Alicia was unable to think of anything else with the feeling of utter despair that consumed her. With what she had seen in this room, the elegant designs and the facilities which were modified to help Isabella cater to her every needs without much difficulties; the dressing room which was filled with designer brands of dresses, shirts, shoes and bags which would be hard to collect even for someone like her; and the large portrait of Isabella which sat at one end of the closet which she could detect was the work of an expert artist, Alicia knew she and her parents had made a big mistake.This was not what they imagined. No, this wasn't it at all. Shaking her head to get her thoughts together, she turned to Isabella."Mum was in a bad mood so I'll suggest you go there now with Angela. When you're done with her, I can help pick out a dress then," she forced a smile."That will be best," Isabella pointed out. Hearing that Hazel was in a bad mood was one of the sentences which was topping

"My god...Bella! You have over a hundred missed calls from... what's this? Who is 'Monster'?!" Angela asked. "Monster?" Isabella echoed. The only way to confirm Angela's words was by seeing it herself so she collected the phone and studied the characters by herself. She raised her head in confusion, "It's Nicholas. Where's the monster?"The two stared at each other in silence, trying to comprehend what was happening until it dawned on them all at once."Don't tell me..." Angela started, shaking her head slowly."It's not me," Isabella defended herself. "I asked him to save it himself and he did. I didn't know he used 'Monster'. Do you think it was a test? Does he already know I can't read? No, if he knows then...Hold on, Angel, do you think that's why he sent Mum and—""Calm down, Bella. I uhm, I think we should start seeing things differently. He didn't say anything but just saved it as this, then it could either be that's he's testing you or that he's teasing you. With his reputati

The mention of his wife's name sent every trace of drowsiness away from Nicholas' face."What's with her?"Joseph hesitated a while before speaking, "I...I think she's sick. Not physically so don't give me that glare. I think she's mentally sick."Whatever Nicholas had been planning to do to Joseph for saying Isabella was sick when he was the doctor in charge of her, he completely lost all motivation to do it. His doctor was simply stupid."If you're done, Joseph, could you get out of my room? I'm not in the mood for jokes," he stated, pointing at the door.Joseph sighed, "Then don't blame me when the maids begin treating her like a psycho."He straightened and turned on his heels to walk out of the room, thinking Nicholas would call him back. But it didn't happen. Instead, the man in question picked up the earplugs on the bedside table and placed it over his ears."Jobless," he muttered, though his voice was loud enough for Joseph who was at the door the hear him.The door closed and

Nicholas stepped closer to the bed, his eyes narrowing at Isabella's action of covering her body. "How have you been?" he asked."Me? I—I have been well! Perfectly well...Nicholas," she added the last word after a moment of thought, as if she was wondering if he would be annoyed by that or not."I could tell. I've been here earlier today and I must say, you seemed to have enjoyed yourself during my absence," he murmured, his tone laced with sarcasm.Isabella, however, didn't notice anything wrong with what he said."How was y—your trip?" she stuttered, clenching and unclenching her hand that tightly gripped the sheets."Hectic, as usual. Though this one was particularly worse since someone refused to pick her calls or even return the calls she missed for two whole weeks.""Ah... I'm sorry for that. I was...Busy and uh—I did..." Isabella stopped talking when Nicholas took another step closer to the bed. If he took one more, he would be right beside her. And he did."I heard about the p

Back to present... Isabella was taking the same decision with Nicholas. She knew being on his side was the same as being on the most powerful side, if she was comparing him to her parents. And at least for now, he wasn't whipping her yet so she could take shelter behind him. She might have to suffer just like she did with Mrs Grey those years before but it was still preferable to getting whipped and locked in the dark room with its countless torture weapons and insects. "You said what?" Nicholas' voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "I did it myself." Nicholas tilted his head, staring down at her with a complex gaze. Though he didn't want to believe her words that she did all these to herself, David's words from when he had asked whom the latter suspected to poison Isabella at the wedding banquet, echoed in his mind. "Miss Yates refused to tell you what was wrong with her even after you showed you were annoyed. And after it got to your knowledge, she still refused to accept th