Gabriele’s POV
“Hello Arianna,” Basilio greeted as he sat by her side.
She mumbled something that sounded like a reply but never looked at him.
Basilio looked at me for help but my eyes remained on her.
She seemed lost in thought as she sat there staring into nothingness.
I signaled to Basilio to let her be and he did.
The maids soon brought in the food and we began eating. But I noticed as Arianna barely touched her plate. She turned the food around for a couple of seconds before resuming her distant stare again.
“Arianna!” I growled and she turned her glassy eyes to meet mine.
“Huh?” She asked, seeming shocked to hear her name.
“How was work today?” I asked, trying to force a conversation out of her.
I hated the way my heart squeezed and twisted because of her condition.
Her sadness was hitting me too hard and it made me restless as I felt unable to help her.
“Fine…” She trailed and then cleared her throat and forced a smile. “It was fine. Jane should call with good news,” She said.
“That’s really good. It means you are doing a great job out there!” Basilio exclaimed and she gave him a small smile in return.
But I could see through all of it. The smile didn’t reach her eyes. What she had seen was hurting her more than she chose to show on the surface.
She resumed turning her food over with her fork and I saw a drop of tears escape her right eye and she quickly wiped it with her index finger.
Her throat bobbed up and down as she fought back her tears.
The food in my mouth suddenly felt bitter and I lost my appetite. I couldn’t watch her breakdown like this.
Suddenly, before I could do anything she got up and sniffled.
“I am sorry. I need to go to my room,” she said in a broken voice.
Before either Basilio or I could respond, she ran up the stairs and disappeared on the upper floor, probably heading to her room.
Basilio made to stand but I stopped him.
“She needs to cry. Let her be,” I said firmly.
Basilio reluctantly sat back and I noticed that even he had lost his appetite as well. I tried to shove down as much as I could and then pushed the plate away.
I clapped my hands softly and a maid scurried to my side.
“Pack some food for me on a tray and bring it over,” I said to her.
“Yes sir.”
The maid scurried back the way she came and I wiped my mouth clean. I took a long gulp of my juice and cleared my head.
Arianna couldn’t be left in this state for long. As much as I hated to admit it. It was affecting me too much.
The maid returned soon after with a covered plate on a tray with a glass, and a bottle of water.
“Here it is sir,” she said.
“Good.” I got off the chair and took the tray from her but she held back.
“Let me carry it for you, sir,” she said.
“That won’t be necessary. Bring it over,” I said and took it from her.
With the tray in my hands, I went up the stairs to Arianna’s room. I had given her enough time to cry. She needed to eat and get back on her feet.
Without knocking I stepped into the room and ignored the knot that formed in my stomach as I found her curled up on the bed.
She raised her head from the pillow as she heard the door open but as her wet eyes met mine, she dropped her head back.
“Go away Gabriele,” she cried.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and gently placed the tray in my hands on the bedside table by her right.
Then I sat on the bed and leaned against the bed rest.
Her small sniffles still escaped the pillows and filled up the room with a melancholic rhythm.
I sat there and just listened. She needed to let them all out as much as she could and then forget all about it.
I know it was hard to do but she had to try.
After a while, she raised her head and saw that I was still there watching her.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I whispered.
“What do you possibly know about the way I feel?” She spat out in a shaky voice.
Her words hit me hard in my chest but I let it pass. She didn’t know what I had gone through, and that was why she spoke that way. It wasn’t her fault.
“Have you ever been sold? By your own parents?!” She tried to sound firm but her voice cracked in the end turning into fierce sobs.
“I spent days… Searching and planning… On how I was going to punish who had done this to me…”
“I even swore that my parents… That my parents will turn the earth inside out just to find me… And now, I find out that they were the ones who sold me! Do you know how that feels?!”
She raised herself away from the pillows and sat up.
“You know…” she began wiping away her tears –a futile act because they filled back up again.
“… I was drawing up a villain. An evil person that I could slap with my hands and laugh as my parents took them to court to spend the rest of their miserable lives in prison for selling their only child to a Mafia king!”
She let out a shaky laugh and pulled her hair away from her face.
“Look who’s laughing now?”
She wiped her face with the back of her hand and looked into my face.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She whimpered.
For the first time, I found it hard to stare at her. But I knew I couldn’t avoid this.
I have known who sold her to Stephano from the very first night she denied me her beautiful body. I was intrigued by her and I wanted to know the kind of person she was and where she came from.
That was how I found out.
“Why didn’t you tell me that my parents did this to me?” She repeated as the tears resumed rolling down her cheeks again.
“I know that I might have not changed anything but…” She sniffled and tried to stop her tears again. “… at least I would have been prepared for this… It hurts Gabriele… It hurts…”
I didn’t know what to do or say, so I did the first thing that my mind brought up. I hugged her.
I pulled her into my arms and held on tight offering her all the comfort my mouth couldn’t say.
Her sobs vibrated against my chest as she held onto my shirt and cried hard.
I let my fingers draw patterns on her hair and back as I hushed her to stop crying.
We stayed this way till she became quiet again.
“You have been crying for a long time now, you need to eat,” I said, pulling her gently away from my chest.
“I am not hungry,” she mumbled.
I held her face and raised her jaw so that I could look straight into her eyes.
“I know, but your body needs it or you’ll fall sick by morning.”
“I don’t care…” She retorted.
“But I do. I know it hurts but your life is more important to me…” I whispered.
I pulled her closer so she was partly sitting on me. I brought the tray to the bed and opened the cover.
It was baked rice and shredded chicken.
I picked up the spoon and scooped some of it and brought it to her lips.
“You need to eat,” I whispered.
She hesitated for a second as if contemplating if I was going to take the spoon away from her mouth or truly feed her.
She wrapped her lips around the spoon and I smiled.
“You might think I have always been in control of my life,” I said as I fed her.
“But it wasn’t always like this. My uhm… My father isn’t exactly the best of parents…”
She chewed the food and listened attentively to me with eyes that could melt a stony heart into puddles.
“The bottom line is, I knew how badly it would hurt you to find out that your parents did this to you. That’s why I didn’t say anything and trust me, I didn’t want you to find out.”
Speaking about my father was always a very sensitive topic. I had to shorten the whole tale and focus on her.
“Because I didn’t want to see you hurt…” I wiped the corners of her lips clean and went on to give her water from the glass.
“You are a very strong woman. Don’t let your parent’s cruelty change that. I can’t promise you freedom but be certain that one day, you will meet them… The best weapon you can use against them is your confidence.”
“They thought they could break you, prove to them that you can’t be broken. When that day comes and they see you, let their regret be too painful for them to even dream of asking for forgiveness…”
“Be strong Arianna…”