beat up Samuel

Samuel fell silent, seemingly disappointed by Valerie's words.

"I thought I had become numb... I don't want to deal with love again." Valerie slowly removed Samuel's hand from her arm.

Samuel took a step back. "But this is your way to avoid him... If it must be."

"I know... Leaving is not an option."

"If you leave, you'll feel lost again, disappoint your family. I can't help you hide anymore," Samuel said, swallowing nervously. "But if you ask me to help you avoid Demian, I'll do it..."

"How?"

Samuel bit his lower lip, meeting Valerie's focused blue eyes, hesitating before revealing his solution.

"Well... I don't mean to take advantage of the situation, but... Maybe we can pretend to be a couple. I don't intend to repeat my mistakes, but... You can trust me on this. I'll just be your fake lover... Damian will hesitate to come here because I'll be around often. He'll be reluctant to face me... You know he hates me. And, of course, he'll stop expecting anything from you..." He explained nervously, awkwardly, as if afraid Valerie would reject his proposal.

Valerie fell silent, her anxious gaze contemplating the offer.

"I won't force you," Samuel added.

'Becoming a fake couple sounds good. It's the only way to make Damian stop bothering me... I don't want his father to come again and demand that I stay away. I've made a decision, and now it's time to prove I can do without them!' Valerie thought to herself, shadows of doubt swirling in her mind.

"Um..." Samuel smiled, averting his gaze. "I probably shouldn't have said this... It's a silly idea, and you might feel that I..."

"I agree!" Valerie interrupted Samuel with a firm gaze. "I agree to the idea as long as you don't pressure me into demanding anything from me... I know you've helped me many times, but accepting you as a fake boyfriend doesn't mean I'll comply with whatever you want..."

Samuel smiled broadly. "Of course, Valerie. I won't demand anything from you... because we're not a real couple!"

Valerie smiled faintly, still seeming hesitant.

"Don't hesitate with me... We are a couple now!" Samuel laughed again.

"Yeah, a fake couple..." Valerie nodded.

Samuel nodded with a fading smile as if disappointed by Valerie's response, seemingly emphasizing that they were just pretend partners. He sighed and stood up.

"I have to go now... You should sleep or maybe plan to work on your book," he said, looking at Valerie, who also stood up.

"Maybe I'll work on my new outline," Valerie replied.

"Okay, I'm leaving now..."

Valerie escorted Samuel to the terrace. She let him enter the car and leave, then she returned to the house with a strange feeling.

'I know Damian will be very angry, but this is better than tying myself to him again, and then his father will arrange our lives. I don't want that to happen... His father doesn't like me anymore,' she thought anxiously.

__

From a distance, Damian followed Samuel's car until he overtook it, then stopped, blocking its way!

Instantly, Samuel slammed his brakes, causing a loud screech as the tires ground against the hard asphalt, producing smoke.

"What the hell!" He cursed with his sharp eyes, quickly getting out and approaching Damian, who had just stepped out.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" He clenched his fists.

Damian smiled casually, flicking away his half-finished cigarette.

"I just wanted to see the face of the bastard," he said.

"Are you still mad about Valerie?" Samuel furrowed his brow. "Let me explain. She begged me to help her get out of your wedding plans, to support her life in Arizona. She also asked me to keep her pregnancy a secret... I couldn't betray her trust, so I didn't tell you!"

"Bullshit!" Damian immediately seized Samuel's neck.

Samuel looked up, staring at Damian, who was taller than him.

"I'm telling the truth..."

"I know you influenced her to keep hiding. You like her, don't you? Do you want to take her from me? You want to act like a superhero for her to win her over?" Damian wondered, pushing Samuel until he leaned against the car's body, still gripping his neck. "Don't you dare lie to me!"

Samuel fell silent, observing Damian's tense face, but eventually, he smiled thinly.

"Tell me!" Damian demanded.

Samuel shook slightly but quickly grabbed Damian's hand and pulled it away, freeing his grip.

"You already know the answer!" He pushed Damian away.

Damian stepped back a bit, his eyes glaring at Samuel, who smiled arrogantly.

"I like her, ever since you made the mistake of having sex with Clara!" Samuel asserted. "And you know what? I just met her, confessed my feelings... and she accepted me as her boyfriend!"

Damian clenched his fists, his breath racing, his eyes burning with anger.

"She said I was more deserving, comfortable with me, understanding her, unlike you who just played with her..." Samuel continued to smile so arrogantly. "You can be angry, but I'll always be the winner... Your anger won't change anything!"

"You bloody bastard!" Damian immediately smashed his fist into Samuel's face.

Bugh!

Samuel instantly collapsed, unable to avoid the strong blow, his nose bleeding.

"You traitor, I won't let you live!"

Damian immediately grabbed Samuel's clothes, pulling him up to stand and glaring at him.

"As long as Valerie is mine. I won't let my son have a stepfather like you, you son of a bitch!"

Bugh!

Damian punched Samuel's face again, sending him sprawling to the right and falling to the ground. He quickly approached again, stepping over his chest and gripping his clothes, observing his battered face but still smirking.

"Keep beating me, without me telling her, Valerie will know it's you. She'll hate you even more, she'll never accept you again!" Samuel gritted his teeth, looking at Damian cynically. "Your emotions will ruin your chances... You stupid!"

Damian smiled thinly. "Do you think I'll be afraid of your rage? I know she still loves me. We even made love the first time we met again!"

Samuel was instantly shocked.

"You lose, always lose!" Damian exclaimed, immediately punching Samuel's face again, then switching to punch his stomach.

"Ughh!" Samuel immediately curled up, holding his stomach. "Aghhj!"

Damian stood up again, looking satisfied at Samuel's suffering.

"I may be bad, but you're not any better. You're evil, and evil won't always win!" he shouted, pointing at the battered Samuel.

He then glanced around the deserted area, then returned to his car. The man drove towards the main road, then tried to contact someone.

'I have to make him come back to Las Vegas immediately. Valerie must not see his ugly face again!' he thought anxiously, continuing to try to contact someone.

"Hello?"

"Don... I want you to make Samuel busy tomorrow!" Damian said urgently when he connected to the man named Don.

"Oh, why? I've already given him a day off!" Don sounded concerned.

"I don't care!" Damian confirmed. "Keep him busy, gotta get back there! If you don't comply, I'll tell Freya that you're cheating on her!"

"Hey, bro... Calm down!" Don sounded panicked.

"This is urgent! I can't calm down...I don't want him to ruin my plans to get back to Valerie!"

"Okay... I need to think about my reasons for asking him to come back to work..."

"Do your best!"

Damian hung up the phone and looked forward again, he slowly stopped the car on the edge...The man thought, then opened the dashboard and took a photo showing him and Valerie together in the room, lying on their stomachs and not wearing clothes other than a blanket, even smiling at the camera.

'I miss you. I want you to smile like that again….smile happily because of me... And if that happens, maybe it will be more beautiful because Daniel is among us. I can't forget his face that shows our love... He looks a little like you, and also a little like me.' He said with a faint smile.