers, “We have the Josias issue... If Josias thinks I called her—”“No, that’s crazy.” Isabel shakes her head, “Daryl, we already told you that we’ll stand by you and defend you from this accusation. Josias will listen to us. And as for you, courage! Your mother doesn’t scare me, and neither you.”“She swore to destroy your marriage.” Daryl swallows hard.“Let her try.” Isabel winks, demonstrating that she is not afraid of the challenge.Seeing that his uncles are confident, Daryl calms down a bit, “OK, you booked a table... I found it. Felipe was in the penthouse keeping her company. Pat!”Patrick approaches, “Yes, Mr. Mountain?”
Josias is baffled by Maggie asking him to believe Daryl this time.“Maggie, how can you be sure that Daryl didn’t phone in secret, asking your mother to come back to heat our feud?” Josias asks in a worried tone, “That would sound like Daryl, nothing unusual about that.”“No, I’m sure he wouldn’t go that low.” Maggie shakes her head, “Josias, I firmly believe that my brother wouldn’t expect our mother around to ruin Izzy and Uncle Francisco’s wedding, just as she almost ruined mine.”“I remember this.” Josias sighs, “Tough year, 1996.”“Well, eight years have passed, and she still hasn’t learned.” Maggie sighs.Josias stands up, “Maggie, regarding your mother wanting to defend Daryl, is she referring to the Cláudio Guzman case, where everyone expected Daryl to be arrested for having shot him?”“Yes.” Maggie nods, “She thinks she can help with something.”“I think that’s a lame excuse.” Josias pours himself a shot of cognac, “I believe that her objective is your Uncle Francisco. The pr
At Crystal Blue, Shirley is not pleased with Daryl’s denial.“Son, I know it’s been a few years, but I think we can resume family ties.” She peacefully states.“What are you doing here, mother?” Daryl asks with a frown.“I came here to help you!” Shirley approaches, “I saw it all on TV how you were wrongly arrested. I want to say some truths to that evil sergeant.”Daryl fumes, “Don’t try to say anything, Mom! You’ll make the situation worse and the police will want to arrest me just because you’ve defied authority.”“That’s kind of impossible to happen, son, unless the sergeant is pretty corrupt.” Shirley blinks.“Mother, you don’t deceive me.” Daryl shakes his head, “I know everything. You wrote letters to Uncle Francisco wanting to relive the past. He is married to Isabel Freire and they’re both very happy.”“How can your uncle be happy with the mother of a lunatic? A guy who set his own house on fire while his wife was traveling to the Capital! And his wife went crazy too.”“Mothe
In the Teodoro building, Wallace and Vera are trying in vain to comfort a grieving Teresa who already considers herself a widow. Pedro and Maycon don’t know what to do. The lobby radio playing “Funeral Song” by The Rasmus did not help matters.“Someone turn off that radio,” Vera suggests.“NO!” Teresa exclaims with wide eyes, “If the radio is turned off, Teodoro’s ghost will haunt us! And probably Beto’s too!”“I’m not going to cry...” Maycon says, but his eyes are already teary.“Don’t talk nonsense, Tess!” Wallace scolds her, “Beto isn’t dead yet. He’s just unreachable, that’s all. We can’t even call it a disappearance.”“But why isn’t he answering his cell phone?” Teresa yells, “Back in the day, the mobile signal was awful, but the mayor installed some antennas, and—”“We’re jumping to conclusions and scaring the kids, Tess.” Vera admonishes her.“Instead of turning off the radio,” Teresa looks at the wall, “Let’s tear the portrait down! I knew it, nailing up my husband’s portrait
Josias and Octavio show up at the police station.A policeman working in the lobby recognizes the two right away, “Hey, you’re Josias Rocha and the Chief Architect!”“Exactly.” Octavio is not upset about not being recognized by his name. After all, all the glory and fame belongs to Josias, so he thinks.“What can the precinct help you with, gentlemen?” The officer promptly opens an online form to fill out.“Tell us whether or not Sergeant Ivan Moraes is in his office,” Josias asks, trying to control his anger.“Mr. Rocha, it is with shame that I inform you that the sergeant is not in the precinct. He had to attend to an emergency with his son at the hospital.”“OK, communicate directly with Commissioner Tavares.” Josias wastes no time. A man of his caliber has to deal with the big boss, not the small fry.Octavio scratches his chin. Is Ivan really in the hospital?While the policeman picks up the phone and dials some extensions, Josias’s cell phone rings. He is surprised by Teresa’s c
In Sofia’s room, her cell phone rings. She smiles with pleasure when she sees who is calling.“Hello, Alan.”On the other side, Alan is in the limousine being driven by Hector to college. Josias is on his side.“Hello, Sofia. I have good news. Dinner is confirmed.”“Oh, that’s wonderful, Alan. Thanks so much for letting me know. I’m going to pick out a pretty dress to impress.” Sofia beams.“It doesn’t have to be something very fancy.” Alan warns her, “It’s going to be casual, family, no Maggiezine photographers.”“Even better. I don’t think I should raise fake expectations among readers.” Sofia jokes, sitting up in bed.“See you then in the evening, seven o’clock?” Alan asks anxiously.“Yes, we agreed. See you tonight.” Sofia says goodbye and ends the call.Olivia opens the door, smiling too much.“Mother, did you listen at the door?” Sofia breaks her smile, uncomfortably.“I was walking down the hall when I heard your voice.” Olivia walks in and closes the door, “So what? Is everyth
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