Daniela started her work at Crystal Blue reorganizing reports and accounting data. She’s in the same office, but the door is open.Patrick passed by the corridor and found this situation strange. He decided to enter.“Daniela, is everything okay? Is the air conditioning not working?”“The air conditioning is working perfectly, Patrick.” She smiled, “I just didn’t want to be isolated in this room.”Patrick smiled and nodded. “Sorry. As soon as you took up your post, Kelvin Mountain returned to Cardozo Perfumes. He’s the branch manager here.”“Yes, I know I am in an exceptional situation while my real boss recovers in the hospital.” Daniela giggles, “I’m even thinking about visiting him to say hello.”“It would be great. If you want, I can accompany you.” Patrick offers.“Thank you, Patrick. I don’t know if I could do this alone.” Daniela goes back to typing.Patrick nodded and left, not wanting to disturb her.But Daniela’s cell phone rang. She was surprised to see that it was Pedro.“
Flávia and William visit Rocha Mansion and meet Reuben again. Reuben was installed in Alan’s old room.“My son!” Flávia hugged Reuben tightly, “Your grandmother wouldn’t let me talk to you!”“She said you shouldn’t compromise yourself,” Reuben explained.“Nonsense. How could something like that compromise me?” Flávia breaks the hug with a grimace.“Maybe my cell phone was tapped.” Reuben looked at his mother in doubt.William chuckles. “Don’t worry, Reuben. These are just extreme theories and concerns. With Josias around, you’re more protected than being in São Paulo.”“Will I have to give my statement to the police?” Reuben asked with concern.“Unfortunately.” Flávia sighs, “Daryl Mountain is in town and has already visited me at the orphanage, threatening and cursing us. Will punched him twice.”“I’m going to work out in the gym to punch him too.” Reuben scowls, “I know Daryl Mountain is the twins’ uncle, Melissa’s ex-brother-in-law, or Caroline’s token uncle: I DON’T CARE! If he wa
Brigitte wasted no time in visiting Reuben at Rocha Mansion to offer support.“Hello, Miss Amoreira.” Reuben shook her hand.“Hello, Reuben. Where can we talk?”“Let’s go to the living room. It’s comfortable, and the twins don’t mind.” Reuben opens the door.Not understanding what the twins have to do with this, Brigitte entered. They both sat comfortably on sofas.“I’m listening to you. I know you graduated in law and are dating Caio.”Brigitte smiles slightly, “Reuben, I want to inform you that Damascene Lawyers is available to defend you. Daryl Mountain tried to hire me, but I flatly refused.”“Thank you very much, Miss Amoreira. But do you intend to defend me?” Reuben smiles hopefully.“Unfortunately, I can’t do that. My specialty is different. I handle legal matters involving marriages, divorces, and wills.” Brigitte explains patiently.“I hope I can never hire you after I marry Caroline.” Reuben makes a joke.Brigitte remains serious. “Will there be a wedding, Reuben?”“Sure!” R
In the LCN newspaper, the news that Reuben had returned from São Paulo appeared on the front page.João Paulo was tasked with being the bearer of the news. He wasn’t very confident about it.At his house, Helen, with her pregnancy in progress, tried to comfort him during breakfast.“Honey, you can’t be so upset. You’re just doing your job.”“For real?” João Paulo chews the bread with margarine, “So why do I feel like I’m betraying the Freire family’s trust?”“You should ask Izzy, Reuben, and Wallace if they feel betrayed.” Helen sits down.João Paulo sighs. “I haven’t had Daryl’s illustrious visit yet. I thought we were going to have peace.”“Daryl is willing to put Reuben behind bars.” Helen shakes her head. She starts choosing several breakfast options.João Paulo’s cell phone rings and he answers, curious.“Number not saved. Hello?”On the other side, Reuben is sitting on his bed, already dressed.“Hello, João Paulo? This is Reuben, your favorite topic of the week.”“Reuben, I’m so
In the Teodoro Building, Pedro was talking to Theodore who was visiting the building after so many years. He admired the portrait of his ‘grandfather’ pinned to the wall.Pedro was a little embarrassed. “Little Theo, I wonder if you know the meaning of this.”Theodore smiled at Pedro. “My father explained the story to me. I was thought to be the son of Mr. Reis, that’s why I was named Theodore.”Pedro nods, but he knows it isn’t quite like that. Pamela knew that Theodore was not Beto’s son, but she had the nerve to name her son after her father-in-law anyway, out of sheer impudence.“Still, we consider you part of the family.” Pedro states, “We’re brothers. You also need to get along with Rosemary and Caio. Were you invited to her engagement party?”“Yes, I was,” Theodore confirmed.Beto appeared and was startled by Theodore’s presence. “Ah... Little Theo, I never thought you’d want to visit us!”“Hello, Mr. Reis.” Theodore smiled respectfully.“I was explaining some things, Dad.” Ped
Beto is shocked by the question Teresa asks. Is she going crazy or is it menopause?“Tess, you offend me with those kinds of questions. What do you mean?”Teresa calms down. “Do you regret divorcing Pamela?”Beto takes a deep breath and sits down on the sofa. “Honey, I want you to understand one thing: TODAY, I love you. But in the 90s, Pamela was my wife. We got married in 1985 because of Rosemary, and we spent long years living in harmony.”“It wasn’t exactly a harmonious marriage.” Teresa retorts.“Yes, there was some confusion concerning Caio’s custody.” Beto confirms, “But overall, I loved Pamela and I never wanted her to cheat on me. Yes, I was devastated and didn’t want to get divorced. But when I found out how seriously Pamela didn’t take our commitment... The divorce was bitter but necessary.”Teresa sits next to him. “I hadn’t thought about it in that light.”“Yes, if Pamela hadn’t slept with her boss - who coincidentally is now Brigitte’s boss - we would still be married to
Caio and Brigitte walked through Ibrahim Square hand in hand.“Am I not stopping you from going to work, sweetie?” Caio asks suddenly.“I don’t have much to do,” Brigitte responds with a sweet smile.“OK. Thank you very much for helping Reuben. Julian Pereira seems like a serious but competent guy.” Caio praises him.“I didn’t understand the ‘serious’ part.” Brigitte giggles.Caio smiles, “He seemed like a serious guy to me, one of those who won’t be intimidated by the opposition lawyer.”“He usually advocates for victims, acting as a prosecutor.” Brigitte explains, “But this time, he will act as a defender. Although, I repeat, there is still no formal case against Reuben.”Caio and Brigitte sit on one of the benches in the square.He asks, “So there’s a possibility that Reuben won’t even be charged?”Coincidentally, they didn’t see that Dylan was eating a ham sandwich on the bench facing away from the couple.Dylan turns to them and responds, “Unfortunately, we can’t count on that, b
Josias was passing through the hallways of Rocha Constructions, waving and greeting employees along the way.“Good morning, people!”“Good morning, Mr. Rocha.”Upon passing through the door of the architects’ room, Josias decided to enter.Among several architects working feverishly on their projects, Caio moved from table to table, commenting and providing guidance wherever possible. No one would say he had graduated last year.“Caio, can I have a word with you?”“Yes, let’s go to my office.”Caio still wasn’t sure if he called Josias ‘uncle’ in front of the other employees.Upon entering, Caio took advantage of his privacy. “Is there a problem, Uncle Josias?”“Are you aware that Reuben has accepted Julian Pereira as his lawyer?” Josias responds with another question.Caius nods, “I’m happy for him. But will that be necessary?”“Let’s hope not.” Josias sighs, “I’m hoping that Dylan Amoreira will tell me that the bullet that hit Felipe didn’t come from Harold’s gun, may he rest in pea
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