The day came when Helen had to return home, or rather, to Vernon’s apartment. She is resting on the bed in the maid’s room, with Vernon, Elza, João Paulo, and Sandra around her. The maid’s room is not a spacious place, but everyone wants to know how Helen is recovering. “Guys, don’t worry about me.” Helen smiles weakly, “I’ll be fine. I just need to rest.” “Can we play with my dolls later, Helen?” Sandra asks with an angelic smile. “Yes, Sandra, later... Now I’m going to get some sleep.” Helen caresses Sandra’s hair as if she were her mother. Elza feels a lump in her throat, “Guys, let’s let Helen rest.” “Count on us for anything.” Vernon blinks and leaves. Elza and Sandra go out with him. João Paulo stays. After the door is closed, João Paulo kneels and comes face to face with Helen. “And then...” Helen swallows hard and her eyes get teary, “Are you going to look for an apartment for me? Or do you still need me to babysit your daughter?” “I need you as the mother of my daugh
In Vernon’s apartment, João Paulo gathers his parents to announce what he has decided. They are on the couch while the announcer is standing. “Son, we look forward to your statement,” Elza states. “Mom, Dad...” João Paulo smiles, “Contrary to what some might think, I intend to marry Helen as soon as she feels better.” “Ah, dear son!” Elza gets up and hugs her youngest son. “This is my boy!” Vernon smiles proudly. Elza breaks the hug and starts to speak hurriedly, “Do you already have a date? Have you contacted Green Park Church? Did you talk to Father Mathias? What about the cake, the dress, the music...?” “Keep calm, Mom,” João Paulo chuckles, “One step at a time. By now, we’ll have the ceremony location.” “Where?” “In the hotel.” Vernon and Elza break their smiles. They both scratch their ears, thinking they misunderstood. “I think I’m going deaf.” Vernon jokes, “I heard you say you want to get married where you lost your second baby.” João Paulo smiles confidently, “I’m n
At the Mountain Penthouse, Daryl stands with his arms crossed watching Shirley eating the breakfast SHE prepared. Diane had made toast with honey, but Shirley decided on pancakes with lots of syrup.“Do you want a pancake, my grandson?” Shirley hands Felipe a piece on her fork.Felipe stands up abruptly from the dinner table and shouts, “You know where to stick that pancake!”Felipe strides out of the dining room. Daryl is already dressed for work while Shirley is still in her robe and slippers.“Mom, you woke up later and are still having breakfast as if you had nothing left to eat.” Daryl complains, “It’s already nine o’clock in the morning. It’s too late for breakfast.”“If your wife made a decent breakfast...” Shirley hints snidely, “I remember Melissa always had a maid. Why don’t you hire one?”“The penthouse costs don’t allow me to have a maid.” Daryl says flatly, “I’m working as an employee of Cláudio Guzman.”“That will be for now.” Shirley shrugs. She eats the pancake.“Do yo
At the Vasquez mansion, Olivia got the shock of her life and turned off her cell phone. She turned to Sofia with wide eyes.“Mom, why were you scared?” Sofia starts to laugh, “Did you think it was a ghost calling you to the Other Side?”“Daughter, never do that again!” Olivia tries to hide it as much as possible. She gets up from the couch and turns off the radio.“Did I hear you right?” Sofia opens a bonbonnière and takes out a bonbon, “You were talking about this year’s fashion show. Did Melissa invite you?”Olivia is relieved to realize that Sofia didn’t catch anything compromising, “Ah, yes... your future mother-in-law called me this year. This was normal since our families are getting to know each other better.”Sofia unwraps the candy, “Mom, I hope you don’t make the mistake of confusing the dressing rooms. People were commenting that you favored Cláudio Guzman because you were hot for him. Don’t cause any scandal.”“And why do you think I would cause a scandal, my daughter?” Ol
In the next issue of Maggiezine, the cover showed João Paulo and Helen hugging and smiling, looking at the camera. The caption below, in bold white letters, screamed: OVERCOME! JOÃO PAULO AND HELEN ARE GETTING MARRIED AT THE ROCHA HOTEL! Below, in smaller size, was a transcribed phrase from João Paulo, “We’re not afraid.” The edition was one of the best-selling in 2005. Newsstand owners have already asked for an extra quota due to readers’ uproar. They always jostle and fight for the last copy. Bernardo kisses Maggie’s cheek while Henrique jumps for joy. “Very good, mom! You rock!” “Thank you, Henrique.” Maggie strokes her son’s hair, “You’re growing up.” “That always happens.” Henrique laughs, “Dad, are we going to win that trophy again?” “Press Trophy?” Bernardo’s eyes are shining, “Who knows, son, who knows...” The door to the CEO of Marçal Publishing’s office opens and Josias appears, in a pinstripe suit and with a bright smile, “Hello! I came to say congratulations.” Magg
Brigitte rolls her eyes when she hears Dylan react negatively to her request.“Yes, bro, I want to know about another man. I can’t marry another woman.” Brigitte turns to him in annoyance.Amoreira smiles at her daughter, “What do you want to know about him, daughter?”“I want to know what happened in his life so I can approach him appropriately.” Brigitte turns to her father with a dreamy expression, “He’s the biggest sensation at university, but he doesn’t seem to know it. The only thing I know is that he is the son of the player Will Campos, the one my mother drooled over in the 80s before she passed away.”“That is true.” Amoreira nods, having a memory of his late wife who died of cancer.Dylan scoffs, “Sis, if this guy isn’t aware of your admiration for him, couldn’t that mean something else?”“Don’t even think about it!” Brigitte turns red with anger, “At no point was it considered that Caio was ‘on the other team’. Even some friends I have confirmed that Caio is very virile and
At Rocha Hotel, everyone applauds the reopening of the kitchen. Elza, Benjamin, Flávia, and Jane are present along with all the surviving employees and cooks.Elza is with a microphone, giving a speech, “Guys, I would normally ask that we observe a moment of silence out of respect for the deceased, but we don’t know his identity. And to make matters worse, it’s suspected that he was the one who blew up the kitchen to begin with. So, let’s just thank God for those who survived and continue with our routine, serving our guests with delicious food!”“That’s right!” Everyone applauds once again.And so, with no one giving a damn about the supposed José Zenith, the cooks return to duty. Benjamin is the first to turn on the stove to fry potatoes, and when nothing happens, everyone just laughs.“We’ll never have explosions again, guys!” Benjamin vibrates.Flavia approaches them, “Careful, bro. Don’t play with luck. Continue with protective measures, and maintain vigilance. It all happened be
At Rocha Hotel, guests gradually returned to eating in the restaurant. Some guests were still wary and ordered room service.Benjamin was calm preparing lobster with caper sauce. Jane enters the busy kitchen talking to Octavio.“There is our sous chef, dear, working as if nothing had happened.”“But it happened, and I came to talk to you about it.” Octavio states seriously, “I haven’t told you yet, but William and I are following a lead.”“How interesting.” Jane smiles at her hubby.“We strongly suspect that Daryl has messed up yet again.” Octavio completes the news.Jane is perplexed, “Huh? Honey, the police ruled out—”“That’s the big problem: the police don’t want to see the obvious.”“Maybe the police don’t want to make Daryl think he’s being watched so he can continue to act and make a mistake in the future.” Jane tries to be optimistic.“That makes sense, but I can’t sit still, no matter how much Josias wants to.” Octavio sighs, “And there’s more: Diane is also suspecting that h
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