Chapter 8

I was lying in a hospital bed when I woke up.

I was completely bald, and my scalp was also throbbing with a tearing pain. The beeping of the medical equipment hooked up to me wouldn't cease, and the strong stench of disinfectant hung in the air.

The door opened, and Lorenzo walked in. He looked at me with a slight hint of unease in his eyes.

"You're awake. You bribed the waitress to burn Fiore, so the skin graft is what you owe her. But since what you did was also a crime, you'll be sent to prison for a few days as punishment."

He was calm when he said all of that, as though he was just commenting about the weather.

"I've already brought the salve. Take care of yourself in prison."

I stared at him with wide eyes as though he were nothing but a stranger.

"I didn't do it, Lorenzo Caputo. You're framing me. That is illegal detention!"

He ignored me and clapped his hands together, summoning two strong bodyguards as they entered my ward, carted me off the bed with one on each side, and started dragging me out of the ward.

"Let me go! I didn't do it! Let go of me!"

I wouldn't stop screaming and struggling, but nobody paid any heed to me.

Passersby would stare at me in shock, but when they saw the two intimidating bodyguards next to me, they hurriedly averted their gazes and hurried off without another look.

I was shoved behind bars. There was the metalling clank of the door slamming shut behind me before it was locked and bolted in place.

The next five days were the darkest days of my entire life.

The other inmates with whom I shared a bunk room snuffed out their cigarette butts on my head, one after another, until there was the putrid smell of burnt flesh in the air. It hurt so much that I couldn't stop shuddering in pain.

They also made fun of me and mocked me for being a bitch and a slut. They sliced into my still-recovering scalp with tiny blades, writing derogatory words on my head.

Blood flowed down my face and blurred my vision.

Every day was like a living hell for me.

After the fifth day, the door finally opened for me early in the morning, and I shuffled out of the prison like a zombie.

I'd only just reached my apartment and was walking past a surveillance camera blind spot when a hand suddenly reached out. They clapped over my mouth to stop me from screaming, and someone threw a sack over my head.

I was then carried off like a sack of potatoes and thrown into a dark place with the door locked from the outside. I ripped the sack off my head at once and instantly felt a chill running through my entire body.

This was an abandoned basement, teeming with rats. Their eyes glowed red like they'd been starving for days as they swarmed around me.

They didn't seem afraid of humans as they started crawling up my pant legs, gnawing through the fabric, and sinking their razor-sharp teeth into my skin.

"No… No…"

I kept retreating until I was backed into a corner, trembling like a leaf.

Then, a rat bit right into my foot, and a sharp pain shot through my entire body instantly.

I screamed out loud and kicked it away at once, but more rats just swarmed up and continued biting me everywhere.

I pounded on the door, screaming loudly for help, but nobody came.

Just as I was on the verge of passing out, I suddenly heard Vincenzo's voice outside the basement door.

"So what if Lorenzo has already punished her? That's on him. Fiore was terribly bullied, and as her biggest fan, of course I also had to do something on her behalf! Since Eliana caused Fiore so much pain, I'll make sure to return the pain to her tenfold!"

So, that was the truth after all.

Even this sudden hellish nightmare was nothing more than their punishment toward me for Fiore's sake.

I didn't know how much time had passed after that, but when I woke up again, I was lying in the hospital once more.

My entire body was covered in tiny wounds, all stinging and throbbing very painfully.

Still, it wasn't a life-threatening or fatal kind of pain.

They just wanted me to constantly be in pain and continue suffering for as long as they wanted me to. They wanted me to be afraid, to be intimidated, and to make me wish that I were dead.

I struggled to get out of bed and went down to the front counter.

I saw Lorenzo and Vincenzo in the hospital lobby, one on each of Fiore's side as they showered her with care and concern while she was in her wheelchair.

The concern and tenderness they were showing her were something that I had never experienced from them for the past three years.

I inhaled deeply and realized that my heart didn't seem to be hurting anymore.

They said that there was no greater sorrow than a broken heart, and perhaps I was experiencing it right now.

I no longer harbored any hope for either Lorenzo or Vincenzo anymore.

Just then, my phone buzzed with a call from Claudio, who told me that my resignation procedures were complete and that I was free to go.

Meanwhile, I also received a text message from the airline company reminding me of my flight and boarding time soon.

I smiled. Finally, I could leave now.

I paid the hospital bills, went back to my apartment, grabbed the suitcases I'd packed up earlier, and headed straight for the airport.

I got past security and boarded the plane. The plane slowly taxied onto the runway before soaring into the sky.

I looked out the window, watching as the city of Deyork grew smaller and smaller until it became a blurry dot and vanished into the clouds.

I leaned against the glass window and muttered, "I hope we never meet again for the rest of my life, Lorenzo, Voncenzo, and Fiore."