BXBX NOVEL Chapter 244
To Garnet Gold – Thanks for your immense support!
Arianna woke up with a groan, she felt miserable. The events of the day unfolded in her mind in a matter of seconds, enough for her to wish the ground could open up and swallow her. Recalling that she cried in his arms made her want to bury her face into the sheet.
Sheet? Wait a minute, why does the bed feel different?
Arianna sat up at once, using that opportunity to survey her environment, she was in a new room and this current “prison” was better than the last one.
The bed was very soft, although it wasn’t better than Marcel’s – that feels like floating on clouds – but it was ten thousand better than the last one that almost broke her back.
He must have moved her when she fell asleep in his arms. Damn it, that memory made her cringe. How could she cry in his arms? She revealed her vulnerability to him and the least she wanted was for Marcel to take advantage of her weakness.
She felt like banging her head against the wall. How could she be this stupid? She should have fought him harder. But then, the deed was done and she can’t keep crying over spilled milk.
Her current room was very spacious and she liked it. No, she wasn’t supposed to like anything here. Arianna knew she couldn’t get too comfortable in this place. If Marcel thought that this gesture of goodwill would change her mind about him and make her hate him less? Then he should get used to disappointment.
.....
She has come to accept the fact that he was a monster who didn’t care about who he hurt to accomplish what he wanted. Arianna was not going to fight him anymore, but that doesn’t mean she has given up.
There even comes a time in war when the army retreats and changes the course of their plans. It was that time for Arianna and she knew she had to apply wisdom in her new strategy.
She can’t win this war going head-on against Marcel because he seems to always have a way to counter that and has proven his ability over and over again.
She would go with the flow this time. Arianna planned to be as meek as a lamb and as wise as a serpent. But that doesn’t mean she would make it easy for him either. If she didn’t bother him like unusual, he’d probably think she has something up her sleeve.
Arianna climbed out of the bed and walked into the bathroom where she had a thorough bath. Her skin was beginning to feel sticky and uncomfortable and she stunk.
Looking in the mirror, Arianna found out she had red, swollen eyes from crying. Aside from that, her cheeks were sunken and she was emaciated from the stress. She wasn’t sickly thin considering Marcel never starved her but her collarbones had prominent holes that needed to be filled up.
Arianna couldn’t help but wonder if Elijah would like what he saw the next time they met. She bet not. That brilliant shine in her eyes was gone, replaced by rage – that was the only thing keeping her working this day – and unyielding hope.
Arianna was intimidated by her situation, however, she hasn’t lost hope at all. Marcel can’t keep her here forever, he’d eventually get bored and let her go, or she would escape and never be captured again. It was two of those options because she doesn’t depend on the third option anymore – Elijah was going to come for her.
Sorry, but Arianna needed not to dwell on false hope anymore. Believing she would just sit there and Elijah appears out of nowhere to save her ass was the mentality slowly killing her. For now, she was on her own.
As she expected, the wardrobe was filled with new clothes which could only mean her stay here was permanent. He has no plans to release but that won’t be long. For now, she would sit and observe his plans for her.
Arianna chose a pair of oversized shirts – that wouldn’t reveal her shape – and pants that would protect her better than a dress – which he could easily access. She pushed the memory out of her mind yet couldn’t help but blush upon seeing the panties.
Hopefully, he didn’t select those by himself because it was mortifying trying to guess what he was thinking when he got her this. But then, who was she kidding? If she could find a set of female panties in his closet, this wouldn’t be a problem either.
Hardly had she dressed up before a knock came on her door but Arianna didn’t answer, what’s the use of the sudden courtesy now? After three unanswered knocks, the door was opened by someone that wasn’t Marcel. It was an unfamiliar woman. An older woman.
“Miss,” She called her, and Arianna did not doubt at that moment that this was a staff member working for Marcel.
“What do you want?” Her voice was not kind either. She just wanted them to leave her alone.
“Boss wants you to have dinner with -”
“Tell your boss that I’m not interested in his dinner. Now, you can go,” Arianna dismissed her while checking out the motion sensors installed in her room. She guessed that was how he was able to predict she was awake.
Damn Marcel, but then, it was better than a surveillance camera. She would go bananas knowing he watched every single one of her activities. That would be a full-scale invasion of privacy, but thankfully, he thought it through.
He installed the motion sensor in the corner of the room that will give the sensor the widest possible view of the space below. The sensor pointed at the doorway, with no obstructions in the way while the other was placed above the doorway, keeping it out of sight.
But then Arianna was surprised to see that the woman was still standing in her room when she clearly dismissed her. For an older woman, she was fiddling with her hands and looked anxious.
“What are you still doing here?” On other days, Arianna wouldn’t be this harsh but she wasn’t in the best of moods. With each passing day spent in captivity, she was becoming sensitive, foul-tempered, and austere.
This lifestyle was changing her, no, scratch that, it has changed her into someone her past self wouldn’t be able to recognize. She has killed for f*ck sake – taken a life that she didn’t provide in the first place. Well, it was to kill or get killed. If there was anything better, this place turned her into a stronger person.