Melissa puts both hands on William's shoulders, looking at him with pity."Will, our family will never allow such a sacrifice. This is unacceptable!""Little sister, I'm thinking about Alan's well-being! He's really worried about his marriage," William argues, concerned and selfless."Alan should take this opportunity to get a divorce," Simeon grumbles."I believe her parents plotted everything without her knowing," Dora gives her own opinion."You think so, dear?" Simeon chuckles in disbelief, "Well, it's hard to believe.""Anyway, I was really mean to Alan when he was a child." William continues to present his idea, "When he came to me, I saw again that child who defied me because I was against his father. I think now is the time for him to erase any wrong impression he has of me."Melissa hugs William tightly, not willing to accept this."Let's take this calmly! Don't accept any demands until Josias knows about this.""OK, sis, OK..." William finds comfort in his sister's embrace.
At Marçal Publishing, Bernardo laughs heartily as he reads the article written by Caroline on his computer. Caroline and Maggie are standing, waiting for approval."Ha, ha, ha... Very good, girls. Carol, your future is guaranteed at Marçal Publishing!""What does Henrique have to say about this?" Caroline asks worriedly. After all, he will be the heir..."Henrique just wants to take care of the books, leaving the magazine to you and Mary," Bernardo answers kindly, standing up. "Honey, you take care of the rest.""What happens if someone complains?" Maggie asks, even though she knows the answer."Compared to what João Paulo has written, an article talking about the horrible decoration of the Vasquez Mansion becomes a fifth-grade essay, so harmless it is." Bernardo strokes his niece's head, smiling patiently."Thank you, Uncle Bernie. Aunt Maggie, I'm going to take a break." Caroline leaves with a sense of mission accomplished."She'll go far, honey," Bernie comments as he closes the do
Beto appears in the living room, happy for another day of life that God has given him.He finds his wife Teresa arranging the shelf with a serious face. Beyoncé's song “Sweet Dreams” doesn't cheer her up."What happened dear?" He asks, approaching her with a caring tone.Teresa looks at him and smiles yellowly. “Are you in a good mood thanks to the pill?”“I’m not going to lie, medication helps me relax.” Beto hugs her from behind, “That’s why I want you to relax too. What’s the big problem?”“I don’t want you to worry too much to the point of cutting off the medicine.” Teresa stops flanneling.“Try me,” Beto insists, whispering in her ear.“I witnessed a horrible scene yesterday,” Teresa confesses, “Pete and Reuben were fighting. Reuben, for some reason, thinks that Pete and Caroline love each other. Although Reuben also accused Daniela of being the instigator of intrigue.”Beto frowns when he hears this.Pedro appears in the living room, about to leave for work. "Good morning beauti
In Beto's apartment, he waits for explanations about Pedro being in a love dispute with Reuben.Teresa breaks the hug and turns to Beto. “Don’t blame your son, Beto. I’m sure there’s some misunderstanding going on.”Pedro finds the courage to respond when he sees that Teresa is on his side, “That’s right, Dad. In fact, I know very well what it is.”Beto sits on the sofa. Teresa turns off the radio.“Please enlighten me,” Beto asks.“Carol and Daniela hate each other and exchange accusations,” Pedro summarizes the story, “While Daniela accuses Carol of having the hots for me, Carol accuses Daniela of having the hots for Felipe Mountain.”Beto shakes his head, dissatisfied. “This conversation needs to stop.”“I already spoke and demanded from Daniela that she stop this.” Pedro informs his father, “As for Reuben, I don’t know–”Someone knocks on the door. Teresa goes to find out who it is.When opening the door, everyone is surprised to see Caroline standing outside.“Good morning, Reis
While Jake is being hired, Karen complains to Kelvin at the Cardozo Perfumes office that she is being fired."It finally happened, honey." She sits on the couch, sulking, "I'm officially fired.""But why are you so discouraged?" Kelvin smiles broadly, "Isn't this what you wanted? How did you expect to continue working at that company, having an enemy for a boss?""I wasn't 100% an employee inside the store." Karen crosses her arms, "I was the model for the advertising campaigns. An exclusive model, since no one else wants to hire me! How could I throw away an opportunity like that?"Kelvin raises an eyebrow. "Do you regret it?"Karen realizes the nonsense she is talking about and smiles cleverly, "Of course not. If it means being your wife and taking care of your son, I'll accept it without hesitation.""And there's more, honey," Kelvin continues excitedly, "After you give birth, you can be an exclusive model for Cardozo Perfumes or work here with me in the executive sector."Before K
Caroline visits Brigitte's office at Damascene Lawyers. The two women exchange three greeting kisses."Hello, my friend. How are things?" Caroline asks anxiously.“You seem very happy to me,” Brigitte comments.“Yes, I had an enlightening conversation with my friends Beto and Tess.” Caroline sits in the visitors' chair, “I promised to give Daniela Lombardi a vote of confidence. Of course, I'll have to prove that I ain't in love with Pete or Felipe Mountain.”“I don’t believe for a second that you’re capable of something like that.” Brigitte shakes her head, “Your relationship with Reuben will last forever. However, I believe that your brother's marriage..."Caroline smiles hopefully, her eyes shining. "He...?"“I'm authorized to begin the divorce procedures.” Brigitte maintains a professional attitude.But Caroline cheers and dances in her seat, “AH! COOL! Finally, justice is being served!”Brigitte smiles very lightly, “Justice?”“The Vasquez family will finally get what they deserve
At Rocha Mansion, breakfast continued peacefully with everyone serving themselves.Hector appeared, clearing his throat respectfully."Yes, Hector?" Josias asked."Mr. Rocha, Mr. Will Campos is at the entrance.""Let him in," Simeon ordered, without waiting for the mansion's owner. After all, he was his son.Hector withdrew.Dora giggled and nudged her husband. "You gave the order instead of Josias, darling."Simeon realized the mistake. "Oh, Josias, sorry!"Josias and Melissa chuckled. The twins focused on eating bread with cheese and ham.Caroline enjoyed the good humor of everyone. "Dad, have you heard that Alan will file for divorce? Luckily, Reuben didn't take over his old room."Reuben felt embarrassed with his fiancée bringing up this topic at the table. "Darling, you don't need to rub it in our faces. I heard that you didn't even wait for the fact and went to the company to celebrate in your brother's face.""I didn't 'celebrate'." Caroline defended herself, "I had to know how
Josias, Alan, and Erasmo are in the presidential office of Rocha Constructions.Caio and Alfred were called to serve as witnesses."No need for such formality, guys." Erasmo teased, "It's just a check."Josias, always gloomy and cold, passed the new contract across the desk. "Read and sign."Seeing that Josias had not filled out the check, Erasmo wiped the mocking smile off his face and took the document to read.Caio whispered in Alan's ear. "Are you sure, man?""Yes, I am. Now everything will work out." Alan nodded formally.Erasmo tried to tune in to listen to the whispers, but couldn't."Any objections, Erasmo?" Josias asked acidly, noticing the individual leaning to the right."No, no, I never had any objections before!" Erasmo forced a smile.Alan felt embarrassed. Wasn't this the same Erasmo who dramatically tore up the original contract, refusing to accept his son-in-law as part of Vaztrans?Erasmo finished reading (or scanning through the clauses) and eagerly signed. He wants
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