At a family gathering a mother and her mute, heart‑conditioned daughter Xamira are grabbed and bullied by the grandmother and relatives. The abuse escalates from insults and threats to a demand: throw Xamira into an orphanage. Then relatives present an ultimatum—if the mother marries Lenard, the city's dying richest man, he will fund and sign a ten‑year partnership that will rescue the family's business. When she refuses, the family warns she and her daughter will regret it. Cornered and horrified, the mother asks, "You want me to marry a dying old man?"