At Vaztrans, Olivia reported the result of her conversation to a disappointed Erasmo.“Isn’t my little princess pregnant yet?” Erasmo deflated like a balloon, “What a shame. I thought my son-in-law could do the job, but it seems like he’s hollow. Let’s make an appointment with a urologist!”“Erasmo, calm down, don’t exaggerate.” Olivia gestures impatiently, “Maybe our daughter hasn’t entered her fertile period yet. These things come with time.”Erasmo had a bizarre thought. “Didn’t our daughter get pregnant because Alan isn’t making love to her in the ‘normal’ way?”Olivia was horrified at the thought. “ERASMO! Alan never struck me as the kind of man who dares unconventional positions!”Erasmo clears his throat unnecessarily. “OK, OK, my bad. I’m just trying to understand.”“Our daughter could be on the pill. Didn’t that possibility cross your mind?” Olivia snapped her fingers.“Yes, so we better express directly our desire to have grandchildren so we can spoil them.” Erasmo smiles li
At Lafayette Studio, Thierry met with Rosemary, Claudio, and Karen. Karen smiled arrogantly at Thierry, lustfully at Claudio, and dropped her smile every time she looked at Rosemary.“Does anyone have any question about what we intend?” Thierry recapped the project, “Claudio and Karen will pose together, while Rosemary will pose alone or with a police officer who wants to act.”“That’s fine with me.” Rosemary nodded calmly.Karen snorted and said to herself, “As if it’s up to her... she’s being written off because she’s uglier than me, but she’s acting like it’s no big deal. Deep down, she is jealous of me because I’ll pose with the hot Claudio Guzman!”“KAREN!” Thierry was calling her, but Karen was daydreaming.“OOPS! Yes, yes, yes, I agree. What will the photos look like?” Karen asked suddenly.Thierry frowned. “I just told you. You can ask your partner when you’re interested.”Rosemary covered her mouth to keep from laughing.Thierry got up to attend to other matters. Rosemary fol
At Rocha Constructions, Alan, Caio, and Octavio were studying the floor plan of a residential complex that the City Hall wanted to build for the less fortunate.“Caio, did you produce this plant ALONE?”“Hey, don’t think this happened overnight.” Caio laughs, “It took months of taking measurements, adding up, calculating, planning, studying the soil, and so on...” Caio laughed, proud of his work.“What do you think, Alan?” Octavio is smiling.“I’m amazed! Wow... City Hall will be very pleased with this. I’ll email them immediately, as Alfred is in Rio with my father.”Alan goes to his computer. When he opened his inbox, he saw an email that Reuben had missed.“Oh... look here, guys!”Caio and Octavio wouldn’t dare to see the email inbox of the President of Rocha Constructions. But since the heir calls them...After they approached, Alan pointed to the screen, “With the commotion from earlier, I forgot to tell David about this: another email from his mother, thinking my father is readi
A few days later, Hector was surprised when he received a text message from the front gate.He went down the stairs and ran to the lobby of the Rocha Mansion to meet those who were arriving... or returning...Upon opening the double doors, he surprised a lady wanting to press the doorbell.“Mrs. Rocha!” He exclaimed, “You don’t need to ring the doorbell. Come, come in! The guys at the reception told me that you returned safely!”Josias laughs as he enters. “Aren’t we supposed to come back in one piece?”“Of course, Mr. Rocha, of course!” Hector tries to correct himself. “Anyway, we know how famous Rio de Janeiro is. If the Bento family knew how to provide protection, with Everaldo providing divine protection, then your trip occurred naturally, correct?”Melissa puts her bags on the floor. “Yes, everything went perfectly well.”“I’ll call the family.” Hector was about to leave, but he halted his steps and turned back, “Ah, Young Alan and Sofia came equally safe from their honeymoon. Th
At Rocha Mansion, everyone is at the breakfast table. Those in the mansion had already breakfasted, but they wanted to continue talking to Josias and Melissa.And it was the opportunity to tell them what happened.“The twins won’t understand our conversation,” Josias warned them, “but I want to talk about Angela and David. How did they behave?”Caroline took the floor, “The store has opened. And David... well, he’s been trying.”“What has he been trying?” Melissa asked, already aware of what Flávia had told her.“He’s been trying to get closer to us and be our friend and half-brother.” Caroline felt Melissa’s gaze too penetrating.Josias continued to question while sweetening his coffee. “And how did Alan react?”“Alan and Reuben didn’t give David an opportunity.” Caroline lowered her head.Melissa didn’t let the matter drop, “But was that insensitive of them? Or did David do something to justify it?”Caroline raised her head and looked at her mother. “Did Mrs. Freire call you?”“Your
David appears again at Café Montanha, aiming to talk to Felipe about the impressions he had. The coffee shop radio plays “You Know I’m Not Good” by Amy Winehouse.“Good morning, Mr. Mountain? Or can I call you Felipe?”Felipe stays on guard. “What do you want, my customer?”David smiles kindly, “I think we’d better leave the formality behind. I’m David, and you’re Felipe. After all, we are the same.”Felipe frowned, “How exactly are we the same? I’m an adopted son, and you were born from a lover’s womb.”David swallowed this insult so as not to divert his plan. “Ehr... We’re the same in the sense that we have the same idea about Caroline. We don’t agree with her choice of boyfriend.”Felipe took a flannel to clean the countertop. “I’m listening to you without compromise.”David felt that Felipe already realized that he intended to propose something. “OK, since you want to get straight to the point... Well then. The other day when we were together in this coffee shop, I felt like you i
At the Happiness Slum police station, Amoreira was talking to Dylan about the photo shoot.“Dad, do you want ME to pose with Rosemary? Thierry is going to kill me!”“Thierry is the photoshoot director,” Amoreira responded calmly. “Don’t be scared, son.”Dylan took offense, “I work at a police station located in the favela! How can I be fearful?”Amoreira scratched his head, feeling that this didn’t make sense. “OK, think about it with me: are you in love with Rosemary Reis?”“No.”“Are you in love with Rosemary Reis and jealous of Thierry Lafayette?”“No.” Dylan rolled his eyes.“Do you intend to fall in love with Rosemary Reis one fine day and avoid the temptation by not posing with her now?”“Dad, where are you getting at with these ridiculous questions?” Dylan crosses his arms.“I want to show you that there is no reason for you to be afraid of posing with Rosemary.” Amoreira extends his thumb, “Can we start?”“The cell we reserved is this.” Dylan points to an empty, clean cell.“O
The new edition of Maggiezine contained photos from the Cardozo Perfumes advertising campaign. To Karen’s delight, the photo where she is with Cláudio became the centerfold.As a result, people began to crowd the Cardozo store or empty the sales stand in Ibrahim Square. Looks like Nicole wasn’t an ‘idiot’ at all...At Maggiezine, Maggie popped champagne with writers, editors, and designers. Bernardo and Henrique were present, as were Kelvin and Felipe.“Here’s to another successful edition of our magazine!” Maggie exclaimed.“Cheers!” Everyone shouts excitedly.Kelvin took the bottle and started pouring the drinks. Bernardo approached his wife and kissed her on the cheek.“Congratulations, dear. Seeing you succeed is all I wanted in my life.”“And we’re paving the way for Henrique,” Maggie responded, excited.“I already said the magazine will go to Carol and Mary!” Henrique crossed his arms, upset. He doesn’t want to take over the magazine, ever!Maggie giggles and strokes her son’s 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