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
At the Mountain Penthouse, Felipe was already leaving for work when Kelvin caught up with him, still wearing a blue robe.“HEY, wait a second, you smartass!”“Uncle, I can’t be late for work.” Felipe said without looking at Kelvin.“OK, I’ll get straight to the point.” Kelvin approached his troubled nephew. “I heard that you faced Alan Rocha. Do you want to be fired from the company you were mercifully hired at?”“I didn’t want that to happen!” Felipe exclaims impatiently. “I just wanted people to leave me alone. I was calm, laying tiles, when the owner’s son appeared shouting and threatening me.”“Ah, he threatened you for no reason, huh?” Kelvin smiles wryly.Felipe is forced to be honest. He lowered his head as he replied, “No. He doesn’t want Caroline to love me.”“He doesn’t want you to confuse
At Cardozo Perfumes, the secretary appeared at Kelvin’s office door.“Good morning, Mr. Mountain. Mr. Josias Rocha wishes to speak with you.”Kelvin looks up from the monitor. “Huh? Josias? Did he say what it was about?”“No, sir,” The secretary answered with a facial expression as if she said ‘And he would say it to me?’“OK, tell him to come in.” Kelvin prepares for whatever may come.Josias enters with a confident expression, leaving the secretary almost suffocated by his aura. She goes out, closing the door.“Josias...” Kelvin stands up and the gentlemen shake hands.“Kelvin, I know you’re busy,” Josias states. “So I’ll be brief. I understand that your nephew has started pestering my daughter, saying that he loves her, even though Caroline is deeply in love with my late best friend’s son.”Kelvin swallows hard. “I’m aware of this, Josias. I’m really sorry. It seems unreasonable considering that you gave Felipe a job before this.”“I intend to keep the job, as long as Felipe doesn’
Octavio woke up in his bed. As he stretched, his left arm didn’t touch his dear wife Jane’s body. This meant for him that Jane was already working early at the Rocha Hotel as the current manager. He smiled contentedly, seeing how Jane was making the most of her new job.Augusto entered his father’s room, going straight to him, shaking him. “Dad, I need to go to school!”“Calm down, son!” Octavio yawned. “Let me get up first... and you’re stepping on your dad’s underwear.”Augusto noticed when he looked down and walked away. Smiling, Octavio took the piece of clothing and got dressed under the blankets.Father and son went to the kitchen thinking about what they would make for breakfast. However, they had a surprising vision of Jane still at the table, casually eating breakfast and not finishing getting ready.“JANE?” Octavio exclaimed. “What are you still doing here?”Jane turned to her husband. “And why are you wearing boxers in front of our son?”“I asked first.” Octavio checks 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