Chapter 3 I'd rather die

Massimo

I see how this woman takes my son, and I know that Katherina was not wrong to leave him in her care. She is so happy playing with him that she hasn't noticed my presence. I clear my throat, and finally, her eyes meet mine. I can sense the hatred in her gaze, and she ignores me again, focusing on Alexandre.

There's a knock on the door, and one of the maids enters with a tray full of food. I asked for a variety of dishes since it's been hours since she ate, and I don't want her to get sick. The maid places the tray on the table, and I instruct her to leave. When Pietro enters, I ask him to act as an interpreter with this woman and urge her to eat.

"Mr. Massimo says please eat something; your meal is ready," Pietro translates.

"Well, tell your boss I'm not hungry, and I refuse to eat anything. I want to leave; he can't keep me locked up all the time." She says defiantly. As soon as I hear what she said, I rise from my chair, approach her, and snatch Alexandre away. I call one of the maids to take my son, leaving just Pietro, this woman, and me. I grab her arm, determined to make her eat, and drag her to the table where the food tray sits. But despite her small and weak appearance, she manages to break free from my grip and knocks the tray to the floor.

"I told you I'm not eating anything in this damn house. I'd rather starve than stay here." She spits in my face. My anger rises; no woman has ever dared to do this to the great Massimo.

"As you wish, but you'll suffer until breakfast tomorrow." Pietro informs her. I grab her face with my hand, squeezing so tightly I feel like I might break her jaw at any moment. Then, I easily lift her and throw her onto her bed. I turn and lock her in. I can hear her trying to stop me, but she can't, and she starts pounding on the door. This woman infuriates me, but I can't help feeling an electric current every time I touch her. I've never felt such an unrestrained desire for any woman as I do for her.

Lilibeth

The next day, one of the maids wakes me up and tells me the shower is ready, along with clean clothes, something I'm immensely grateful for since I hadn't been able to shower for days. After getting ready, the same woman returns to inform me that I should come down for breakfast because Alexandre is waiting for me (that's the little boy's name; I finally found out). I go down, and indeed, the baby is in the dining room. I quickly approach him, and he gives me a big smile.

"My darling, I missed you so much" I shower him with kisses and sit next to him. The woman feeding him asks if I want breakfast, but I only ask for a glass of water. After finishing my water, breakfast is served, and that's when that sick man who has me locked up enters. I stand up as soon as he sits down at the table; I don't want to be in the same place as this despicable being.

"Please stay for breakfast; it's my boss's orders." His man informs me. I ignore him and am about to leave the dining room when Alexandre starts crying at the thought of being left alone. I turn back, pick him up, and leave, leaving his father with a murderous look.

It's been four days since I arrived here, and true to my word, I haven't eaten anything. I know perfectly well that a person can survive for more than thirty days without food. I hope this will make him let me go once and for all, but I'm not naive. All I do is drink water, and that's what sustains me. In all this time, he has tried to force me to eat many times, but I always end up getting my way. Today is a sunny day, and I've seen the garden, which is divine and has a beautiful pool, albeit very deep. So, I decide to take Alexandre out to soak up some sun, as Pietro, the man, told me that I'm here to take care of his son.

We're about to go out to the garden when Massimo stops me, putting his arm to prevent me from leaving.

"I think since I'm taking care of your son, we can at least go out to the garden; it's suffocating to be indoors all day." I say, pushing his arm aside and heading to the garden. There are at least four heavily armed men there too. I leave Alexandre in a small pen that one of the maids set up and sit next to him to enjoy the sun.

"Miss, would you like to swim for a while?" The woman carrying some fruit for Alexandre asks me.

"No, thank you, Anely, I don't know how to swim." I reply with a smile. All the maids here are very kind to me. She says goodbye and goes to continue her work.

I get up to pick a fruit for Alexandre when I feel someone push me, and I fall into the pool. It's so deep that even standing on tiptoes, I can't reach the surface. The more I try to swim up, the more I sink. Fatigue overtakes me due to the lack of food in recent days, and I know this is the freedom I've been yearning for, so I stop fighting and sink into unconsciousness.

Massimo

I'm in my office with Pietro, discussing some business and if he has found any clues about Katherina's murder while he looks out the window. He informs me that Lilibeth is still in the garden, sunbathing with my son. I'm still angry with this woman for her continuous insolence.

"You can go, Pietro, and continue with the investigations." I gesture with my hand to leave me alone. When he's near the door, we hear Alexandre crying, and we immediately look out the window. We don't see anything strange until Pietro mentions that the guards aren't in their positions, and Lilibeth is nowhere to be seen. We rush down to see what's happening.

"That damn woman will pay for this when she returns; how dare she leave you alone," I say, taking my son in my arms, but he continues to cry. "Anely! Bring me that woman immediately."

"I'm sorry, sir, but the miss never entered the house," She says with a puzzled look. "She stayed with Alexandre the whole time."

"She couldn't have vanished into thin air, and where are the useless ones who should be here guarding her?" My men come out and inform me that they had problems elsewhere on the property, so they had to leave their posts for a moment. But when they left, she was still here.

I'm close to the pool when I see a piece of apple on the floor. I approach and see a silhouette at the bottom of the pool. I hand Alexandre over and dive in, feeling an indescribable fear. I can see this woman at the bottom, I bring her to the surface and quickly try to resuscitate her. When I feel like I'm about to lose her, she starts coughing and spits out all the water she swallowed.

"Damn it! Do you want to die so badly that you're willing to drown yourself?" I ask, carrying her and heading to the waiting car to take her to the hospital.