It was already midday when Nina woke up, which reflected her mental fatigue. He looked up at the ceiling, summoning the courage to stand up. She sits on the bed and sees Júlia's back, sitting on the edge, and she turns around instantly, as soon as she notices Nina moving.
— Do you feel better? — Júlia asks with concern.
— As far as possible... — Nina says and gets up.
— Have you decided what to do?
— Yes, I'll look for Dominic.
Nina goes to the bathroom and looks in the mirror. Her eyes were swollen from crying last night and her expression was very tired. Even so, she got ready and left, deciding to go to Bright Corporate.
Júlia accompanied her to the sidewalk, she felt bad, the impression she had was that she was selling her own friend, but just like Nina, she was capable of anything for little Hannah. She tried to reassure herself, reminding herself that Jared promised her that Dominic would take good care of Nina. But she just met that man and his word still had no value for her.
— Be careful, okay? Call me anything. Give me your cell phone. — Júlia asks, and Nina gives it to her.
Júlia touches the device and then says:
— I left your location on, if you don't call me in two hours, I'll call the police.
Nina caresses her friend's face and then says:
— Everything will be fine, hope for me.
They hug and are suddenly interrupted by a voice.
— Does your friend still live there? Amazing how nothing has changed, Nina!
Nina looks back, scared and Júlia, equally scared, puts herself in front of her friend, protecting her.
—What are you doing here, Samuel?!
— Wow, you don't need to act like you've seen a ghost. I just came to get you, Nina, we need to talk.
Nina's heart pounds, and she comes out from behind Júlia to face Samuel.
— I'm not going anywhere with you.
— Nina, I'm asking you to come for good, but if you refuse I might change my mind... — he says with apparent calm, but Nina knew there was a threat between the lines.
— What do you want? Didn't I do what you wanted? I moved away from Dominic, as you asked.
— You should have walked away the first time I asked, because now I have new plans for you. Come on, get in the car. — he says, opening the car door for her.
— No, I'm not going in.
— Come in, or I won't be responsible for what might happen to your mother or that friend of yours... Don't test my patience.
— Listen well! You can't talk to Nina like that! — Júlia screams and advances towards him, Nina holds her, stopping her.
— Julia, stop! I'll go with him.
— No, Nina! You can not!
— I'll take care of myself, okay? — Nina hugs her and whispers in her ear — I have my cell phone's location activated, if anything happens, they'll find me. Remember to take care of Hannah for me.
After saying goodbye, Nina gets in the car.
— See, how easy it is to talk to Nina? — Samuel says to Júlia — Instead of taking care of her life, you should take more care of yourself. Who knows, maybe if you lose weight, a man will look for you too.
Júlia huffs in anger and Samuel gets in the car and starts it, before she can say anything.
She doesn't accept that Nina got into Samuel's car, and so she immediately takes out her cell phone and checks Nina's location. She realizes that she was moving on the GPS, and then Júlia calls Jared.
As soon as he answers, she says:
— Samuel just left here with Nina! You promised me that nothing would happen to her if I agreed to help you, now you have to make her part of the deal!
Samuel took Nina to a remote place, it was a restaurant that seemed closed, but when they entered through a side door, there were staff available.
They sat down, and a waiter handed her the menu.
Nina was confused, looking at the menu, she couldn't understand why Samuel had taken her to that place.
— You kept complaining that I didn't take you out, remember? Okay, I brought you to lunch with me.
— Samuel, our romance ended a long time ago. What do you think you are doing?
— I told you, did you forget, silly? Oh, you must have forgotten, you were high that day! — he smiles, as if that situation had been funny for him — I'll get rid of Kira when I'm elected, and we can continue where we ended. Are you happy?
Nina didn't react, thinking that Samuel wanted to deal with the relationship made her stomach turn.
— This is the best proposal you will have in your life, no one will want to marry a girl like you, only me. You should be happy.
— It's impossible to be happy when you're forced to breathe the same air as you. If you were the last man on the planet, I would rather slit my wrists than take you back.
— Hey! — he grabs her chin, squeezing it, harshly — Don't be naughty, Nina! Where is your sweetness? Do you better behave, or am I going to stop being nice to you? — he releases her and looks at the waiter — We'll have the main course and bring it with plenty of salad for my fiancée.
Nina strokes her sore chin, they were alone, surrounded only by people paid by Samuel. At that moment, he didn't need to show his good guy face.
The food arrives, and she doesn't move it, it is impossible to feel hungry when feeling cornered like that.
She agreed to go with him for the safety of her family, she knew she could be in danger there.
Samuel notices that she didn't touch the food and says:
— I understand, you don't want to become fat like your friend. It's good not to eat too much.
Nina looks at her, revolted, but decides to remain silent so as not to provoke him.
— I brought you here because I saw you there on the stage at the club. Now that you're unemployed, you must be in need of money, right? But that shit could fuck everything up... — he stops eating, and looks down for a few seconds, suddenly picks up the glass of wine and throws the contents in Nina's face, surprising her — How can a senator marry a stripper ?! You tell me!?
Nina, scared, takes the napkin to clean her face, but Samuel takes it from her hand and cleans it himself. She becomes rigid, feeling your touch that brings bad sensations throughout her body. A tear of hatred falls from her eyes.
He finishes and, after adjusting himself in his chair, finally takes an envelope from the inside pocket of his jacket and hands it to her.
— These are tickets, — says Samuel — I'm going to send you to another country, while I'm on the campaign. You will stay away from Dominic and away from the press. I bought you a house, and I'm going to send you an allowance, so you don't have to do shit to hurt me.
Nina looks at the plane ticket, intrigued.
— How much money will you send?
— As much as it deserves. As you will be in another country, I may visit you sometimes. If you treat me like before, I might think about giving you gifts.
Nina looks at the passages again thoughtfully and then says:
— Give me a hundred thousand and I'll accept your proposal.
She felt disgusted with Samuel, but Hannah's life was still at stake. She thought that if she sacrificed and went to another country, she would take his attention away from his family.
— One hundred thousand is a lot of money, you're not worth all that. And if you don't accept it... — he pauses and then looks at her, saying — If I can't have you, no one else will!
Nina's heart pounds, and she feels shaky at the threat. However, she swallows hard and says:
— Give me a hundred thousand, and I'll be nice to you, like before. I promise it will be worth the expense.
Samuel smiles, then takes out his cell phone and says:
— I'll give you thirty thousand and if you do what you say, I'll give you the rest.
Nina takes a deep breath, trying to ease the knot in her stomach. That deal was the worst of her life, but thirty thousand could still go a long way toward paying off the hospital debt.
— Okay. — she says, head down.
Samuel smiles and says:
— I want to see Dominic's face when he sees you by my side, after electing me. He thinks he is all powerful, but he is nothing but a loser.
Afterward he grabs Nina's chin again, roughly, and pulls. Samuel presses her lips against hers and sticks his tongue in her mouth. Tears roll from his eyes, feeling disgusted with him, but she doesn't protest, she had already accepted a deal with the devil.
However, suddenly Samuel stops kissing her and Nina hears a sound of things breaking. She opens her eyes and what she sees leaves her unresponsive.
Dominic was there, punching Samuel in the face.
— I told you there would be consequences if I saw you near her, damn you!
He gets up and kicks Samuel. Nina had never seen him so out of control.
Samuel remains groaning on the floor, with his hands on his ribs. It was quick, but Dominic punched him with all her strength.
Dom turns to Nina and heads towards her. Surprised, he lifts her onto his lap and takes her away.