The next day, Erasmo is the most embarrassed person in the world at the breakfast table. He looks at Olivia calmly enjoying papaya yogurt, and can only imagine her getting romantically involved with Cláudio at a candlelit dinner... And then... Paparazzi caught the two of them and the extramarital affair was exposed by all the media, causing Josias and Melissa to cancel Sofia and Alan’s wedding! No!There has to be someone else!When Erasmo was about to speak, Sofia appeared smiling and jumping with happiness, “Good morning, people! How happy I am!”“Yes, you could fool me.” Olivia jokes, “Did everything go well with your mother-in-law yesterday?”“Yes, I am closer and closer to them.” Sofia looks at her father, “Yesterday, Mr. Campos asked if I was pregnant.”Erasmo does ‘PFFF’ and spits out the sip of coffee he was drinking, “Cough, cough! Are you pregnant, my princess?”“Of course not, Dad. Respect me, and respect your future son-in-law.” Sofia pretends to be offended, but she wants
Sofia leaves after eating breakfast.“Guys, I’m going to stop by Happiness Slum to get to know my boyfriend’s friends better and see how they’re doing with the minibus.”“Take advantage and let them know that they will have another one running on line 118. The interval between trips will be reduced from an hour and a half to an hour, at least from Monday to Friday.”“Thanks, Dad. They’ll love hearing that.” Sofia leaves satisfied.Olivia takes advantage of the fact that she is alone with her husband to talk, “Now you can tell me, husband.”Erasmo choked on the last sip of coffee, “Cough, cough, cough! Tell you what, woman?”“What’s been bothering you since we started breakfast?” Olivia leans forward.Erasmo swallows hard, clears his throat, and takes a deep breath.After making sure Sofia isn’t spying, he reveals, “Daryl asked me for a favor. He wants you to seduce Cláudio Guzman so that he is demoralized and thus loses the restaurant’s prestige.”Olivia vibrates with passion on the i
Sofia enters the Teodoro Building and is welcomed by Pedro at the counter.“Good morning, Miss Vasquez. Did you come to see my father?”Sofia jolts, “What? No, I didn’t come to see anyone in particular. I came to talk about the minibus.”Pedro smiles, pleased to see that Sofia didn’t come with immoral intentions like her mother, “Then I can assist you. You know, I’ll be managing the building soon.”“I hope you can. And is that radio still on?”Sofia points to the stereo playing “Wake Me Up When September Ends” by Green Day.“Yes, this radio is part of the tradition. If we turn it off, my grandfather’s ghost pulls our feet at night.”Sofia bursts into laughter. She didn’t mean to be disrespectful, but the story is funny.Pedro laughs with her, “You still haven’t told me the reason for your visit, Miss Vasquez.”“I wanted to get to know my boyfriend’s friends better.” Sofia stops laughing, “And I also wanted to announce that my father is going to add another minibus on line 118.”“Oh, t
Ulysses starts thinking about what to do to help his sister-in-law’s family.“Does your sister know about the two of us?” He asks suddenly.Shirley shakes as if she’s been shocked. Wide-eyed, she responds, “No, and I never want her to know! I’d have to kill her first!”“Stop it, honey, you’re not a murderer. And I wouldn’t allow you to kill my wife.” Ulysses drops his smile.Shirley smiles evilly, “You talk as if you still love her.”“Just because we’re lovers doesn’t mean I want her dead.” Ulysses remains serious and threatening, “Besides, if anything happens to her, the police will first keep us as suspects. I don’t want that kind of media attention. It’s enough what happened to Daryl.”“Do you believe what these people say?” Shirley tries to disguise the truth.Ulysses tugs on his sister-in-law’s hair, “Shirley, don’t be smart with me. I know Daryl shot that gun. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the dexterity of a professional assassin. He must have seen too many American films and b
João Paulo puts Helen in Vernon’s empty office. He slams the door shut and turns to her with his eyes burning in wrath.Helen mocks João Paulo, “Now do you want to talk alone? Wasn’t Mrs. Freire a trustworthy person?”“SHUT UP!” João Paulo fiercely commands, “I’ll never believe that lie!”Helen smiles defiantly, “What is it, dear? Would you rather wait for my belly to grow?”“Yes, would be the immediate answer.” João Paulo crosses his arms, “Still, your growing belly doesn’t prove much. This baby could be anyone’s!”“I’m glad there’s DNA testing now!” Helen laughs, “Dear João Paulo, you have nowhere to escape. Your parents kept suggesting that we get married to continue sleeping together. I suggest that we do what they asked so everyone can be at peace.”João Paulo starts to walk in circles around the room, “That can’t be, I don’t believe it! What will Josias think of me?”“I think your brother is too busy managing his company, and with his family’s problems.” Helen responds wryly, “H
In Elza’s office in Hotel Rocha, she is working on the computer when she receives a call from her husband on her cell phone. She continues to type intently.“Wait just a little longer, my dear...”The cell phone keeps ringing. Elza finishes typing what she wants and hurriedly answers her cell phone, “Hello, Vernon?”Vernon narrows his eyes in his office, “Honey, for a moment, I thought you didn’t want to answer me!”“It’s not that I didn’t want to, I couldn’t.” Elza smiles, “I was in a very important section.”“OK, I believe.” Vernon calms down, “Are you ready for good news?”“Yes, tell me!” Elza gets excited.“Helen came here and João Paulo told me that you fired her. Did that really happen?”Elza drops her smile, “Oh, the shameless woman showed up to complain? Yes, honey, I said I would take care of her.”“‘Taking care of her’ wasn’t what I understood as ‘firing her,’ darling.” Vernon chuckles, “But that’s okay. The important thing is that she came here to LCN to talk to our son and
It’s Josias’s turn to go to Café Montanha for a snack after the meeting with Vasconcelos Fabrics shareholders. The place is busier and he looks for an empty table. Some patrons recognize him and greet him respectfully. Josias nods and smiles at them, always kind and charismatic.As he sits down, he observes Isabel and Flávia talking in a reserved posture.“Oh, it looks like the ladies are sharing some hot gossip.” Josias chuckles.His cell phone rings and he answers it, “Hello, Dad?”“Hello, son, it’s good to hear your voice. How was the meeting?” Vernon leans back in his chair as if he owned LCN.“The meeting was wonderful. We also had a profit of 15% at Vasconcelos Fabrics and set goals for 2005.” Josias beams.“Wow, God and Everaldo are giving you a helping hand, huh? None of your companies reported losses!” Vernon exclaims, “Will LCN also have some extra money? That way they can give me a pay raise.”Josias laughs, “Dad, did you call me for anything other than making jokes?”“Yes,
Flávia visits Pizzeria Campos. She finds William sweeping the floor with better skill than before. Moving his arms even flexes his biceps.Flávia stands at the entrance and begins to remember everything she felt for William in the 80s, but which she had to repress for two reasons: William was engaged to Stacy Moreira and she had become pregnant by Uélton.But now, things are different...Even William has changed. Because of his limitations, he no longer exercises like he used to and has become out of shape. Even so, Flávia couldn’t stop admiring him...His beautiful face is still there...“Will?”William turns around and sees Flávia, “Cousin! How are you? Hey, it’s your first time coming here.”“Yes, it’s the first time I’ve been here after many years...” Flávia looks around.“I understand why.” William is embarrassed, “You didn’t come because I fought with your husband the same night his house exploded... and then, with the firefighters putting out the fire, I uttered a curse in the
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