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 enters the Teodoro building and finds Beto behind the counter as if nothing had happened to him yesterday. But the peaceful smile he has makes Josias more suspicious of what really happened. The radio playing Ashley Simpson’s song “Pieces of Me” did not cheer Josias up.“Josias, my big friend!” Beto holds out his arms, “What a pleasure to meet you here!”“Hello, Beto.” Josias looks around. No sign of the blue binder, “Where’s that blue binder you wanted to show me yesterday?”“What are you talking about, Josias?” Beto continues to speak wonderfully normally, “I didn’t have any binders yesterday.”“It’s not what the security cameras showed yesterday.” Josias replies with a serious look, “Beto, don’t worry. You can count on my support and the safety of Tiago’s ‘boys’. Tell me what happened yesterday.”“I needed to leave, Josias.” Beto continues to speak normally. He doesn’t clear his throat, he doesn’t stutter, and he doesn’t seem nervous or hiding anything.Such an Oscar-worthy
At Vaztrans, Sofia and Olivia talk about the dinner.“Mom, what if Mr. Rocha asks about the company, what do I say?”Olivia wrinkles her nose, “This dinner is meant to be intimate and casual. Do you think Mr. Rocha will talk business around the table?”Sofia sighs, “I don’t know, Mom. I just know that businessmen often talk about companies, finance, the stock market...”“You say your purse is Prada.” Olivia responds not so smartly, “As for Vaztrans, you simply claim that you don’t work or have no control over what happens here.”“Mom, I don’t know if that would be enough. You told me to say what they want to hear.” Sofia is distressed.Olivia, however, grows more and more impatient, “But why on Earth would they ask about the company? Was João Paulo Rocha Queiroz invited?”“I don’t know, but that might be possible,” Sofia answers while twirling her fingers in anxiety.Olivia shakes her head, “Impossible! But if that happens, keep smiling and refuse to continue the conversation. Answer
At the police station, Josias practically announces to Ivan that he will lose his job and the only means he has to support his son. Ivan is shaking and sweating profusely, “Josias... Please... Think of my son Victor...” “Yes, he’ll grow up and he’ll know that his father was a corrupt man who deviated from the path of good just because he hated me!” Josias exclaims fiercely. “If the Commissioner finds out about this...” “He will know. Unless you give me the binder in question right away and stop threatening Beto. I know you just showed up at his building to intimidate him. Is that what you learn at the Police Academy?” Ivan purses his lips. At these times, Josias still manages to be funny. It was not by chance that he was Uélton’s friend. Defeated, Ivan opens the desk drawer and hands the binder to Josias. Josias snatches the file and reads it avidly. Minutes pass, and Josias doesn’t smile or celebrate. He keeps reading, reading, reading... “Here we have confirmation, through th
“GRANDPA VERNON!” Alan exclaims furiously.João Paulo hides his face with his hands, trying to cover up his laughter. Elza is apparently embarrassed by her husband’s question.Caroline continues to coolly analyze Sofia’s taut reaction.Melissa gestures, “Let’s wait for Josias for that kind of question, folks.”Sofia takes a deep breath, “No, Mrs. Rocha. I can answer that now.” She smiles at Vernon, “Mr. Queiroz, if Alan wants to help my father’s company, he’s free to do so. I believe I won’t need to squeeze money out of anyone, according to the words of you lord. But for now, it’s too early to go into that detail. I’m for the moment a friend of Alan’s who has been invited to dinner with his family.”Alan, satisfied, takes Sofia’s hand, “But if we’re going to think about something else than friendship, I must thank Grandpa Vernon for putting the idea forward!”João Paulo stops smiling and looks desperately at his father. The shot backfired!Caroline awaits dinner with her head down. He
At Rocha Mansion, Elza, Vernon, and João Paulo are surprised by Alan's request to Sofia as if it were something unexpected. Josias, Melissa, and Caroline, on the other hand, are just waiting for what Sofia will say...“Yes, Alan, I agree to be your girlfriend!” Sofia exclaims excitedly.Alan and Sofia hug each other as best they can, as they are still sitting down.Melissa and Josias clap, “Congratulations.”Caroline looks at João Paulo and he is seething with rage.Alan and Sofia let go.The firstborn starts talking, “Guys, thank you so much for your support. You won’t regret supporting me in this decision.”“Son, we hope you are happy.” Josiah picks up the wine cup, “Everybody, let’s toast to this union!”The Queiroz family feels forced, but they raise their wine glasses so they don't create any more problems.João Paulo, however, is sketching in his mind the next article denigrating Vaztrans tomorrow...“Thanks so much for the vote of confidence, guys,” Sofia answers kindly, in kee
Daryl is in the master suite when he receives another phone call. He was buttoning his dress shirt.Diane checks the device, “Your cell phone is ringing, dear... JOSIAS? What does he want this time?”“Sergeant Moraes said he was going to call me.” Daryl frowns and answers, "Hello?"“Daryl, my buddy, how are you? Ready to pay a hefty indemnity?” Josiah speaks as if he were singing.“What ridiculous song is that?” Daryl is more perplexed.“Come to Café Montanha. No, let's not talk about your mother. And please, don't miss it. I don't want to take you to the sand on the beach again."The memory of being buried alive in the beach sand haunted Daryl. He says in a shaky voice, "OK, OK, I'm coming right now!"Daryl ends the phone call. Diane senses her husband's panic.“What is it, Daryl? How do you intend to win the war if you tremble and cower at any call from Josiah?”"Looks like I'll never win." Daryl shakes his head and tucks the hem of his shirt under his black dress pants, “Josias wan
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