🔥 At sunset, the city turns against Samuel.

What begins as whispers in the marketplace erupts into violence as a furious mob surrounds him — calling him traitor, outsider, Alencar’s dog.

🪨 Stones fly.

👊 Fists fall.

💥 The people he once longed to heal now beat him to the ground.

Just as the final blow is about to strike, the world freezes.

🐎 Henrique arrives.

Dark coat, black horse, and a voice sharp enough to cut through rage:

“Enough.”

⚔️ His glare scatters the mob, but his next words seal Samuel’s fate:

“He is mine.”

Gasps ripple. Fear outweighs hatred. The attackers vanish into the dusk.

🏇 Henrique lifts Samuel onto his horse, holding him steady as they ride through trembling streets — some see a rescue, others see a claim.

🔥 Back at the mansion, Henrique cleans Samuel’s wounds himself, his fury simmering beneath a fragile tenderness.

“You are safe,” he promises.

But when Samuel asks, “And if I don’t stand with you?”

Henrique’s answer is soft… and terrifying:

“Then you won’t stand at all.”

✨ A visceral episode where loyalty becomes a chain, protection becomes possession, and Samuel crosses a line that cannot be uncrossed.