Anna was convinced that she was being held prisoner so that she could be killed at some opportune moment, and she remembered her father. She wanted to say goodbye to him. He was the only person she wanted to see again before she died.
She was lying on the floor, face up and staring at the ceiling, when she heard, after many days, the door opening. She felt so weak from the fruit diet that she didn't have the strength to look at who it might be.
She heard the sound of shoes walking lightly, approaching and stopping near her. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw expensive Italian shoes, very well polished, but she refused to see who they belonged to. Adam? Ryan? Her brother? Would the hand that killed her make a difference?
"Something wrong with the bed?" The familiar icy voice sounded in the silence of the room and Anna had to control herself not to show any emotion. He would feel less inclined to prolong the torture if she didn't seem to mind. He might kill her quickly...
She heard his heavy breathing, and then he moved away. Anna didn't hear the door close, but she could hear him in the bedroom. She knew he was near the bed. Which, she remembered, was nailed to the floor.
"I'm tired and impatient. Come over here and we'll talk. Don't keep me waiting." It was an explicit threat.
Anna was smart enough to be afraid. Who isn't afraid of death when they stand in front of it? She stood up, and he was folding the sleeves of his blue dress shirt, sitting on the bed. Anna stood admiring him. The dress shirt didn't hide his perfect, strong and athletic body. Just as his icy eyes didn't hide the beauty of his face.
"I'm listening. I was already listening lying there, the distance and the ability to hear are the same..."
"Shut up and sit here next to me." He ordered, interrupting her, now sounding even more dangerous.
Anna walked over to the bed and dropped down next to him.
"The will will be read in two hours. I want you to dress discreetly." He said and looked at the black dress she was wearing and Anna didn't know what that look meant, because she had never seen it on anyone else.
Anna didn't know what to say or do. She was afraid that any movement, any word, would awaken the monster inside that man. But there was exciting news. She would soon be released from that prison.
"You're going to sign a document, in front of everyone, giving up anything he's left you, do you understand me?"
"Yes... Yes, sir." She said it to mock his authority, but not wanting to show it, she kept her face serious.
"Even if it is a fork. You're not getting anything at all!"
"I understand."
"As soon as the executor has finished, you will stand up and speak of your desire to donate your share of the inheritance to me of your own free will."
"I understand... Sir." She said, holding back her urge to salute.
"And from that evening onwards, you'll receive my visits here and those of my cousin. I've discussed this with you before. You will allow him to court you. You'll make him believe that you're madly in love with him, and if you do everything right, after our wedding, I'll give him a million dollars to make you disappear into the world."
"What about my father?" Anna asked sadly.
"You can invite him to go with you."
"Why do I have to marry you?"
"I need to convince my cousin that you've really fallen in love with me and... I want to stop listening to women creating expectations of me because I'm single. By showing the world that I'm married, I'll finally have peace."
"We're already married. What you want seems redundant."
"It doesn't matter what it sounds like. Humans need these rituals to accept no and feel justified. A married man in church is sacred."
"For some... There are women who, for a price, don't care whether you're married or single."
Adam looked at her sideways.
"I don't pay."
Anna laughed and Adam was surprised, even if he hadn't meant to be.
"What's funny?" He wanted to know.
"It's nothing... I imagine that prostitutes take pity on you for not knowing where to put your penis, and that's why they don't charge you anything."
"In the not too distant future, I'm going to put my penis in every hole in your body until I get it right." He said in a sharp, threatening voice.
"And are you going to do that before or after you give me back my freedom?" She asked and, faced with his silence, she continued. "You're offering me a million dollars and my freedom for a fork? Isn't that very strange?"
He remained silent.
"I've discovered something important about you..."
"What?"
"I knew your mother and father and I still didn't know who you'd inherited that huge nose from... Do you keep in touch with Pinocchio? He must be proud of you. I'm sure you've exceeded his expectations."
"My nose is big..."
"The biggest nose in the world."
"Maybe I'll put it inside you while I watch life fade from your eyes. I'll cut out your tongue first, of course."
"You had plenty of time to masturbate while planning this, I suppose."
"I think your attempts to hurt my manhood are actually a curiosity of yours. You want to know how I feel pleasure, Anna, and I'm sure all it would take is one look from me and you'd be jumping up and down on my cock. But you're right about one thing. My penis twitches every time I think of the ways I planned to kill you."
"You're not a very good liar."
"I don't need to lie."
"Yes. You do. How else would you convince me to declare in front of everyone that I'm donating my inheritance to you?"
"Yes. Lying was a kindness you don't deserve. I can start breaking every bone in your body now, and make no mistake. You'll be screaming for mercy before I finish doing it to the first of your bones."