War of A Rose

War of a Rose • Chapter 48

Chapter Forty-eight
Rosaelia

I felt the bile rising in my throat as Domenico shoved me into the small, windowless room. The stench of mold and mildew filled my nostrils, making me gag. I turned to face my father, my eyes blazing with anger and fear.

"You can't keep me here," I spat at him, trying to sound brave. "Alessio will find me, and when he does, you'll pay for this."

He just laughed, a cold, cruel sound that made my skin crawl. "Oh, my dear Rosaelia," he said, his eyes gleaming with malice. "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into. You and I both know that he's not coming for you. He doesn't want you."

My heart ached at his words. He was right. Alessio was not coming for me.

"Welcome home, Rosaelia," he sneered before slamming the door shut. The sound of the lock clicking into place echoed through the room, sending shivers down my spine.

I looked around, feeling the hopelessness and despair settle in. There was no escape, no way out of this nightmare. My father had won, and I was trapped.

I barely had time to process my situation when my father returned, dragging an older woman behind him. I recognized her immediately as one of the associates of the family I had insulted and screwed over. The woman greeted me cruelly, her voice dripping with venom.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is. The little princess who thought she could take everything from me," she spat.

My heart sank as I realized what was about to happen. I had taken all of the woman's girls, the ones she had been prostituting for years. I had bought them out, setting them free, and leaving her without any means of income. And now, she was here to make me pay for it.

It had been years since I did it, but it didn't matter.

"You took everything from me, so I'll have to make do with you," she sneered before turning to my father. "What do you want me to do with her?"

Domenico smirked. "She's all yours. Do whatever you want."

And with that, my fate was sealed. I was left alone with this woman, my enemy, my punishment. The tears streamed down my face as I realized that there was no escape, no way out of this nightmare. I was going to die here, alone and unloved, with no one to save me.

My heart broke as I realized that I had brought this upon myself, that my own selfishness and greed had led me to this dark, hopeless place.

I backed into the wall as she stepped closer to me, her heels clicking against the cold floor. Before I could do anything, her hand shot out, and at first I thought she was going to slap me. She didn't. I saw the needle right before she embedded it into the side of my arm. I cried out in pain, clutching the spot, cursing her.

She only smiled sickly as I glared through clenched teeth. I made a move to step towards her, to fight back, but I couldn't. My legs wouldn't move. It was like they were stuck, glued to the spot. This time when her arm shot out, she did hit me. So hard that it sent my head back into the wall. The weight of my body was too much. I fell to the floor with a thud.

And the last thing I saw before my eyes involuntarily shut was her as she crouched down to look at me. Her ugly yellowed teeth were all I saw as she grinned at me.

When I woke again, she was still there. Only she was across the room, leaning against the wall, still watching me. My head pounded as I tried to lift myself off the ground. I managed to pull myself up into a sitting position but that was as far as I could go. It was too painful to move.

I scanned the room to see if anything had changed since I was asleep. My tongue caught in my throat as I looked at the mattress in the middle of the room. I looked back to her as she made her way to the door.