CHAPTER FORTY TWO

Lia woke up with a throbbing headache. She jolted up only making the pain worse than it already was.
Leo rushed over to her side once he noticed her little movements. He handed over a glass of water and some pills for her to take, which she gladly accepted.
"Thank you," Lia said and swallowed the pills before drinking out of the glass.
"What time is it?" Lia asked.
"It's noon" Lia was taken back by his reply.
How could you have overslept Lia and now you are late for work. If the leader wasn't on suspension you would never hear the end of it. Lia mentally scolded herself.
She rushed out of the bed without thinking, Her body felt too heavy for her to carry making her fall, but luckily Leo was there to hold her.
He put her to sit on the bed.
"Stay in bed, you are still recovering," Leo said.
"Recovering?" Lia tilted her head to the side asking Leo what he was talking about.
Leo gave her a blank look.
The memories from the previous day suddenly came rushing back to her head.
I must have fallen sick, Lia thought.
She then remembered the woman who had put all her faith in her. Lia instantly felt bad. That woman had probably already lost her job and it was Lia's fault.
Lia hung her head low and fidgeted with her fingers from the guilt that was eating her up.
Leo put his fingers under her chin and lifted her head.
"I will find out the person, who Locked you inside that room and make sure they pay for their actions" Leo assured Lia, however, she looked at him with confusion evident on her face.
"Locked me in? The door was probably just stuck" Lia said.
"It was locked with the key. The temperature on the thermostat was also lowered. There is no denying that it was a person who wanted to hurt you, and in return, I will hurt them back"
Lia finally registered what Leo was trying to say although it was very clear.
Either the woman was oblivious of the conspiracy or she set Lia up, but why? Lia wondered. She had just met the woman that day and had no issues with her.
"Don't worry about it Leo, I will handle it my..." Lia paused.
She had just remembered when Leo took her clothes off and bathed her. Her heart began to pound violently against her chest.
Her face turned red from embarrassment. Leo wondered what had happened so suddenly and decided to ask.
"Is something wrong?"
"No," Lia said and turned away from him.
"Is the room too cold?" He asked to which she only just shook her head.
"Are you thir..."
"Just leave me alone" Lia suddenly yelled.
"Please" she added and turned to face Leo.
Leo had a sad glint in his eyes, it made Lia instantly regret why she yelled at him.
Leo left the room with a bang on the door. That action only made Lia feel worse.
After a while, Lia felt a little better and got up to get ready for the remaining half of the day.
She began her painful and slow journey down the stairs. The closer she got the more the sound of ruffling and footsteps invaded her ears. She wondered what all the ruckus was about.
The first thing she noticed was a bunch of luggage, then she saw buff and hefty men bringing in some heavy-looking furniture.
Cynthia must have arrived, Lia thought.
And she was right,
"The princess has finally decided to wake up"
***
"Mabel" the man called as his eyes wandered everywhere in the room, but couldn't find her.
"Come out now, don't make me angry" The man's tone was rough, the kind that Mabel hated.
She came out from the corner where she hid.
"Look at you, you are so skinny. It's disgusting, come here and eat I brought you some food." The man said as he showed her a plate.
Without hesitating, she went to meet him and took the plate from his hand. She observed the contents and saw that it was just leftovers from a variety of dishes.
Some parts of it were already rotting.
"Eat," The man said and gave her a loving smile.
With shaky hands, Mabel took a full spoon of the content of the plate and put it in her mouth. It tasted horrible.
"Good right, it took me three days to gather that just so you can eat," The man said as if he was expecting some praises from Mabel.
Mabel could hardly swallow it and gagged.
"Don't you dare, you have to eat it like the dog that you are" The man said again.
Mabel let out a silent sob.
"Don't cry damnit" The man said angrily and hit Mabel causing her to fall with the food scattering all over the place.
She felt a warm liquid running down her cheek.
"That stupid wound still hasn't healed yet?" The man glared at her.
" Fucking speak, or are you mute now?"
Mabel shook her head.
" I want you to eat everything on the floor before I get back, if not you wouldn't get to see another meal in two days. Do I make myself clear?"
" Why?" Mabel chocked out.
" What was that?" The man asked.
" Why do you treat me this way?" Mabel asked with a shaky voice.
"Do you really want to know why?" Mabel nodded.
"It's because you are useless Mabel, you don't even deserve to be breathing right now. You should be grateful I haven't killed you yet"
" Why don't you just kill me then? I have no reason to live anymore"
"I should, but I won't. You might come in handy soon, I wouldn't want to kill you when you haven't served a purpose yet"
The man paused and added...
"Who knows maybe when you have done something good for me, in return I would give you a painless death. That is if you make it alive"
***...***
Hello,
Thank you to everyone who is reading my book. I love you all.
I want to know who you guys think Mabel's kidnapper is, please comment below.