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
Melissa showed up at the Cardozo Perfumes office. The secretary made gestures and a scolding face for the saleswomen in training to keep quiet because they were talking about her ex-husband.Helen, undeterred, got up from the couch and smiled at her. “Good morning, Melissa.”“Good morning, Helen.” Melissa smiled, “When they told me you were working as a salesperson...”“It’s better than babysitting. I’ll no longer be paid to take care of Sandra. She calls me Mommy.” Helen laughs.“Sandra has no memory of her real mother, Gabriela Alves.” Melissa laughs. “Kelvin arrived?”Helen looks defiantly at her other sales mates, and then turns to Melissa. “Yes, he arrived. We were talking about him.”“Ah, I imagine how the apples of your colleagues’ eyes had a party.” Melissa laughs as she heads to Kelvin’s office.Helen sits back down on the couch. “Now do you understand?”The saleswoman who demanded the ‘right’ to drool over Kelvin exclaimed in astonishment, “But... but it was the Lady of Lago
At the construction site, Alan and Alfred were surprised by Melissa’s desire to talk to Felipe.“Mom, what’s going on?” Alan became more worried. “Allow me to speak to Felipe. You don’t need to cross the construction site to do so.”“But I’m wearing the helmet.” Melissa smiled as she pointed to the white helmet.“This isn’t the right color.” Alan chuckles.“Mrs. Rocha, your son is at the age where he feels he must protect his mother,” Alfred explains good-naturedly. “Maybe if you can make his wish come true...”Melissa nods, knowing that’s what Alan felt. “OK. Alan, your sister complained to me yesterday that Felipe is flirting with her, and almost got into an argument with Reuben at Rod’s apartment, the same day we visited him to see Frank.”“What an idiot!” Alan exploded in anger.The other builders were equally outraged by Felipe’s boldness. Is he blind? The Princess of Lagoon City already has her boyfriend!“I need to make him understand,” Melissa stated. “This is about your siste
Caroline thought five times before accepting Felipe’s ‘invitation’ to talk.“Hector, how is Young Mr. Mountain?”“He’s calm, Miss Rocha.” Hector responds, but his voice doesn’t reassure her.“Is my Dad home?” Caroline takes off her headphones.“No, he is still working.” Hector thought quickly. “Miss Rocha, talk to Young Mr. Mountain in your mother’s office. Tonico, one of the gardeners, will be lurking outside and watching you.”“OK. Thank you, Hector.” Caroline smiles in relief and leaves the bedroom.Hector quickly descends the stairs, not looking like the usual stiff and formal butler, and darts out into the garden.“Tonic! Problem! Felipe Mountain showed up to talk to Miss Rocha, but we’re smelling trouble! Keep a look out the window of Mrs. Rocha’s office.”“OK.” Tonico, a robust g
The next day, Josias and Alan were talking in his office after breakfast. Father and son were sitting in the red upholstered armchairs.“Son, how did you do with the job? Do you think you can take care of everything when it’s my time to retire?”“Of course, Dad.” Alan grinned. “The employees treat me with respect. But you can tell that they are good people and aren’t forced to be kind just because I’m the boss’s son.”“OK, I’m glad to hear from you.” Josias takes a deep breath to touch on the subject he truly wanted. “I heard your mother showed up at the construction site.”“Don’t worry, Dad. I took charge of the situation.” Alan answers promptly. “And I hope Mom stays focused on women’s issues, leaving the heavy lifting to us. For example, she should be with Sofia planning the upcoming wedding.”“In a way, she was tak