Inside the hospital ward where João Paulo is, Elza and Vernon are watching him sleep quietly. The conversation continues in a low tone.
"Content, husband, with your work?" Elza asks with grief.
"I didn’t want to leave my son here." Vernon grumbles, "But it was the only way I could find to make him respect me."
"How do you expect him to respect you from now on?" Elza questions him impatiently.
"If he doesn’t want to come back here, that’s how it will be. I’m tired of him seeing the male role model in Josias." Vernon folds his arms.
"Darling, remember what I told you: It’s no use you disputing anything with Josias because you’ll lose. My son has the protective hand of God and that Everaldo."
"Do you really believe these fairy tales?" Vernon disdains in an atheistic tone.
Elza gives her husband a push.
"I imagine your dear son has ordered you to divorce me." Vernon continues, bitter as a
João Paulo is startled when Uélton practically breaks into his room with a conversation he does not understand."Uélton, take it easy, I’m still feeling the sedative they gave me." He sits at the head of the gurney, "What’s this about hotel construction?""Don’t you know that Josias is going to build a five-star hotel?" Uélton asks with the same anxiety as Reuben."Yes, and it’s obvious to me that the main team will participate. I don’t understand why you’re saying otherwise." João Paulo narrows his eyes."It’s just because of everything that’s happened, Josias won’t let us in." Uélton pouts, "He really loves you, huh?"João Paulo has a slight headache, "Of course.""Your father was fired thanks to me." Uélton pulls up his chest and hits it with his clenched fist like Tarzan, "I’m too awesome.""You boast about your deed
Josias is wearing a gray suit to go to work. Melissa is on her dressing table brushing the hair that is growing. "Honey, I think you should talk to Vernon in a civilized way to end all these disagreements between him and the Freire family once and for all." Melissa opines. "I need to talk to someone else." Josias reminds her, "I need to talk to Bernardo Marçal. Otherwise, he will not accept João Paulo as an intern." Melissa turns to him with a slight smile, "Is it the little brother you’re worried about?" "Always," Josias replies frowning as if it were a stupid question to answer. Melissa deposits the wooden brush on the dressing table and stands up, "I’ll visit him and if Elza is there, I’ll talk to her." "Okay, honey, have a nice walk for you. Bye." The Rocha couple exchanges a quick kiss and goes each to their destination. ****** In the lobby of Teodoro’s building, Beto enters looking for Pamela. The radio is playing
Melissa gets annoyed when she sees just the women who can’t stop fighting and making trouble in the most inappropriate places."It was just what I needed! The two troublemakers, together and close to the fighting. It seems that this was scripted!""At no time did I write in my diary wishing to meet this old woman, cousin." Flávia defends herself."Flavia, you don’t make it easy either." Melissa turns to Elza, "And you, dear mother-in-law, don’t you think having your son all blown up on a hospital gurney was enough for you? What about your husband?"Elza sneers, "He’s on the streets, looking for a job.""And I hope he makes it. I’m getting tired of this story." Melissa sighs."Can we go in to see João Paulo?" Ernesto asks."Sure," Elza responds by looking at the weapon visible in his holster.The two enter the hospital ward and find João Paulo drinking mango juice with a straw.
On Thursday, Cristina enters Pamela’s apartment and finds her daughter vacuuming the living room rug."Hi, daughter! What’s up?"Pamela turns off the vacuum cleaner. To Cristina’s surprise, the radio was playing Color me Badd’s song "I Wanna Sex You Up"."Daughter, don’t you have a decent song for your children?" Cristina scratches the back of her head, "And how can you hear the music with the noise of the vacuum cleaner?"Only then does Pamela realize the impossibility. It turns out her mind is in a whirl."I’m sorry, Mom. I’m confused.""I thought I heard Beto’s voice yesterday." Cristina fishes."Did you hear him say to me that he won’t help me get rid of Miguel Damascene?" Pamela asks bitterly.Cristina is surprised, "This is unbelievable! How could Beto let you down?""He could if he didn’t feel love for me anymore." Pamela has the trembling voice, "It seem
Cristina is stunned when she hears from her daughter that she is going to accept a divorce to marry Miguel."What did you say? Am I hearing voices from beyond?" Cristina questions her sternly, "Are you now lusting after Miguel's body?"Pamela licks her lips as she remembers Miguel's strong, masculine body, but soon she concentrates, "Mom, Beto made it clear yesterday that he won't forgive me. Besides, he doesn't want to help me with Miguel's crazy things. Before my boss starts doing wrong things to you or my kids, I've decided to do what he wants.""If he does something wrong, you can report him to the police!" Cristina counters.Pamela, however, rolls her eyes, "Mom, please! Miguel is one hell of a lawyer. He sure knows all the loopholes in the law and will only do things that will make him innocent in the light of the jury.""But, you will sacrifice yourself for our sake!" Cristina still doesn't accept it.Pamela then grins like a tomboy,
Cristina is distracted by leafing through the large ledger of tenant payments. She wanted to check and see if anyone was missing the monthly rent, but the memory of the conversation she had with Pamela soon distracts her. Behind her, the radio plays "Right Here, Right Now" by Jesus Jones.Moacyr enters the lobby and finds the fiancée in this state, "Darling, what happened?"Cristina wakes up from her reverie, "Hello, my love. I'm shocked by something terrible."Moacyr kisses her on the cheek, "Tell me.""Beto and Pamela intend to divorce."Moacyr is shocked by the information. What? While he and Cristina are happy about their upcoming wedding..."Honey, I'm so sorry!" Moacyr hugs her warmly, "I will understand perfectly if you want to postpone our wedding."Cristina looks at her fiancé in surprise, "Moacyr... wouldn't you mind?""I just don't think you're going to focus enough on your special day when one of your
Bernardo is disappointed to realize that they will have to call Vernon Queiroz to receive the honors of the article he wrote."What the hell, honey!" He punches the desk, "I'm always trying to do the right thing, but it seems to be impossible!" He gets up, "If Josias Rocha knows that his father is going to be honored...""I think it's his stepfather." Maggie corrects him."Either way, Vernon will feel entitled to bargain a return to our company." Bernardo approaches her."Why don't you talk directly to Josias Rocha?" Maggie suggests it to calm her husband.Bernardo takes a deep breath, "Well, that might work. We expected the article to have repercussions, but honor the merit on the part of civil authorities?" Bernardo smiles, "That's a privilege!""We are helping women say 'no' to violence and abuse," Maggie comments satisfied."OK, honey, I'm going to ask Lindalva to call Josias Rocha right now. If he's available, we'll chat later to
Josias returns to the presidential room and finds Bernardo sitting in the visitors' seat."Mr. Marçal, how nice to meet you." Josias greets him, "Do you want us to build your mansion?""We already have a house in Europe Garden." Bernardo responds between giggles, "I came to talk about another matter."Josias sits in the presidential chair, "I'm listening.""My dear wife informed me that the City Hall wants to pay tribute to Maggiezine for the article we published on domestic violence and sexual harassment. According to the Civil Police, women in our city have become more aware of their rights and victims get more courage to seek justice.""Wow, congratulations." Josias grins."The problem is that Mayor Ibrahim wants to hold a ceremony to present the award and for that, your father is required to be present."Josias's smile disappears like magic.He crosses his fingers and adopts a 'Godfather' posture, "Mr. Marçal,