Melanie’s POV“Melanie!”Luke’s sharp call brought me out of my deep thought.Damn.I can’t believe I got distracted. Worse, I was in the middle of changing Luke’s surgical dressing and I came so close to hurting him.“Sorry, Luke. What were you saying?” I asked.Luke eyed me curiously. “You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said.”“Sorry, I got distracted for a moment,” I answered.“Are you okay?” he asked. “You don’t look so good.”“I’m fine, I guess I’m just a little tired,” I answered.Luke smiled at my response. “I guess you did celebrate after all.”“Huh?”"It's your birthday. I thought you weren't going to celebrate it, but it looks like you did."I had totally forgotten about my birthday yesterday.“I just had some drinks with friends, that’s all,” I lied. I seemed to be doing a lot of that today.Lying through my tee
Melanie’s POVI said goodbye to my parents and put my phone back in my locker but not before firing off a quick text to my brother informing him that I was alright.The rest of my shift passed by pretty quickly and while I was getting close to the end of my shift, a bold thought occurred to me, and for a while, I couldn't believe that I had welcomed the idea.But, I’d worked hard to get this far in life, and I wasn’t about to give up my freedom easily, at least not without a fight.So I welcomed the thought and started plotting all the possible ways of execution before my shift.As I promised, I checked in on Luke before the end of my shift and saw that he was busy with a video game. I said goodbye and then headed to the changing room to get out of my scrubs and back into regular clothes.“I was going to grab a drink with some of the other nurses and was wondering if you would like to join us,” Hayley invited.
Melanie’s POVThe drive back to Adriano’s mansion was quiet.I was in no mood to talk and my designated driver didn’t seem like a chatty person.The closer we got to the mansion, the more my feeling of dread intensified.From what I heard him say on the phone when my escape plan was busted, Adriano was well aware of it and I was scared of what he might do to me.Was he going to hurt me?Or worse, he could harm my family by teaching me a lesson.The thought of either of that happening scared me but somehow, a voice at the back of my head kept telling me that wasn’t the type of person Adriano was.He might be a monster but I didn’t think he would use his physical strength to hurt a woman. Or maybe he would.I didn’t know him well enough to come to any sort of conclusion, and he hasn’t given me a reason not to worry.I was certain of one thing though, I’m not going to give up that easily. I m
Adriano’s POVI put the phone back on my desk, trying hard not to laugh. I just got off the phone with Ralph and just like I predicted, Melanie tried to escape.She was a goddamn spitfire and something tells me this wasn’t going to be her only attempt.I got to give her credit though, she was ballsy and might have just gotten away with it if I didn't have cameras in the hospital.Why did I have surveillance in a hospital?Because that hospital would pretty much not exist without the large donations I made every year.I was the real chairman of the hospital board and the person currently occupying that post was just a figurehead who worked for me.Watching Melanie try to escape through the cameras, I couldn't remember the last time I saw something so entertaining and I bet Ralph could hear the humor in my voice when I called to inform him what was going on.I grabbed Melanie’s file from my table and opened it again. By now, I was pretty sure I had the contents of the file memorized bu
Melanie’s POVAfter my shower, I put on the lush robe in the bathroom and walked into the walk-in closet wondering what I was going to put on then I stopped in my tracks.Before me was an array of new clothing, organized so very neatly from casual to classy outfits.I had never seen so many clothes in one place. I ventured to touch one of the sweats, the quality was also out of this world, event though it was casual clothing, I could tell that it must have been bought at a high-end store, nothing like Forever 21.I picked out a white shirt and yoga pants, putting them on, they fit so well and I almost felt bad for how good it felt wearing the clothes.I didn't have any of my clothes here so this was a lovely alternative. I thought about drying my hair but decided to let it air dry so I put it in a messy bun.Making my way downstairs, I hoped and prayed that Adriano wasn’t at home, I still didn’t know how he was going to react to my escape attempt and I was in a hurry to find out.“Oh,
Adriano’s POV I could hear the laughter all the way up in my room and it pleased me that she was getting along with Alice. From the way Alice was willing to bake her a cake for her at the last minute, I could tell that she had taken a liking to her even though they only met briefly this morning. I opted for comfortable gray sweatpants and a white shirt, then I waited a while before I decided to make my way to the kitchen. And I was glad I did because I witnessed Melanie’s reaction to the cake, she also looked kind of torn, like she was trying to reconcile the person she thought me to be with the gesture. Even I wondered what pushed me to do something like that for her. She was still staring at the cake which Alice had already lit a candle on so I chose that moment to announce my presence. “Aren’t you going to make a wish?” I asked and I watch her freeze in shock at the sound of
Melanie’s POV I stared at Adriano's retreating form while trying to make sense of what had just happened. Was this really happening? I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding. At least he wasn’t going to hurt me for trying to escape but I knew he wasn’t joking when he said that next time, he wouldn’t be as forgiving. That means, when I finally get the chance to escape, I can’t fail or only God knew what he was going to do with me. I put my dessert plate to the sink and even though Alice told me not to, I washed and dried the dishes, needing something to make me feel useful. Walking back to my room, I couldn’t help but smile at the thought that I had a birthday cake. Ever since I came to New York for nursing school, I hadn't celebrated my birthday at home and I didn't have any friends who I was close enough to for them to get me a
Melanie’s POV I got out of the house to find the driver who I've come to know as Ralph waiting for me in front of the car. "Good morning, Miss Jones," he greeted. “Good morning, Ralph,” I responded, walking towards him and I paused in front of the opened back seat. “Is something wrong?” Ralph asked, sensing my hesitation. “This is too much,” I whispered loud enough for him to hear me. “What is too much?” “This car! It’s too ostentatious,” I replied. “Isn’t there another vehicle you could possibly drive me in? Something less flashy.” He looked a bit taken aback by my outburst but he was quick to recover and I could swear he seemed amused. The boss instructed me to drive you in this car," he replied. “I’m an intern, Ralph. A freaking intern! How do you think my co-workers would react when they find out I’m being chau