" If she doesn't have a meal with me then she doesn't eat at all." Jerome said with his eyes still fixed on the screen, not even bothering to the maid in his room. " And I don't want you anyway near Andrea, she's smarter than she looks. I don't trust the way that girl was trying to befriend you, I don't want to catch you being close to her."
Rosa sniffed at Jerome's words, it startled the fuck out of her. She knew that her boss could be wicked and cruel but starving a nice woman such as Andrea? Wasn't that just being evil, even for Jerome. She blinked once, trying to maintain her composure and quickly nodded her head.
" yes, sir." She bowed and left the room.
Jerome remained on his chair, staring at the screen. Observing Andrea. Trying to learn what made the girl tick, what could make her fall to her knees. Anticipating her next move because despite everything he had done to her, despite looking like the Victor in this case, he still felt like the was still work to be done on her. To fix her attitude and perhaps that mouth of hers. To break her. But there was no need to rush, the process was best done slowly that way it would be more impactful.
Andrea being the extremely prideful woman she was wouldn't accept defeat easily, he knew that well, and it left him no choice but to teach her the act of submission. Forcefully.
She would learn very soon that her strong headed nature wouldn't get her anywhere, not with him at least. She would learn very soon that a man like Jerome Montenegro always got what he wanted, either by hook or by crook. He would still get it. He wasn't a man she could fight against, well not with an empty stomach at least.
Back at Andrea's room, laying face up on her bed and staring at the ceiling then occasionally the clock. No one entered the room after Rosa left and Andrea had no choice but to watched the seconds turn to minutes and minutes to hours until it was past eight that night. She hadn't eaten all day and no food was served to her.
Hungry. Sad. Angry. Andrea knew that it was all Jerome's doing, his plan to torture her for no good reason. Perhaps this was one of the punishments he was talking about. Either way, she didn't care. She didn't care about anything Jerome would to do to her because there was nothing worse he could do anymore. He had done serious damage already. Kidnapping her, shooting her father and taking her to only God knew where to rust without any food to eat. If that wasn't enough for him then he was welcome to do more, it would only prove how much of an evil soul he was. But despite her strong resolve not to crack, she still felt like there was no hope for her anymore. There was even a little voice in the back of her head telling her to just give it up, that no matter how much she fought, no matter how hard she struggled to keep herself together she would still fail in the end.
So why even fight in the first place?
No! She had to fight. She couldn't let Jerome win, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her on her knees. Andrea wanted to stay strong, not just for herself but for her father as well. For her siblings. They needed her to survive this, to fight on.
To teach that bastard a lesson for messing with her family.
Jerome Montenegro, the man who tortured innocent people for his own selfish gain. Andrea had done literally nothing to him but he seemed to have it out for her. All she wanted was to come home and be closer to her family but here she was, stuck in an unknown island in Italy.
The situation was a little funny though. Italy had always been Andrea favorite country on the map and if someone a few weeks ago had told her that she would be taken to Italy for free, she would have been happy. Excited even. But the things that were happening to her now weren't quite what she planned for herself. All her dreams of happiness were ruined and it was all because of Jerome.
That monster!
Andrea managed to fall asleep that night but the next day she woke up with a severe headache and both her eyes hurt, her stomach did too. Probably because she hadn't eaten anything in over twenty-nine hours.
Feeling drained of energy, Andrea stayed in bed to conserve her strength. She would need it if she wanted to fight Jerome head on but despite him being twice her size and seeming much more cunning than she ever was, Andrea still thought she had a shot at beating him at his own game.
The idea of her defeating Jerome sounded more stupid than it did delusional because it was silly and totally unrealistic. A total waste of time.
Just like the day before, All Andrea did was watch the clock tick, seeing the time pass but this time the hands of the clock seemed to move slower with every second that went by feeling like centuries. Her most prominent problem now was hunger, not eating for over a day had made her stomach a little sore. Staying hungry was something she wasn't really used to doing as she had always been a pampered child and the lack of experience with the feeling only made things worse.
Sleeping wasn't an option anymore because the hunger she felt wouldn't even let her. Staying awake but weak all day, Andrea somehow managed to get through two days without eating and it was all thanks to the jug of water that was on her nightstand. At least Jerome forgot to take that away from her too but what she didn't know was that a man like Jerome never forgets anything. He took account of everything and intentionally left her the water so she would survive the harsh punishment she had brought upon herself.
Waking up the next day, Andrea was fed up with staring at the walls of the room, tired of all this madness from Jerome. She was exhausted, angry and not to forget starved. Andrea had finished the jug of water and didn't think she was going to make it at this rate.
She would die and Jerome would smirk at her corpse.
No! Andrea wouldn't let that happen, dying wasn't an option. Not in Jerome's house at least. It would meant Jerome was successful in his sick conquest and she wouldn't let him have the last laugh. She needed to beat him and for that to happen she needed energy. She needed food.
How was she going to fight the Jerome's cruelty without strength?
Andrea knew what she had to do, she needed to cave. To bow her head just this once, for the greater good. For her survival here. She decided to have a meal with the devil himself and what better time then in the morning for breakfast then after this she would make him regret ever being born. With that thought, she got off the bed and walked feebly to the door. She pulled the door knob and was a little surprised to find out the door was open all along. It was like Jerome was sure she wouldn't try to escape or knew that she couldn't.
But if that was the case then why did he warn her about escaping in the first place if he knew she couldn't even though she tried? What kind of mind games was he playing with her?
At this point she really didn't give a fuck about what that sicko had in mind, all she wanted was food.
And since Andrea didn't know her way around the house, she found herself wandering around the halls like a lost soul. She tried finding the kitchen but instead got lost in the unnecessarily large mansion that was more than big enough to fit a hundred people.
' Jerome was this rich but he still wanted to collect her father's house so badly.' Andrea said to herself as she kept walking through the hallway that didn't seem to wanna end. This was why she loved her house so much, at least there she never got lost like this.
Just as Andrea was about to give up hope of finding the kitchen, she heard footsteps approaching her and quickly rushed to where it was coming from. As she closed in on the source of the sound and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Rosa walking towards her. Andrea quickened her pace and once she got to Rosa, she threw her arms around her.
" I missed you so much. Why didn't you come to see me? I thought we were starting to become friends, why did you abandon me in that room alone?" Andrea asked, embracing Rosa tightly. Although befriending Rosa was just part of a plan to bust out of that joint, but Andrea started seeing Rosa as a real friend and not just a future ally. Rosa was the only one Andrea had close enough to a friend in that place and without her, Andrea felt alone.
Taking a deep breath, Rosa gently unwrapped Andrea's hands from her body and took a few steps back, causing Andrea to stare at her in confusion.
" Rosa" Andrea called out with a weak voice, stretching her arms to touch Rosa but she just kept moving away from her reach. Andrea stared at the space Rosa had created between them, like a person avoiding a plague. Andrea stared at Rosa who's eyes were fixed on the floor, not daring to look into Andrea's.
Feeling heartbroken, Andrea blinked away the tears that gathered that the corners of her eyes.
" Jerome told you to do this, didn't he? To avoid me?" Andrea asked and when Rosa didn't answer, she already knew what the answer was " I thought as much." Andrea said and walked away, back to her room. She slammed the door shut and fell on her bed, sobbing.
Jerome just had a way of taking everything away from her.