Determination

Tiana was locked in the basement for eight days;

Nobody cared if she was pressed and needed to use the toilet; not to talk of the fact that she had not had a bath for over a week, and with the lack of ventilation in the room; Tiana stank like gutters.

Every morning she would resume banging on the door. She knocked for hours until she was tired. This continued for three days, and suddenly she stopped.

Everyone in the mansion was surprised when they heard nothing in the early hours of the morning on the fourth day. If not for the guards who had confirmed her alive when they went to give her breakfast, they would have thought she had committed suicide.

She did not hit on the door anymore, neither did she make a sound; just eating when served until the eighth day.

Ma Lee came to the room as usual and ordered her out, but she did not budge; she remained in her spot, head in between her legs and in a scrunched up position.

When Ma Lee saw that she would not move, she ordered the guards to drag her out; but just when they were about to touch her, Tiana stood up on her own accord and limped out of the darkroom.

She didn't talk to any of them and just kept hobbling forward, dragging her weak legs on the tiled floor. Ma Lee and the guards followed behind quietly; on getting to her room, she entered and locked the door after her; leaving Ma Lee and the guards at the door, speechless.

Ma Lee banged on the door, but Tiana did not answer, she was about breaking the door, and on second thought, she decided to tell Nicklaus.

The days Nicklaus had her locked in; he had not been himself. He hated himself for thinking about her; he couldn't explain what exactly was wrong with him. Every day he left for work, he waited for her usual banging on the door, and when suddenly she stopped knocking; he became worried.

He waited the next day and when he didn't hear the knocks; he called Ma Lee and asked if she was still alive, and when Ma Lee replied in the positive, he was relieved a little but he did well not to show it.

''Is there anything else, Mr. Nicklaus? ''

Ma Lee asked as she saw that Nicklaus was not saying anything;

Nicklaus wanted to let her go badly; He was not one who felt pity or showed mercy. Why was he different from her?

What was about her that made him so restrained? Was it because he had taken her to meet his family?

Thinking about it, he remembered that his family had seen her, and if he replaces her so suddenly, it would seem very fishy.

Nicklaus felt relieved at that thought. Now he knew why he was so reluctant to replace her; it was because he had shown her to his family and replacing her so soon would be very suspicious.

He immediately shook his head;

''No, nothing else, you may leave now. ''

He ordered and Ma Lee bowed and left the room.

He let her stay in there for another three days before he finally ordered her release.

It was Sunday, he normally paints on Sundays. He was in his studio painting when he heard a knock on the door;

He just ordered Tiana to be released, after which she should be brought to see him; and thinking she was the one at the door; he immediately ordered the person in;

Ma Lee pushed open the door quietly and stepped in, closing it behind her, careful not to make a sound;

Nicklaus brows creased when he saw that she did not come with her; and without caring about what she came for, he asked;

''Where is she? ''

Ma Lee cleared her throat; ''Mr. Nicklaus; the lady locked herself in her room and had refused to open the door, should I order the guards to break it open? ''

Nicklaus stared at her for her moment, and then his brows eased;

She had been locked up for so long, she needed some privacy; thinking about it, he said;

''Let her be for now, but let her know that I want to see her this afternoon after lunch.''

He said and turned around, resuming his sketching.

Ma Lee bowed and left the room.

Tiana immersed herself inside her hot tub; her head filled with different thoughts.

She remembered the text from Adrian she had seen on her phone, which was on the bed when she stepped in;

'Tiana, I never thought we would end up this way, but sadly, there is nothing I can do to change it. You belong to another man now. Tiana, I hope you stay safe. Goodbye.'

It was short and without emotions. As though she was a stranger to him, as though he never knew her;

Although she didn't want to cry anymore, she could not control the tears falling from her eyes at that moment, she raised her hand to her mouth and bit the insides; she felt blood dripping down her palm, but she didn't reduce the force; it was when she heard a knock on the door that she suddenly stopped; her head tilting towards her room;

Have they not gone? Are they still waiting for me to open the door?

Tiana mumbled in her mind as she waited to hear the knock again; but instead of a knock, she heard Ma Lee's voice;

''Tiana, the boss wants to see you after lunch; don't keep him waiting. ''

She heard the words clearly and instantly, she felt bile rising up her throat, her palms folded into fists under the water and her nails dug into her skin;

Since she left the darkroom, she did not want to think about him; but after hearing Ma Lee's voice, she could no longer control herself.

He had killed the last humanity in her, broken her to shards till there was nothing left of her being. He took away the very person she cherished the most, and that was the last straw. No, if she could forgive anything, not this.

Why was she struggling so hard to live, when she could not be with the one person she loved so much?

Tiana felt her chest squeezed so much that she couldn't breathe, her lips parted slightly as she forced in air through her mouth.

But she had one thing left to fight for…

Gwen.

If she didn't protect her she had suffered for nothing; so until the four months is over, she would endure anything that he brought her way.

In fact, at that moment, she wasn't sure he could break her more than he already did. She was already shattered; there was nothing left to destroy.

Tiana closed her eyes as she breathed in slowly, trying to stable herself.

She would behave for four months, but after she had set her sister free, she would feed him his own medicine.

Her eyes shot open immediately as determination washed through her.