VALERIA'S POV
I woke up, and again, not to my surprise ,I was half naked, but the door wasn't locked.
My body ached, and I felt so sore.
"Am I getting a fever?" I questioned myself checking my temperature.
I stretched and got down the bed. After a good bath, I wore comfortable clothes and walked down.
No one was there. Where did everyone go? The castle echoed with my steps. "Where did everyone go? It's just 10 a.m. and not even a single human is here?"
"Sofia? Elliot? Lorenzo? Mario?" I called them out. But I got no response in return. I was walking ,trying to find all these missing humans, and stopped as I found a letter on the floor. I picked it up, and it was written:
Pick up the gun kept in front and kill the person in front of you.
Enzo.
My body got numb, and i felt empty on reading the name 'Enzo'. Unwillingly, my brain forced me to pick up the gun, and it signaled me that 'if you don't follow as he commands you will be tortured'
A man came in front of me. I point my gun on his face. He was 1m away from me. I was shaking. I didn't want to shoot him, but I did. I shoot his right leg.
He fell on the floor and hissed in pain. Tears roll down my eyes. "I did it, Enzo..I did just like you commanded." The gun fell down from my hand.
"Those commands were from me."
I turned as I recognized the owner of the voice, and it was Elliot.
He walked towards me, burning into flames.I could feel his agony, and his aura burned with anger. He stopped at some distance from me.
"You?"
"Yes. Me"
"Ho..w do..you...know...about Enzo?"
"Yesterday."
"What happened yesterday?"
"Drop that innocent act of yours,"
"I don't understand what you are saying,"
"Well then, I guess I have to make you remember! You thought you were alone in the room yesterday, but you are wrong. I was there hiding inside the wardrobe just to see what you do behind the locked door. Everything was fine till 12 am. But then?" His gaze darkened, voice deepened, and he clenched his fist.
"A man barked into the room and locked the door, and surprisingly, YOU followed every command that he gave you. To know more about him, I did this."
"Enzo... was in my room? That's not possible... he's in jail.."
"You don't believe me?"
I dont know what to believe and what to not because I don't remember any single thing from last night.
"Who is Enzo?"
"No..one..."
"WHO.IS.ENZO?"
I cried loudly as he shouted at me. He pulled out his gun and pointed at me. "My wife is cheating on me with another man. If you loved someone else, then why did you agree to marry me, VALERIA?"
"I don't love him, Elliot...." Tears kept falling my cheeks. I sobbed harder.
"THEN? THEN WHAT WAS HE DOING IN YOUR ROOM?"
"I... don't...remember anything..."
"I will kill you...and your fucking lover... you dont have the right to live with me"
"Shoot me!!!"
He looked surprised but he pretended not to.
"SHOOT ME ELLIOT PLEASE. I BEG YOU TO KILL ME. YOU ARE RIGHT. I DONT HAVE THE RIGHT TO LIVE. IT'S A HELL IF ENZO IS BACK."
He shooted. I held onto my dress tightly, ready to feel the immense pain, but I heard a man groan. I opened my eyes and heard a noise of someone falling on the floor.
I turned and saw that the man behind me lied dead.
"If I had to kill you, then I could have done it yesterday itself, vale. But I didn't"
I turn facing Elliot. He walked towards me, pulling me closer to him. He caressed my face softly. His face softened, and his voice calmed.
"Yesterday I did feel like choking you to death, you know. But there was an upset and forceful expression on your face,it felt like you were being forced to do as he said you. You were being controlled by him. You never liked it, but you had no choice." His voice softened.
"Yesterday night, the girl who was with Enzo was not you. It can't be. You never let anyone force you, or you never gave anyone the right to control you, but in front of him, you were different. Totally. It wasn't you. Tell me, Vale, tell me who he is? I will not hurt you. I can never. Instead, if you are in trouble, I can protect you."
I felt so safe in his arms. His words blessed my ears. Elliot do love me a lot, but I don't deserve his love. I am not worthy for anything that belongs to him. But right now? I wanted it, I wanted to share everything with him, and I did too, unknowingly.
"He...is...my...ma..ster"
"What?"
"I am nothing but a puppet for him. I do what he commands me to do. In front of him, I am empty...my brain stops working and only signals me to follow his commands. I am caged." Tears rolled down as I cluchted onto his sleeves. My heart got so heavy as the words left my mouth.
"How did this happen?"
I was scared to tell him everything. What if Enzo is present here? He will kill me when he will know I said everything to Elliot.
"Dont be afraid."
I looked at him,his eyes said he would really protect me. I want to believe him for once,I don't care about the consequences. I wanted to sink deeply inside his deep magical eyes, get lost in his soothing words, and stay in his strong muscular arms forever.
"10 years ago, I lost my parents. It was like a trauma.I acted to be okay, but it killed me slowly. For the next three years, I pretended to be okay when I died silently in my room everynight. I used to get anxiety attacks, and i got insomnia, too. Everything was so difficult for me."I cried as he slowly rubbed his thumb on my cheeks.
"I searched online for a psychiatrist so I could counsel. There I met Enzo..he was helping me to heal better ...i was even..getting better...but he....got obsessed with me....and then kidnapped me.....he kept me as his hostage for 6 years....he kept me so far away that not even Kallix got any trace about me...he got detached from the internet....I.. I.. he"
I sobbed so hard as my body ached "tortured me brutally...he gave me drugs, so I...could get controlled by him..and...just like he...wanted I got controlled by him...After 6 years later one day he got online and luckily Kallix traced me,i dont know when Kallix brought me home. I was senseless, but when I got concise, Kallix informed me that he was sentenced to jail for 24 years..."
" I was under treatment. Dr. Patrick said I needed a change in the environment, so Kallix sent me Australia. I studied over there for 5 years and used to get treated by Dr. Patrick via online, and sometimes she used to visit me in Australia. My health improved day by day, and I returned back to Italy....then I got married to you." I sobbed.
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
" I could never imagine he would return. I thought his chapter was closed... I wanted to forget it, and I was successful too, but I guess I am not that lucky...."
"I will kill him..for everything he did to you I will fucking ruin him and make his life a hell. I will get you justice." His grip tightened on my waist as his eyes burned in flames.
I chuckled in pain "you cannot. He tricked death twice, "
"He won't be able to do it this time,"
I wish he died, but I guess not even heaven could kill him.
ELLIOT'S POV
My heart ached and turned heavy like stone with every single word of her, and I could feel all the pain she had gone through. I could never imagine that behind the DIVINE VIOLENCE woman I married laid a brutal story.
"He won't be able to do it this time," I said, assuring her. I got no response. I looked at her and saw she fainted.
I carried her to our room and placed her on bed. I took a deep look at her wrist. They had marks of handcuffs and chains like she had been wearing those for a long time. I removed her hair from her neck and saw marks and bruises.
I gently touched them, and she ached... I clenched my fist angrily. "I promise. I will make him go through the same pain he gave you and make it even worse."
Behind every strong person, there is an untold story which they don't read out loud.
Everyone has secrets.