Laurinha Figueiroa

Laurinha Figueroa, or your full name Laura de Albuquerque Figueroa is the overall main antagonist of the Brazilian soap opera "Rainha da Sucata" ("Queen of Junk"), broadcast by Rede Globo in 1990. She is Edu's stepmother and arch-nemesis of protagonist Maria do Carmo. The desire to become influential milionaire again in high society and a passion for her stepson causes her to torment the lives of her rival and her family. Laurinha plays with every weapon possible to get what she wants and is very stubborn. She was portrayed by Brazilian actress Glória Menezes, in its only antagonistic role. ==Appearance==

"You are having a love relationship. Now I want to make it clear, we will not admit a person like your to in our family. If you want to be distracted by Edu, that's both of you. But we will not let that pass! Because people like you, from your class, with your flamboyant behavior, your rude manner and vulgar expressions, we never be accepted amoung us."

- Laurinha humiliating Maria do Carmo and despising her way of being.

Laurinha is a medium sized woman with dark blond hair. She is also mature, has 56 years old, white skin and sharp features.

Personality
Laurinha belongs to a very influential and important family in São Paulo high society. When we first reach the first chapters, the Albuquerque Figueroa family's bankruptcy is shown mainly as a result of the infamous Collor plan (launched in Brazil by then-President Fernando Collor de Melo and his economy minister Zélia Cardoso in 1990 that confiscated the savings of Brazilians, leading some suicide), and she is required to dispose of most of her assets to cover the loss.

Laurinha is an arrogant, sly, sarcastic and narcissistc woman who believes she is superior to the poorer people because she is wealthy class, and sometimes has a wry and cynical humor. She is clearly inspired by the 90's Mexican soap opera villains

She met Maria do Carmo at a party of the protagonist's company, to ask for money. Time passed and she realized that Maria liked her stepson Edu, to whom Laurinha also had a deep passion, although she was married to Betinho, a man much older than her.

Edu and Maria do Carmo get married, much to Laurinha's disgust (and also to Edu himself, who didn't like Maria at first); she goes on doing her best to separate the two, until finally she can see thath Maria do Carmo shot him, putting her rival in jail for that. There Maria meets Dalva, a hitherto unknown woman who was also a victim of Laurinha's mischief and was in jail because of her.

Laurinha counts on the help of her inseparable sister-in-law Isabelle, another four hundred bankrupt banker who is Betinho's sister and Ingrid's mother. Isabelle is complicit in most of Laurinha's evils, until she suspects and eventually finds out that her sister-in-law is slowly killig her brother (diabetic) by exchanging the insulin in her ampoules for glucose, which causes the man to die victim of hyperglycemia.

Things start to get complicated for Laurinha when, in addiction to her sister-in-law discovering the crime (and sending anonymous scaring her), her son Rafael finds out that she had invented a lie to separate him from his former maid Alaíde, who she hates so much.

Already completely humiliated, with the mansion being put up for auction, and unable to separate Edu from Maria do Carmo, Laurinha can only say goodbye to Isabelle and go to the scrap building, where Maria do Carmo is located. There, she realizes was barred at the party and sets up a whole situation so that it looks like Maria killed her, grabs her by the arms and then rips off her earring, so she throws herself off the top of the building and falls dead to the floor. Maria do Carmo is then arrested for being the main suspect, although it turns out that Laurinha killed herself.

Quotes
"Can't you see that it's naive of believe in a man who tells the details of your love relationship laughing to the whole family?"

- Laurinha humiliating Maria do Carmo

"You're ridiculous, Adriana, how ridiculous you are... You never had any talent. It will end up old, in an asylum of poor and forgotten artists!"

- Laurinha for her daughter Adriana

"A ridiculous clumsy ballerina, with no talent at all. Ridiculous, Adriana. No, you want to keep on the stage showing of like a prostitute."

- Laurinha for Adriana