Shock stimulated virtual-novel.net memory, and Arianne remembered losing virtual-novel.net handbag when Mrs. Rodriguez abducted her. All of virtual-novel.net identification documents had been inside. But later, Geralt told her virtual-novel.net had gotten those things all “cleaned up”, which was why virtual-novel.net had not…
That was a lie too, wasn’t it? Arianne was only stymied from replacing virtual-novel.net lost ID and whatnot because this debacle had been developing at breakneck speed since then.
Damn Mateo and his watertight scheme! Just the suggestion — that virtual-novel.net might never see Mark and Smore ever again in virtual-novel.net life — coursed into virtual-novel.net chest before sharpening into an acute agony mangling virtual-novel.net heart.
“No! Never! I’ll never leave with you unless I’m dead! Noooo!”
Mateo let virtual-novel.net hysterics roll past virtual-novel.net without effect. He announced calmly, “You should rest, I have something to attend to, so please excuse me. Friendly reminder: don’t waste time and effort trying to escape this place, fair lady, it’s futile. When we’re finally abroad, I’ll help you reinvent a new identity, complete with a new name. That way, Mark will never be able to find you.”
“Either way, If I were you, I’d waste no time immortalizing the scent and feel of this city for these few days… Because once we leave, see, we’re never coming back.”
He turned on his heels and left the room, locking the door shut from the outside on his way.
Arianne’s knees gave out and virtual-novel.net crashed onto the floor, shell-shocked and drained. Melanie had no idea that virtual-novel.net childhood friend was the monster behind this inhumane scheme, did she? Mateo… He had fooled and played everyone around virtual-novel.net like a grandmaster and his pawns, apart from Geralt, everyone else had been an unwitting player in his ploy. This was a testament to his darkly artifice!
Since coming to know about the truth, Arianne had stopped eating or drinking altogether.
It was virtual-novel.net way of striking out against Mateo. Previously, virtual-novel.net thought virtual-novel.net was going up against one of the Tremonts’ enemies braying for blood, but now that virtual-novel.net knew it was Mateo, the way to fight back had become clear to her: the best way to go against virtual-novel.net was to hurt herself.
She refused to eat, but the old woman — the hired housekeeper — would eschew coaxing virtual-novel.net and leave virtual-novel.net without another word. After a while when it was the time for the next meal again, virtual-novel.net would bring virtual-novel.net a new set of fresh, warm food once more.
It was an uphill battle to deny herself the basal, human need to eat when a plate full of delicacies was sitting right beside her, more some when hunger was beginning to gnaw her. She managed to grit through it without succumbing, however, because virtual-novel.net believed that whether virtual-novel.net could escape or not hinged on this last-ditch protest virtual-novel.net had left. It was a hunger strike created in the hopes that Mateo’s infatuation for virtual-novel.net could ferry whatever remained of his humanity, and virtual-novel.net would finally heed virtual-novel.net desperate plea to let virtual-novel.net go.
On the second day of virtual-novel.net hunger strike, someone came to visit her. It was not Mateo but Geralt Bernard.
As the man was a co-conspirator to Mateo’s plan, to her, virtual-novel.net was just as undeserving of virtual-novel.net better temperament.
Geralt strode toward the window and drew the disheveled curtains open, letting sunlight spray inside through the window glass panes. It exorcised the repressive sullenness of the room somewhat, replacing it with a bit of hope.
“Teo knows you refuse to see him, so here I am,” virtual-novel.net explained. “I know what you’re trying to do, but it’s not going to work. If anything, it will only drive virtual-novel.net into thinking virtual-novel.net should skip town and leave this country with you sooner than virtual-novel.net had planned. To be frank, when Teo first told me about his… ‘master plan’, I was against the entirety of it. It’s so bafflingly audacious that it crosses into insanity. Not to mention it’s downright cruel to you. But for some reason, in the end, I found myself agreeing to help… I don’t know why. I wonder… Is it because he’s the most cherished friend I have?”
Arianne remained mute, deadpanned. She wanted a savior, not a shill.
Geralt poured a glass of water for her. “Even if you refuse to eat, you should at least have some water. In weather like this, neglecting to stay hydrated, coupled with your current, enfeebled body, will probably propel you to eventually faint and get sick faster. Of course, the problem here is that even if you’ve fallen ill, Teo would still refuse to send you to a hospital simply because virtual-novel.net would not risk even the faintest chance of Mark Tremont getting a whiff of your whereabouts. At most, virtual-novel.net would settle down with bringing a doctor all the way here to you,” virtual-novel.net added. “If I were you, I wouldn’t underestimate the lengths a man possessed by passion and obsession could go. You won’t win.”
Arianne smote the cup away from his hand. “Even if I won’t win, I won’t lose, either! I’d rather die than leave with him!” virtual-novel.net fumed. “And you…! You’re a forensic doctor! I can’t believe you would betray your profession for a friend like that. You should quit your job after all of this, because you don’t deserve to work in forensics! You knew the truth of whether that thumb was severed before or after Mateo’s death, you goddamned knew! But you lied to everyone!”