★JANIE★

"What are your reasons, huh?" I fired back. "What are your fucking reasons?"

Hot tears poured down my cheeks as I glared at him. With my lips curled in disdain, I took a couple of steps backward.

"Look at me, Janie," Luciano said softly as he tried to touch me, but I pulled away.

"I don't want to look at you!" I bellowed angrily. "You are a monster!"

With a swift maneuver, Luciano grasped me and wrapped his good arm around my waist. My breath hitched at that impact then I started struggling with him to set me free. But the more I did, the more his grip tightened.

"Call me whatever you want, Janie. But I want to protect you. I want you to be under my wings where I can reach you." He moved to cup my chin, but I tilted my head sideways.

"Protect me?" I scoffed. "You of all people don't know how to protect anyone. Rather you would just kill, kill and kill!" I seethed angrily.

Luciano retracted his hand and sighed. "I promise not to ever hurt you, Janie."

"Too late. You already did." I informed him. Then without remorse, I pressed down on his injured arm. He released a loud grunt and set me free for a split second. So I took that as a cue to dart out of his room, straight into mine.

And, I closed the door shut behind me.

Leaning against the doorframe, I slowly slipped to the floor, breaking into a series of tiny sobs.

My heart clenched in pain.

If only there was something I could do to get the hell out of this place! My head was spinning out of its axis and my mind was running amok.

Why does this have to happen to me? How long do I have to keep living like this?

Various questions plagued my thoughts. Yet, there were no answers.

I clutched my throbbing chest, yet, it wasn't enough to numb the pain. I hate Luciano for this. He was the one responsible for ruining my life and my dream. Alas, I don't think I would ever forgive him.

He would forever remain my hell.

Just as I writhed in agony and hot tears poured down my cheeks, a soft knock erupted on my door.

"Go away!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "I don't want to ever see you! If you want to kill me then do so without wasting time. Seeing your face alone is torture for me."

"Oh my goodness, Janie." Came a soft tone afterward.

Almost at once, I recognized it to be Mrs. Andrea. The urge to apologize and correct the notion that those brutal words weren't meant for her surged to the forefront of my brain. But then, I shoved it back down.

I owe no one an explanation! At this point, living no longer piqued my interest.

"Janie?" Mrs. Andrea called softly again. "You know you can share whatever is going on with me right? I am a mother too. No woman would see a child suffering and derive joy from it. Talk to me, girl. I promise to listen."

As soothing as her words sound, I declined the offer. "I don't want to speak to anyone. No one is meant to be trusted."

"Alright then, I just want you to know that when you're ready, I'm only a step away." She added. "Master Luciano asked me to bring something over for you to eat. Please do before it gets cold."

I began to wonder why he still cared about me, eating when I just caused him pain. He ought to stop acting nice and be hostile and ruthless with me, just the way he's with everyone.

Only then, would I be justified in abhorring him so much.

"Thank you for the meal, Mrs. Andrea. But I am not hungry. Please take the food away." I stated, wiping off the snorts and tears from my face.

Silence followed.

But a few seconds later, Mrs. Andrea spoke up.

"I will leave the tray right here. When you feel comfortable enough to open the door and eat. Please do so."

I didn't respond to that.

The rattling sound of the metallic tray touching the ground followed by the receding sound of her footstep made me know I was all alone.

Burying my head into my sweaty palm, I thought of how different my life would have been if this didn't happen. Perhaps, I would be on my way to lecture right at this moment.

My life would have been so meaningful because I was a step closer to achieving my dreams. But not anymore.

I began to chew on my fingernails aggressively. Since this unfortunate incident occurred, I developed this new and bad habit. I would chew and chew until they ached and blood seeped out from the tiny cuts inflicted by my incessant chewing.

"Ouch!" I winced when a sharp pain split through my thumb and instantly blood oozed out from the injury.

My eyes remained on the tiny stream of blood for what seemed like forever. Perhaps, I could just bleed to death and end this misery.

Swallowing hard, I shuffled to my feet and went to rinse it out in the bathroom.

My beautiful fingernails were now an eyesore. Staring at them plummeted a sharp jab in my stomach. They looked bruised, purple, and horrible.

I haven't been practicing self-pain until now. Because Luciano made me this miserable.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I eventually decided to eat. Putting away the food would only put Ma'am Andrea's effort to waste. It would be senseless to keep starving myself since Luciano doesn't give a damn about me.

Alas, I needed just a little more time until I devise a perfect escape plan to get out of this place.

So I scuffed towards the door, unlocked the latch, and picked up the tray from the floor. But something caught my attention.

However, it wasn't the dishes, but, the white envelope that had my name written on it.

And curiosity piqued my interest.

I closed the door shut and placed the tray carefully on the bedside table. Afterward, I proceeded to open the envelope and read what was written there;

Hi Janie,

It's Luciano right here. I am going to send Romano to give you a present and I hope you like them. Ps: you can do whatever you want, but don't dare to leave.

Regards, Luciano.

In a few minutes, another knock erupted on my door. I reluctantly pulled myself up and opened it, only to see a straight-faced Romano, staring back at me.

It was obvious we don't like each other, so I didn't bother regarding his presence.

Without a word, he handed out the wrapped gift to me and walked away.

Once again, I closed the door shut and started unwrapping the gift. My fingernails made hard the effort, but I didn't relent. After tearing those layers away, my mouth dropped to the floor in shock.

Behold, I unveiled a laptop and a phone. Still, in disbelief, I gaped blankly at those items, wondering if Luciano wanted me to have them.

Were these the presents he was talking about in the letter?

A sticky card on the phone wrote; do whatever you want with them, but I will never let you go.

Furious, I squeezed the card and tossed it across the room. Then I switched on the phone. When I went straight to the call logs, it had only his number saved up there with his name.

But that was the least of my concern.

I tried to go on the internet, but a message popped up on my screen instantly, saying it wasn't connected. And I could only go online when Romano connects me to the WiFi.

My hands balled into fists. How I wish I could punch a hole into Luciano's face until he bled to death.

Rolling my eyes at the message, I pushed away the phone and the laptop.

Then I proceeded to eat. It was after I finished eating, I opened the laptop and saw a lot of my favorite music coupled with a series of Korean dramas.

So I forgot my plight for a second. Clicked on the drama titled 'big mouth' and began to watch.