When Crystal heard the news, she sat up straight and pushed herself off the couch. Nathan was taken aback for a moment, but as soon as he realized that she was about to leave, he scrambled to his feet to stop her. Before he knew what was happening, though, she had picked up a pair of scissors. "Stay back," she warned.


    "What are you doing?" Nathan took a step forward but froze when she pressed the des in deep enough to draw blood. "Don''t hurt yourself," he cried. "Just tell me what the problem is. I''m sure that we can work it out together!"


    Crystal: "I need you to let me go and note after me!"


    Nathan could tell that she meant what she said, so he stepped back. "I will let you go!" he said. "Just don''t hurt yourself..." He knew that if she left, he would never stop looking for her, but he was willing to say whatever it took to keep her safe.


    Crystal watched Nathan closely as she backed out of the room. Then she ran into the consultation room to get her clothes. Once she was dressed, she stole two hundred dors from Nathan''s wallet - "A service fee for the sex," she muttered - and made her way towards the front door.


    By then, Nathan had joined her at the front entrance, and he was distraught. "I didn''t. mean to hurt you..." he said. "You know that I won''t let you marry him, don''t you?"


    Crystal sighed and said, "Please don''t make this difficult. Why can''t you just be happy that I''m happy?"


    "Do you think he will still marry you?" Nathan scoffed. "You are damaged goods!"


    "He won''t judge me!" Crystal snapped. "And he won''t hurt me as you do."


    Suddenly, Nancy entered the room.


    "Crystal!" she eximed, cutting off whatever response Nathan might have had.


    Crystal embraced her friend and asked, "What happened?"


    "Eric took rk away," she replied. "He''s holding my son hostage!"


    Crystal: "What does he want?"


    "You!" Nancy eximed.


    Crystal: "Me? What do you mean - me?"


    "He said that if I bring you to him, he will return rk," Nancy replied. As she spoke, she noticed the strange man watching them. "Who is this?" she wondered.


    Crystal: "This is Nathan. He is my ex-husband..."


    What is he doing here? - she wondered. "Um... okay." She turned to Nathan and said, "It''s nice to meet you, but we really need to get going."


    Nathan nodded and said, "Well, don''t let me hold you up. It''s not like I can stop you from going..."


    ****


    Nancy drove as fast as she dared, and Crystal tried to keep a conversation going in the hopes of alleviating some of her friend''s anxiety. "I can''t believe Nathan would show up like this," she said.


    "Is he really that bad?" Nancy asked. "He is the best-looking man that I have ever seen."


    Crystal snorted. "Looks aren''t everything," she said.


    Nancy: "Does he want to take you away?"


    Crystal: "Why else would he be here?"


    Nancy: "Do you love him?"


    "No..." Crystal shook her head and said, "My heart has been broken so many times that it is dead to love. I just want to live a peaceful life; ordinary, simple, and, if possible, single."


    Nancy: "I feel you, sister. fuck all men."


    "fuck all men," Crystal agreed. "Eric isn''t all bad, though. He won''t do anything to rk. He isn''t capable of harming a child."


    "That''s a relief," Nancy said. But she did not seem relieved, and she refused to ease up on the gas pedal. It was not long before she attracted the attention of the police, but she refused to pull over when they turned their sirens on.


    At the But Mansion, Eric and Paul were ying chess while discussing Eric''s uing wedding to Crystal. He nned to hold the wedding in Kuerto, and he had paid a wedding nner to rent thergest church on the ind.


    As Paul moved his Bishop forward three spaces diagonally, he looked up and said, "Nathan is on the ind."


    "I am aware," Eric said. "I am not worried about him. In fact, I am inviting him to my wedding. After all, before all this, we were friends, and hopefully, when things settle down, we still will be."


    "What if Crystal sleeps with him?" asked Paul.


    "Love covers a multitude of sins," Eric replied. "Isn''t that what the Bible says?" Paul nodded. "I forgot that you were religious."


    "Not a problem. Besides," Eric continued. "I, too, have a past. So all that matters is that I make her mine."


    Paul didn''t think that the wedding would go smoothly, and he felt guilty about notifying Nathan about Crystal''s presence, so he was doing everything that he could to tighten up security for the event. "I think that it is good that you are marrying her here," he said. "I have a lot of leverage here, so I can help you in ways that I couldn''t if you took her home and held the ceremony there."


    Eric patted his shoulder and said, "l owe you."


    "No," Paulughed. "You owed me," he said. "You owed me your life, but now we are even."


    Eric: "As you wish. We are even."


    Paul: "Have you thought about staying on the ind? Crystal seems to like it here, and she gets along well with Nancy."


    "I have," Eric admitted. "If we decided to stay, would you be able to help us find a ce to live?"


    Paul: "Mi casa es su casa. You know that you are always wee here."


    Eric: "I know, and I appreciate that. I want my own ce, though. As you know, I value my privacy."


    Paul nodded. "Just say the word, and I''ll get on it."


    Eric thanked his friend, and then he said, "Listen, I''d like to change the subject for a minute. Why haven''t you gotten remarried yet?"


    Paul: "I have all the women I want. And servants. What do I need a wife for?"


    Eric: "I saw the way that you looked at Nancy at the aquarium..."


    "That''s nonsense," Paul scoffed. "I have only ever loved Michelle."


    Eric slid his queen across the board and knocked over his opponent''s king. The game was over. "Why didn''t you marry her?"


    Before Paul could reply, Nancy''s car sped into the driveway. As soon as it came to a stop, she jumped out and ran towards the building.


    Crystal was right behind her. "Slow down," she shouted. "Paul is also here. He wouldn''t let Eric do anything to rk. This whole hostage situation was a bluff!"


    Nancy was too upset to hear her friend''s good advice. All she could think about was getting her son back.


    When they entered the vi, they saw Paul and Eric right away. "Where the fuck is my son?" Nancy roared. "If you have harmed even one hair on his head, I will kill you. Both of you!" Paul looked at his watch and said, "You are ten minuteste. I told you that if you were everte again, you would never see your son again."


    Nancy was speechless. She wanted to throw the chess game to the floor and toss the table. She did not dare, though - not while rk was in his care. "Please," she begged. "I am his Mother. You must let me see him..."


    Paul: "I don''t have to do anything that I don''t want to."