Meanwhile, Elza was peeling Abigail in the pantry.
"Haven't you heard my son's mighty voice? They're all eating and the owner of this majestic penthouse has no food in front of him!"
Abigail retorts outrageously, "I'm washing the pots and utensils I used to cook!"
Elza takes the sponge and steel wool from her, "Put it down and go serve your boss's plate! Someday a maid who does her duty will be born!"
Elza goes stomping back to the dining room. Abigail is so furious that she spits in the sink in contempt.
Moments later, Abigail is serving Josias's plate with a gracious smile, as if nothing has happened.
"Something to drink, Mr. Rocha?"
"I'll want this wine..."
"Chardonnay, my son," Elza responds kindly.
Raymond jokes, "I don't know what this is, but I'm loving it."
Everyone laughs. Dinner is a success.
***
While Raymond is drinking and eating an exquisite dinner, Carmen and Cristina finish watching t
Tiago smiles when he sees Carmen delighted to see him only in shorts.He jokes, "Honey, this face is not of a decent, demure girl."Carmen shakes her head, "Oh honey! Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like a depraved one."Tiago unlocks and opens the gate, "Not at all, darlin'. You're a nice girl, but, normally, you feel admiration for the opposite sex. And you're admiring me. Shall we go in?""I won't be in the way? There's a big problem I wanted to vent.""I was playing cards with my brothers, and they are equally in shorts like me."Carmen feels shivers down her spine. It is common knowledge that the Bento brothers are hunks with beautifully sculpted bodies.As Carmen predicted, she feels a jolt when she sees Igor and Marcelo sitting on the rug, waiting for Tiago to return. They are embarrassed to be lightly dressed in front of a young lady."Oh, Tiago, did you bring Carmen to see us like this?" Igor jokes."What will her
A few weeks passed. The Chaves family has breakfast. Raymond is strangely happier and more excited."Today Junior is coming to dinner with us, darling. Increase your bean broth."Cristina and Carmen are embarrassed. Raymond doesn't notice."Anything else?" Cristina asks."I'll bring strawberry ice cream from the supermarket, Junior likes it."Raymond finishes eating and retreats from the kitchen, floating with happiness.Mother and daughter decide to be honest in his absence."Mother, when are you going to tell him?"Cristina replies sourly, "To tell him I can't stand the fact that he keeps sleeping with Abigail and never touched me again? Never!"Carmen is stunned, "But why not? You're his wife!""Am I? I always knew this was going to happen. Sometimes I wonder if Ray ever loved me."Carmen gets up and stands next to her mother, kneeling in front of her.She sternly warns her, "Don't ever say such a
Dora, Flávia, and Simeon are gathered on the sofa, waiting for Adolfo to introduce Vânia and Benjamin.Dora says eagerly, "Today I'm going to meet my future sister-in-law and nephew."Flávia is thrilled, "It looks like those movies that deal with parallel reality. Suddenly, the father I knew as a bereaved widower appears to me with another wife and child!"Simeon asks, "How do you feel, niece?""I'm used to it, Uncle Simeon."The door handle makes a noise. Everyone is silent, aware that Adolfo is entering.The door opens, revealing Adolfo and his new family. With him enter Vânia Couto, a brunette with curly hair, and Benjamin.Everyone gets up to greet them.Adolfo presents with undisguised pride, "Guys, this is Vânia Couto, and this is my son Benjamin."Dora acts as a good hostess, "Welcome, Vânia. I'm Dora, your future sister-in-law, and this is my husband, Simeon.""Nice to
Beto shakes his head when talking to Adrian about his sister."You don't understand, right? If Vera hasn't contacted you, it's because she doesn't want to."Adrian insists irritably, "But why? What happened? What did I do wrong?""If we're going to look at the big picture, you didn't do anything wrong. She was the one who approached you, wanting to use you to conquer Wallace Freire. As the plan didn't work..."Adrian refuses to accept this, "No, man! We got back in touch, we forgive each other!"Beto retorts cruelly, "Did she tell you she was sleeping with the cop who was watching over her?" He holds out his hand, "See this scar? I caught the two of them naked in bed and I was going to punch the sheriff, but he took his pistol and shot my hand! That was last year!"Adrian is shaken. Obviously, Vera hid it."Well... she never told me about that cop again. I saw him once hanging around her apartment. I think he gave up trying to pervert
Josias and Adrian exchange punches and aggressions. Adrian is the one who takes the most punches. Josias masterfully manages to avoid most of Adrian's advances, like an accomplished boxer you see in the movies.Beto and other loaders decide to end the fight. Pamela pulls away, covering Rosemary's eyes."OK, OK, enough!" Beto orders them.Adrian and Josias are separated.Adrian's face has blood oozing from his nose. Both Josias and Adrian are sweaty and panting.Beto complains, "Is that what you came to my place of work for, Josias?"Josias takes a breath, "No. I needed to talk to you, but this freak jumped on me wanting to know about Vera."Beto turns to the loaders, "Oh, so that was it? You guys, get this dude out of here, he's getting in the way of our work."The loaders holding Adrian pull him out by his shirt. Adrian decides to leave without showing any resistance.Pamela approaches, "My love, I'm going home. Rosemar
Raymond arrives home with Junior by his side. Carmen is intently watching the soap opera."Is your mother not watching with you, daughter?""Hi, Carmen!" Junior greets her.Carmen turns and smiles at her stepbrother. Then she replies, "No, Mom left. That's why I'm recording today's episode on VCR."Raymond sits down in the armchair and takes off his shoes. A faint smell of foot odor reaches Carmen's nostrils."And where did she go?" Raymond inquires."She went to the Rocha penthouse to talk to Abigail.""With Mom?" Junior asks curiously.Raymond, however, quickly blurts out, "Junior, go to the kitchen, there are chocolate chip cookies to eat."Junior gets overjoyed, "Yay!"Junior runs like every naughty child. Raymond smirks as Carmen strafes him with her gaze.He asks cynically, "What was your mother doing in the penthouse?""Do you still have the nerve to ask, Dad? It's obvious Mom went to demand t
Melissa doesn't expect bloodshed and approaches Abigail and Cristina after the older slaps the younger."Oh, it's not possible that way, ladies! Ms. Chaves, if there is no civilized dialogue, I ask you to leave."Cristina feels entitled to be right, "Melissa, you came back quickly, that means you were around and heard what this shameless maid said!"Melissa glares at Abigail, "Yes, I heard, unfortunately." She takes a deep breath, "And I realize I'm in for a big deal."Abigail asks petulantly, "And what is the madam going to do about it?"Melissa unexpectedly responds, "Nothing. You two will talk somewhere else and settle this matter away from me." She gestures, "My head can't take it anymore, excuse me!"Melissa withdraws stressed. Cristina realizes it's time to leave and also decides to go away, after taking one last fierce gaze at her rival.***William and Stacy are kissing ravishingly, with madness, with lust at the surfac
The next day, Melissa appears, still wearing a pink robe, smiling and calm. She opens the curtains on the door that leads to the balcony, allowing the sun's rays to illuminate the room. Afterward, she goes to the radio to turn it on. She listens to "The One I Love" by R.E.M.When she is moving away to sit on the couch... The landline rings.Melissa turns the volume down and answers, "Hello?"On the other side, William is red-eyed from crying."Sister, I need your help so much... I'm going to die of heartbreak!"Melissa widens her eyes, "Will! What happened, why are you crying? Love disappointment... did you argue with Stacy?""That's exactly what happened. She betrayed me, sister; she didn't want to wait for me and betrayed me with someone named Marcelo!""Wait, I'm going to have breakfast, talk to Josias, and go there so we can talk better. Don't do anything stupid, Will, I beg you!"William sniffs, "If you come then I won't."
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