Charlotte leads Giada upstairs to her modest Rome apartment, which she has made her own with books and green-painted walls that remind her of Clement Hall. Sabine’s memory intrudes, but Charlotte tries to banish it as Giada emerges in a borrowed silk robe and prepares to model. Giada drops the robe and poses on a midnight-blue velvet chair, while Charlotte struggles with rising hunger after days without feeding.

Charlotte begins to draw, noticing Giada’s uncanny capacity for absolute stillness layered over restrained energy. As Giada holds a pose effortlessly, Charlotte sketches with urgency, surprised by how vividly Giada comes to life on the page, unlike prior attempts to capture Sabine. Time passes, and Giada asks Charlotte to distract her with a story.

Instead of fiction, Charlotte recounts a thinly veiled truth: a girl afraid of growing small in a man’s world is drawn to a woman who is undeniable, perilous, and alluring. The woman gives pleasure and companionship and asks only for the girl’s soul. Charlotte muses that a soul gives warmth, taste, and fullness, but the girl considered love worth the price—until the woman fell ill and love withered, leaving the girl with nothing.

As Charlotte speaks, a bloody tear falls onto the drawing, exposing her nature. Expecting fear, she braces for Giada to flee, but Giada approaches instead, wiping the blood from Charlotte’s cheek. Charlotte warns her that it is unsafe because she is hungry. When Giada asks what the girl eats, Charlotte admits the truth: blood. Giada offers her throat, and after initial refusal, Charlotte yields carefully.

Charlotte bites as gently as she can, feeling warmth and a heartbeat return, but when Giada grows faint, Charlotte does what Sabine forbade—she stops before killing. The wound knits, and Giada, woozy but content, whispers “Magnifica.” Charlotte helps her to bed, and when Giada asks her to stay, they make love, with Giada guiding Charlotte through a new kind of intimacy that is mutual and tender rather than controlled.

Afterward, Giada drifts to sleep beside Charlotte. Though Charlotte’s borrowed heartbeat fades, she can still hear Giada’s pulse next to her for the first time, signaling a profound shift from Sabine’s predatory rules toward Charlotte’s own choices for restraint and connection.