Josias finds the living room of Caio’s house in a normal state. The only thing different is that the sofas were pushed out so the paramedics could attend to Caio.Brigitte couldn’t bear to see the blood and snuggled into her brother’s strong chest.But, to Caio’s relief, such despair was not necessary.“Officer Amoreira, don’t worry. The victim is alive but will need to be taken to the hospital. He was shot in the shoulder.”Josias looked at the open living room window. “Wasn’t that an accurate shot?”“Before we applied a sedative, Mr. Campos said that the shooter was at the gate.” The officer who first responded to the call informs the others of this.“We’re ready to go.” Another paramedic arrived with the stretcher.“Brigitte, go with them.” Dylan comforts her, “I need to stay and investigate here.”“OK, little brother... get these bastards, please!” Brigitte asks through tears and walks away, following the paramedics and her unconscious boyfriend.Josias takes a deep breath, mainta
At Café Montanha, Helen and João Paulo celebrated the result of the job interview. The radio was playing “Chelsea Dagger” by The Fratellis.Neil served two cups of cappuccino and a plate of diced chocolate-covered sponge cake.“Do I deserve to know the reason for the celebration?” Neilton asks charismatically.“Of course you can!” Helen exclaims happily, “I was hired to be a saleswoman at Cardozo Perfumes!”Neilton is startled, looking at João Paulo.The husband laughs. “Hey, what’s the matter?”“Ehr...” Neilton doesn’t know how to express himself without offending those involved, “How is Mrs. Queiroz going to work as a saleswoman when you’re a great journalist?”“My friend, it seems that you still don’t understand the dimension of the thing.” João Paulo states in good humor, “Cardozo Perfumes is not a small fry company that will pay a measly sales commission salary. It’s becoming popular, expanding the market, and winning over new buyers. You must thank that to Rosemary and my nephew
Pedro is discouraged by the announcer’s announcement. “Oh no, more bad news? Who died this time?”“Calm down, Pete!” Beto approaches the radio to hear well.The announcer announces, “An unidentified man was found dead on the banks of the river that surrounds the city, but there was a large sheet of paper pinned to his clothes with the words: ‘Here is who tried to kill Caio Campos’. The police are being summoned to this mystery. Caio Campos is still in the hospital, recovering from surgery. For more information, stay tuned to us, or follow the LCN newscast...”Suddenly, the radio starts playing “Sin, Sin, Sin” by Robbie Williams.Beto and Pedro look at each other.“Father, do you know what this means?” Peter asks.“Did Tiago’s ‘boys’ attack again?”“In this case, they did justice.” Pedro states with the vehemence of a teenager, “If Caio died... he’s my brother, damn it!”“I know, son.” Beto nods, “I think you should also go to the hospital to share the news—” Beto choked up as he tried
A few days passed. The police investigation was awaiting Caio's identification to determine whether the person found dead in the river was the same guy who spoke to him at the gate of his house minutes before the shooting.Caio, in turn, rested peacefully in his hospital bed. He was awake and received visitors.William visited his son. “My son is a big man who can even withstand bullets from a gun! Did I create the new Superman?”“Come on, Dad.” Caio laughs, not too loudly so as not to move his shoulder, “I was lucky or divinely protected.”“You always suspected that crazy guy was going to shoot, huh?” William strokes his son’s messy hair.“Always,” Caio nodded, “A guy I’ve never seen in my life was at the gate, waiting for me to just go there to ‘get a message’. If only he was disguised as a postman or messenger... but not even that!”“Tsk.
At the General Hospital, Pedro visited Caio as intended. The brothers talk about life.“Caio, how are you? Our sister cried a lot.”Caio smiled, “Do you know who came to see me? Little Theo!”“Oh, that is nice!” Pedro grinned, “After we visited him, and with your girlfriend working for his father, it looks like he’ll become more present in our lives.”“And that’s how it should be.” Caio became serious, “An episode like this makes us reflect on how short our lives are and can be ended by any nonsense.”“Hey, man, don’t give me that morbid tone.” Pedro didn’t like the change, “You’ve already been operated on, the wound has already healed, and the doctor promised that you’re out of danger.”“Today I’m doing very well. The problem is the future, what awaits us.” Caio philosophizes, “I want to
At General Hospital, Dylan took some photos of the man found dead on the city’s riverbank. William was back to provide moral support to his son.“Caio, many customers at the pizzeria appreciate your improvements.” William touches his good shoulder.“Thank you, Dad. Maybe I’ll be discharged soon.” Caio smiles hopefully.“In the meantime, let’s look at these photos.” Dylan elaborates, “As I noted and detailed in my report, the man found dead had his face carefully intact. Perhaps they did this to help you.”Caio took the photos. As he looked closely, he closed his eyes... and remembered.“Yes, Officer Amoreira.” Caio hands the photos back, “It was this guy who called me to my house, early in the morning, expecting me to leave without even knowing him.”“Are you sure, Caio?” Dylan takes the photos.“Yes. It was that individual.&rdq
Days later, Nadia was back in the apartment, lying in bed, leaning against the headboard and with a beautiful baby boy in her arms, to everyone’s delight.Maggie commented, “It’s a shame that my magazine has already released its last issue.”“At least we’ll have time for the baby to grow a little. Now he is very swollen due to the birth.” Nadia says looking at her son.“And what will his name be?” Thierry asked.Nadia and Rodrigo looked at each other.“We haven’t chosen any specific name yet,” Rodrigo admitted.“So let’s settle this now.” Francisco rubs his palms, “We already have Ignacio, in honor of your uncle. I don’t think you’ll want to put on ‘Ulysses’.”“Jesus Christ, no!” Nadia shouted, making the others laugh.“Ignacio is me.” The boy twin comments, caressing the baby.“And I’m Mary.” Mary added, somewhat oblivious to the conversation, “What a beautiful baby, Mommy!”“Exactly.” Melissa was present. The Mountain family still considered her family because of the twins. “May I s
In Melissa’s office, Caroline feels more comfortable talking about her concerns.“Mom...” She sits on the couch. “I need to talk about something that’s been bothering me for weeks.”“And why did you only tell me about this now?” Melissa is shocked.“I wanted to prove that I was an adult by solving my problems.” Caroline sighs, “But it looks like I still need to learn.”“Let me be the judge of that.” Melissa sits in the armchair with an encouraging smile.With that, Caroline continues, “I realized that Felipe Mountain is taking an interest in me as more than a friend. If I had any doubts, today he wanted to demonstrate more openly, but I rejected him.”Melissa is stunned by the information. “Huh... Felipe? Kelvin’s nephew?”“And Daryl’s son, which shouldn’t surprise me,” Caroline complains.“No, daughter, this SHOULD surprise us!” Melissa asserts. “When Felipe met us, he was a kind boy and promised to be the opposite of his adoptive father. But now...”“I would say ‘the blood spoke lou
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