Beto continues to tell how Teodoro's plan ended up turning against the Reis family and contributing to Wallace's transformation into a monster. However, as we saw earlier, Beto omits some details that could directly implicate him.
He has not yet told Josias that Wallace was not robbed but rather beaten by him.
Josias is flushed with indignation, "He knew there was no sexual intercourse, but he made Vera think he'd believed her lie just to continue the charade and get back at her later, on the honeymoon... who is this Wallace ?"
"I don't know, Josias." Beto shrugs, "If I knew Wallace back when he was a churchgoer, I would have the same question."
"The worst thing is that his family is the complete opposite!" Josias scratches his chin, "Harold Freire is a good man, honest and hardworking. Isabel Freire is a sweet wife and mother. And Uélton Freire has become my best friend. They must be suffering a lot."
"So, Josias, what do you decide?"
<"Where is Mr. Freire?" Josias asks as he sits on the couch."He's taking a shower, but he's about to leave." Isabel replies helpfully, "Want a glass of water or a cup of coffee?""Give me a glass of water. I'm avoiding coffee at night to sleep better." Josias responds."Oh sure, the heir isn't making it easy," Isabel replies jokingly and goes into the kitchen.Uélton asks cheerfully, "But isn't the maid there to prevent this?"Josias smiles slightly, “The maid is there to clean up the penthouse. She's not Alan's nanny. Melissa prefers to take care of our child for the first few months herself, to strengthen the mother-child bond. Once in a while who gets awake at dawn trying to make him stop crying it's me."Uélton is flabbergasted. At a time when men think that only women have to take care of their children, Josias shows himself ahead of time.Harold leaves the bathroom and appears in the living room wearing clean
Josias looks quickly at Harold and then at Uélton. Both men understand that Josias needs to help the police arrest Wallace. They nod slightly.Then, Josias looks at Isabel and smiles reassuringly: "Don't worry, Mrs. Freire. I will not be directly involved in capturing Wallace."Isabel collapses to her knees and cries on Josias's knees. "Thank you so much, my son! I feel calmer.""I still don't understand your objection, Mom." Uélton starts to get annoyed, "Are you thinking that Wallace is above the law?"Isabel gets up and wipes her tears. "It's not like that, son. I believe that what will help Wallace is love and understanding. Maybe he'll have to leave Seu Teodoro's building and come back to live with us. When he was with us, he was an angel.""Nothing like that, Mom!" Uélton strongly objects, "Wallace is already 25 years old, if he hasn't learned how to treat a woman with his family, he'll have to learn in jail! You're too o
Vera rolls her eyes and almost falls asleep as she does it. Sermon so early in the morning?"Beto, you can't do this to me." She complains, "I'm hungry and sleepy.""We need to define your situation here at once." Beto continues without being intimidated, "Vera, police officer Prates informed me that you left here as if you wanted to clear your head in the Main Square. Well, this cannot be repeated."Vera glares at Pamela, "I happen to go out, like you said, to clear my head before there's another crime in here!"Beto puts his hand on the glabella. "Argh! Can't you two get along peacefully? Do you want to stay in enmity forever?""As far as it's up to me, your sister doesn't even exist!" Pamela roars, "What she did is unforgivable!"Vera gazes at Pamela this time to ask her not to talk too much. Beto doesn't understand and keeps talking."Honey, that's not what I want for our family. Unfortunately, I've become the bond that binds you
Melissa quickly appears in the living room to find out what has happened. At the same time, the bell is rung.Flavia is desperate, not because of the broken china, but because of the doorbell. She knows it could be Elza or Elisa, or both.If they see what happened, they'll throw Flavia from the balcony!"Don't answer guys, DON'T ANSWER!" Flavia screams desperately.Uélton bursts out laughing. For him, everything is a joke.Melissa heads for the door. "Flávia, don't talk nonsense. Clean up this mess while I answer the door.""No, cousin, NO!"Flávia feels her body freeze as if her soul had abandoned her.However, when Melissa opens the door, it's Vernon and João Paulo."Hello, Melissa." Vernon greets her, "Elza asked to know if João Paulo could spend the morning here to keep his nephew company."Melissa smiles and makes room for them both. "Well, of course, you do! Come in." She a
The next day, Pamela opens the door to a beaming Carmen wearing a brown pantsuit and matching knee-length skirt. The only note that clashes with the set was the pygmalion hairstyle."Carmen, does Seu Romualdo let you in with this hairdo?""To hell with Seu Romualdo, my boss is Tiago Bento!" Carmen leaves the suggestion hanging, but Pamela doesn't get the message.The two sisters go to the sofa. "Take advantage of Rosemary's sleeping. What's new?""Is the other one here?" Carmen asks with a frown.Pamela grins, "Celebrate, sis! She got kicked out of here yesterday! Beto defended me and she freaked out. Awn, how I love my husband!"Carmen is calmer. "That's good, sis. Vera has been a stone in your shoe. Mommy told me everything..."Pamela has a mental snap. "Yes, I need to visit her to talk, but now she can come here too. I'll call to find out what she prefers.""Anyway, I came here to give you another good news: Tiago and I are
William pretends he is offended by Melissa's concern about winning tomorrow's semi-final. "Is that a question to ask, sis? Of course, I'll win tomorrow!"The two brothers embrace."The other team is also thinking it will win." Melissa breaks the hug."May they keep 'thinking', we're sure!" William is confident, "I'll tell coach Ferreira, he'll love to know that our team will finally be sponsored. And what a privilege to be sponsored by Silva Constructions!"Melissa is happy to have brought her brother good news.When William and Simeon go inside the house under construction, Melissa pulls Uélton by his shirt sleeve, "Hey, come back here, eared one! Don't think the conversation is over."Uélton reacts playfully, "Ouch, I don't play on the team!""But you're scoring a maximum penalty in the love game. What's with calling my mother-in-law a witch?"Uélton worries about Flávia's job. He breaks his smile
At the municipal stadium in Lagoon City, Happiness Slum's cheerleaders were lining up at the box office to buy a ticket. It was the day of the semi-final, Happiness Slum versus Green Park.On the other side would be Saint Gabriel versus Europe Garden. If Saint Gabriel wins, it would be the next finalist team.William was worried about seeing Saint Gabriel's team again when he remembered that it was a player from that team who contributed to the break in his leg.But coach Ferreira gave a nice boost of spirit in the dressing room, solving any doubts or fears that might be among the players."Listen here, champions: I was informed that if we win this match, Silva Constructions will sponsor us." General commotion among players, "That's right, the construction company that is rocketing to the moon decided to help us! Imagine what it could do for us: new uniforms, field makeover, prestige, and even the chance for scouts to look for you for greater opportunitie
Dora and Melissa scream desperately. It's not possible! Again, William breaking his leg, and just in the match that was going to define the future of the Happiness Slum team?Josias and Simeon hug their wives, but in their hearts, they also show concern. Poor William, when will he have peace?William's teammates huddle on top of the referee demanding a yellow or even a red card for the Green Park player who knocked down their top scorer in a questionable attempt to take the ball."Seu referee, it was foul! Aren't you going to expel this bastard?"After a lot of suspense and tension between players and fans, the referee sets a maximum penalty, as William was already in the penalty area.The crowd cheers when the referee extends the red card to the Green Park player. He leaves the field feeling entitled to complain.During the vibration, another fan bumps into Flávia, knocking over the mineral water bottles for the third time.El
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