At night, Josias is talking to the Campos family. He is sitting in Simeon's armchair while the others are on the sofa.
"And then, dear," Melissa asks, "What did Igor tell you?"
"He said the ideal option would be for William to be eighteen and have a stable life." Josias answers.
William reacts discouraged. "By then, Wallace has already registered my son as his."
Josias smiles and reassures him. "Don't worry, Will. Igor made sure this is not irreversible. The biological father always has more rights than his stepfather. It will be much better for you to fight for your son when you can provide for him. And preferably, married."
"This is still going to take time," William responds with relief. The rest laugh.
"So it would be the case that we try." Simeon says, "Raymond agrees. Cristina is out of the cards."
"Yes, Igor prefers that you plead for custody of the baby in court until William reaches the age of majority," Josias explains.
The discussion continues, now with William actively participating. He is angry, he even trembles with rage, and he can't take Pamela anymore. Pamela would rather die than admit that William is Caio's father, so she smiles weakly and begins to disguise: "Don't be a clown, William! I know you are dying to own my body, but we never—" "Enough of lies, you crazy!" William screams, frightening the others, "Everyone here already knows that the father is me! Caio, is that my son's name? So that's it, Caio is our son!" Pamela's mouth opens, and then she reacts: "And how are you going to prove that you are the father?" "In the same way that you will have to prove that the father is Josias," William replies. Pamela gulps. "Well, we never—" "Of course, Pamela, don't you remember?" William takes a deep breath to continue, "That night when we had a soccer game on the field here, and I caught you talking to Josias, thinking that the two of you were c
"Getting married, Pamela?" Wallace is gaping when he hears Pamela ask if he wants to marry her. "Have you become a lesbian? It's the man who asks the woman to marry him."Pamela takes offense at the question and crosses her arms. "So you're gay, because we have been dating for centuries, lived together, raised a child, but you never asked me to marry you! Do you want to stay like this all your life?"Wallace feels pummeled by the Reason. Pamela is right; they are already practically a family, without the required documentation!"Let's take advantage of that you have time off tomorrow to get married, so it will be easier for us to register Caio with your last name!" Pamela tries to coax him with some exasperation.It is Pamela's anxiety that makes Wallace curious. "Is something going on, Pamela? I agree that we need to get married, but that idea came a bit suddenly, don't you think?""There is nothing sudden!" Pamela snorts, pushes a chair, and sits
Pamela feels trapped as if she were an animal about to go to the slaughterhouse, but who insisted on hiding in vain from her destiny. She starts to sweat and shiver. The hands that hold the baby stroller also shake and that bothers Caio. He groans with impatience."Stop bothering the baby!" Melissa warns her."Pam, is that true?" Wallace asks her, frowning and very irritated, "You said you went yesterday to your mother's house, that you two made up.""Exactly, that's why I can't have talked to Josias," Pamela responds smartly.However, Josias was not going to allow the lie to continue; today was the day of truth: "I was visiting my girlfriend's family and Pamela came by surprise, giving insults and we ended up arguing. Some truths came out."Pamela's eyes widen and she looks at Josias as if she says: 'please don't tell!'"So that's why you went all weird back to the apartment." Wallace continues, "I knew, I felt that you were very anxious an
Josias narrows his eyes, trying to understand Pamela's last words. "What did you say? What did I get?""You won. Didn't want to be with Caio, take him on as a son? There, problem solved. You can have him."Josias widens his eyes in such a way that he is comical. "Are you completely out of your mind? Are you giving me Caio's custody just so I don't have to tell the truth to Wallace, so he can marry you?""Yeah!" Pamela speaks with emotion, tears are almost shedding, "Don't you understand, Josias? Marrying and being happy with Wally is the only thing I have left. Wally is the only man who respects me, who treats me with affection and dignity. You may even be right when you said that I don't feel love for him, but I still don't want to walk away from him! And that's what will happen if you or William opens the mouth."Pamela can't take it anymore and lets the tears spill down her face. Josias doesn't have time to get emotional; his mind is working, processin
At Melissa's house, all the people are together with Dora; they are still stunned by what happened a little while ago.Dora is lulling Caio to make him sleep. "So, guys, what went wrong?""Josias," William remains shocked, "why didn't you let me tell Wallace the truth?""Because of Pamela's proposal." Josias explains, with the serious and icy countenance of every CEO, "She guaranteed that she would disappear from the map, or at least she would leave Happiness Slum and she would never meet with us again; so that Wallace doesn't discover that I am not the Caio's father.""What a soulless wretch!" Melissa screams, "Did she give up her son's custody just to keep up the lie? There is the proof that she didn't deserve to be a mother!""She wants to get married and be happy with Wallace, although I don't think she loves him exclusively," Josias commented."Not really, but that's where I worry." William states, "If later on Wallace finds Pamela chea
1983New Year's Eve. Everyone screams at the sound of the countdown: "Five, four, three, two, one... HAPPY NEW YEAR!"Shortly after counting, the starry sky of Lagoon City became even brighter with the fireworks that dominated the space.Countless residents of Lagoon City were in an isolated location in the urban area, in the existing lagoon that gave the city its name. Thus, anyone who did not want to participate in the turn of the year did not feel bothered by the fireworks.But this year, Josias and Melissa wanted to participate. They were happy with everything that happened and are confident that things would be better this year."What else can we want, baby?" Melissa asks after much of the fireworks have gone silent.Melissa's loose, white dress reminded Josias of a wedding dress, and consequently their wedding. He smiles mischievously: "We want the engagement, and at the most, the wedding until next year.""And I want you to get
On the first Monday of the year, Josias is already in the kitchen being served by Melissa, as if the two were already married. Simeon jokes that it's training already. However, Melissa is also wearing the secretary's suit.William appears shirtless and scratching his eyes. "Good Morning!""O, respect, Will," Melissa warns him, "You are not at home.""Okay, Melissa." Josias smiles. William pulls out another chair and sits down."Here's the coffee." Melissa places the thermos on the table and also sits down. She already has bread and butter for them to help themselves."Moacyr Barbosa's house is finished." William announces, "I'm going to miss that kind-hearted gentleman. Except for the son, obviously.""Mainly because he's dating Carmen," Melissa has goosebumps, "Just thinking that she can find out the truth about Caio makes me shiver.""I think she'll only find out if Pamela opens her mouth, which she doesn't want at all," Josias says
Teodoro clears his throat unnecessarily and takes time to respond. "Mr. Freire, I didn't know that you supported your son's courtship with Pamela Chaves.""What the hell, no!" Harold frowns and puts his hand over his mouth as if he were going to vomit right there in the lobby, "I never agreed to this courtship, and it looks like it will never come out of it! My son never talks about engagement or marriage to this unworthy woman.""It's because she doesn't want to marry him." Teodoro opines, "It is much easier to cheat on your son when she is not married; the losses will be less when she is discovered."Harold reacts with fury and moves even closer to the counter. He remains frowning and asks: "Do you know anything, Seu Teodoro?"Teodoro once again clears his throat unnecessarily and stammers: "I-I? What c-could do I know? I'm just the landlord here; I don't stick my nose where it doesn't belong. You can rest assured about that, and about my daughter too."