Breaking Midnight (Il Paradosso Series Book One)

Chapter fourteen

The next day a padlock was installed on the balcony door, restricting me from going outside.

That in total, added to the rest of my restrictions, which left me with nothing but the four walls of the bedroom and the bathroom to move around in.

And that as well added fuel to my fire, sending me into a downfall of severe depression.

Excellent work, Adriana.

While everyone else was mingling about their lives, I was stuck suffering inside my own head, withdrawing from anything linked to humanity, and therefore, I ceased to exist.

Giada had made her point.
My dreams continued to haunt me, resurfacing certain events from my past that I had fought for years to bury in the depths of my hippocampus.

Those images and incidents had been the cause of many destructive episodes throughout my teenage years.

I refused to eat and was losing weight rapidly. In other words, I was self-mutilating. The days and nights had created a pattern, and I was no longer aware of the time passing. I couldn't identify what day of the week it was or pinpoint the exact date.

I lost complete touch of reality and nothing made sense. I was a walking corpse. It had been weeks since I'd seen the outside world. Or was it a month?

Giada returned from another one of Antonio's "business" trips to Brazil and wasn't thrilled to find me in the current state that I was—sitting in a corner of the room, with my back to the wall.

Oh, how I hated that man and longed for the chance to tell him to his face that our feelings for one another were mutual.

"I hate him with every cell in my body," I told her as she stood in the center of the room, taking in my spiteful appearance. "And you can tell him to go fuck himself."

"Are you sure you want me to pass that message on to him?" She smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"I hope all of his businesses, along with his wealth, get sucked down a well, and he ends up sucking dick for the rest of his life."

She burst out laughing. Her head inclined as she bellowed, clutching her stomach.

"Oh, sweetheart, you're adorable," she said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, but her face turned serious as she knelt down in front of me, speaking directly into my face, "I think he couldn't care less about your feelings for him, princess. He didn't get to where he is by being emotionally invested in the simple things in this world."

I stared at her through my eyelashes, forcing a weak smile that hardly matched my insides.

"Why doesn't he just let me fucking go then, so I can return to my simple fucking life? Why does he even bother to keep me locked in here, if I am of no use to his majesty?"
She laughed again but her cold expression lacked humor.

"Because he's not finished with you yet."

"What exactly more is there to take from me, Giada? I have nothing! Don't you realize or are you all blind, I don't have anything left to be taken from me!"

I felt a wave of heat rush through my body when I stood up and stomped to the bed, my heart beating rapidly. I slumped down on the bed, holding my forehead, trying to get the feeling to go away.
She stood too, crossing her arms to her chest.

"He clearly knows that I can never repay him what he's lost, so what else is there in store for him? I'm up here in his mansion, sleeping in one of his rooms, eating his food,"—well, hardly eating— "and I see no outcome. Is it driving me up the wall? Yes. Am I beginning to lose a partial of my sanity, talking to myself in the mirror from time to time? Yes. But, what is the point of it all? It's not like I had the perfect life to begin with!"