CHAPTER THREE

SCARLETT'S POV.

My eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, I couldn't remember where I was. The room around me was unfamiliar, the air heavy with silence. Panic prickled at the edges of my consciousness, gradually seeping into my veins. How did I end up here? Then, like a cracking dam, the memories came rushing back.

A surge of horror filled my chest as I took in my surroundings. The room was vast, adorned with opulent decorations that oozed with extravagance. Gold accents glistened against the dim lighting, and the air smelled of stale perfume and dominance. My gaze shifted downwards, and I froze.

I was tied to a large bed, my wrists tightly bound by ropes  that dug into my skin. Fear gripped me, squeezing my throat, as realization crashed over me like a tidal wave. Luca had trapped me in his house, a prisoner of his whims, and there was no escaping his clutches.

With each passing moment, the reality sunk deeper, swallowing me whole. I began to scream, raw, guttural cries that tore through the silence, desperate pleas for help. My voice reverberated off the walls, bouncing back at me as a chilling reminder of my imprisonment. Tears cascaded down my face, mingling with the anguish etched across my features.

What had they done to Kevin and Henry? And what of my parents, where they safe? And what was next for me in life?

These questions were running through my mind and driving me crazy as I sat helplessly on the bed, crying.

Finally the door was ripped open and a calm looking old woman walked in. She was dressed in a housekeeper's clothing and her gray hair was pulled into a tight bun. She had a tray in her hands and it seemed the contents were for me because she started coming towards me.

"Don't come any closer," I warned, shifting more, backwards into the headboard I was strapped too. "I don't want anything to do with any of you."

The woman was unfazed, she just smiled at me and set the tray on the bed. I glanced at it and saw that it was a tray full of different fruits.

"You need to eat this, my dear," she started opening up a banana and shoved it towards my mouth when she was done.

I refused to open my mouth, "I told you I don't want anything from you, take this away from me now."

"Okay, you're a fiesty one," the woman laughed to herself and I refused to share her humour. "You must have a bite, dear. It's an order from the big boss himself. He wants you to eat something."

"Well you can go tell your asshole boss that he can shove the food up his ass. I don't want anything from him," I spat, feeling my blood boil to the highest degree.

Who did this Luca Nicholas think he was? What he was doing was against the law—holding a woman hostage in his house and then offering her fruits to eat.

"You don't speak about the big boss like that, little girl," the woman looked genuinely surprised that I could disrespect Luca like that. I wasn't surprised though, she looked like one of those workers who'd worked for a family for so long that they practically started worshipping the ground that they walked on.

I even kind of felt sorry for her.

"What does he have over you, tell me?" I asked her, now intrigued. "Don't you see how much of an animal he is? Does he have any of your family members hostage or do you owe him money? What in the world would make you support a monster like him?"

"Because I pay her good money," Luca's deep voice came as he appeared at the doorway and I couldn't help the fear that gripped me instantly.

He came further into the room with his icy blue eyes pinned sharply on me and stopped in front of the bed just beside the old woman. "Because she's loyal and understands what it means to pay back what she owes, unlike you and your pathetic parents."

My anger intensified. "Do not insult my parents," I snapped, glaring at him.

Luca let out a fake laugh, "oh, I'm so scared," he clutched his chest in mock fear before going back to glaring. "You and your parents insulted me first by coming up with this silly plan of sending you away. And let me tell you something, Princess, the first thing you should know about me is that I always take what I want no matter what."

He came even closer towards me. "Right now I want you as my wife and there's nothing you can do that's going to stop that. I want you and you're going to be mine."

What the hell was wrong with this man? It certainly couldn't be that he loved me and that was why he wanted to marry me, because only psychopaths hurt the people they loved—so why did he so desperately want me as his wife?

"What's it for you?" I questioned him, trying to steady my breathing. The thought that he had been ready to shoot me back then and that he could shoot me even now had my insides shaking with fear. "Why do you want to marry me?"

He laughed dryly. "Isn't it obvious? Your father owes me a large sum of money that I don't ever see him being able to payback, and also let's say I have a thing for women who act stubborn. Now, you need to eat up your fruits because we'll be dining in a few hours with your parents. We don't want you looking all pale and hungry when they get here do we?"

So he'd gotten to Mum and Dad already? At least I had to be grateful that he'd spared their lives.

My frown got even deeper as I stared at his perfectly handsome face and impressive body. Why was it always the handsome ones that had to be crazy?

"You're sick," I said, shaking my head. "Where's Kevin and what did you do to him, tell me?"

He nodded, "Kevin, your lover right?" He chuckled, this time sounding really amused. "It was so romantic, what he did back there for you. It's so sad we had to take care of him."

My heart sunk and tears threatened to fall down my eyes for the hundredth time today. "Did you kill him? I swear to God, Luca if you killed him then I swear that I would—"

"Would do what?" He stared at me pitifully with a jerky smirk on his face. "You're trapped, Scarlett. There's no way out for you, get used to that."

He'd killed Kevin. I tried to accept it, but then my heart refused to believe it. There was no way Kevin was dead because of me. No way, I had to do something— I had to try to do something.

I struggled against the restraints, writhing futilely in a futile attempt to free myself. The bindings only tightened, their grip unyielding, as if mocking my desperate attempts to break free. My heart pounded, its rhythm matching the frantic beat of my thoughts.

The reality of my situation settled upon me like a lead weight. Luca was ruthless, a predator lurking in the shadows, waiting to claim what he believed to be rightfully his. The only thing left for me was to either face the darkness that engulfed me or do something else that seemed like the best option at this moment.

The plan formed quickly in my head and I wasted no time in executing it.

I forced myself to stop crying and made my voice soft as I said, "at least untie me. My wrists hurt and I can't eat anything when I'm in such pain."

He looked at me skeptically and crossed his arms. "Hmm, if this is a plan in your head to run away then I want you to know that you will fail. You're not leaving this house ever again."

I eyed him and rolled my eyes. "Whatever, right now I just want to feel my wrists again, please. And I'm actually kind of hungry too." Luckily my stomach took that moment to grumble and Luca rose an eyebrow.

He sighed. "Fine, you can untie her," he told the old woman who wasted no time in going straight to it. I waited patiently until she freed me of the ropes before I swung into action.

Immediately I was free, I quickly grabbed onto the knife on the tray and held it to my wrist. "Since you've decided to take me forcefully and kill the only man I've ever loved then I'd rather take my life."

Luca's face showed his surprise at my actions at first but then he shook it off and made his expression blank. "You want to take your life? Well then, go ahead. It'll be good riddance to bad rubbish anyway."

I wasn't expecting that reaction from him so I felt a little embarassed that he didn't care, but then I reminded myself of how I needed to do this and held onto the knife tighter.

"No, little girl you can't kill yourself," the old woman said, trying to come towards me but I held the knife out to scare her off.

I made up mind. I had nothing else to live for if I was going to be be his wife and couldn't follow my dreams. Ending my life was the best option right now.

Luca's intense eyes followed me as I rose the knife and aimed it right at my wrist.