He planned to tear off each finger and prolong the torture for as long as possible.

"No. No." Fanny started screaming again.


This time, she scratched her skin, stroking her arms, until there were obvious red marks on them.

"Fanny, no. Don't do that." Michel screamed in shock as he knelt down beside her.

Fanny cowered in fear at his outburst, pulling her knees close to her body as if she were protecting herself from him.


As he moved closer, she even flinched, her eyes almost expecting his next move.

Michel held out his hand, palm facing her as he pleaded.


"I won't hurt you, I swear."

Michel almost wanted to burst out laughing like a madman at the irony of it all. All he wanted was to protect her, since day one.

Still, he was here, seeing her look at him with gloomy eyes as he inched forward little by little.

When their knees touched, she glanced down and swallowed hard.

"Fanny," Michel spoke in the softest voice as if he didn't scare her anymore.

"Are they still on you?"

Fanny's lower lip trembled. She knew what he was implying.

Hands... blood... cockroaches...

Looking down, a single tear escaped from the corner of her right eye as she gestured for her arm and nodded.

"Then... can I help you? I'll get rid of them, okay?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion as she looked down at her arm, moving it up and down her scratched skin.

"I'll handle it, okay?" Michel spoke again, knowing that she was acknowledging what he was saying.

Fanny did not answer. No words were spoken as he slowly and gently wrapped one arm behind her back and the other under her knees.

Quickly, he stood up with her and held her to his chest, hearing her gasp in shock.

"It's okay. You've got me, okay?" Michel whispered into her temple as he led them to the next bathroom.

Carefully, he sat her down on the edge of the tub as her eyes looked up at him, confused and surprised.

Half of her face was covered with hair while her hands were on her thighs, fingers still absentmindedly scratching her skin.

Fanny kept an eye on him as Michel walked over to the sink and grabbed a small white towel, wet it with hot water, and then wrung out the excess.

When he thought it was warm enough, he turned back to her, knelt in front of her, and took her right hand in his.

Looking up, their eyes met and while Michel wanted to do nothing but pull her into his arms and finally feel her as he wanted for weeks, he knew that this was not what she needed right now.

So he told himself he had to squeeze and gently started moving the towel over the skin of her arm, pretending to clean her skin from whatever she seemed to see there.

Their gazes locked on each other as he continued, moving the towel toward her other arm and then her hand.

When he finished, Michel swallowed the emotions that were choking him and did his best to clear his throat so he could talk to her.

"See, it's all gone."

Fanny's head hangs down, her orbs testing themselves as she mutters to herself.

"Go?"

"That's right. They're gone." He confirmed with a gentle smile.

Sighing, he took her hand and carefully pulled her upwards.

Leading her back to bed, he helped her lie down and pulled the blanket over her frail body.

Standing up straight, Michel stood there and tried to figure out what had just happened.

Now when he looks at her, she looks so peaceful, nothing seems to happen.

Knowing that only one person would be able to help, he took his phone out of his pocket and pressed one of his speed dial buttons.

---

"What?" Michel's eyes widened as he stared at Christian standing outside the room where Fanny was sleeping.

Christian swallows but nods.

"She refuses any medication. Rosabella says she is particularly resistant to any needles because Mr. Aiden administered the injection for her."

Michel was very angry. "Injected? I thought you did a blood test." He hissed at the doctor, trying not to make too much noise.

Christian hesitates and contemplates lying for a second, but then he thinks that if he's ever going to get caught up in that lie, he knows the outcome will be much worse.

"I did. But Charles wanted to tell you himself..."

Michel pushes Christian against the wall. He knows it's not really Christian's fault, but since Charles isn't there to vent, he'll let Christian take his place.

"You need to understand that I'm your boss, is that obvious? Do you want to die Christian? Do you want to go down to the basement? Because that's where you're headed."

Seeing Christian flinch almost made Michel back away but he was just too annoyed.

"So tell me. What did you find? What injection are you talking about?"

Swallowing, Christian licks his lips and straightens.

"Diazepam. It's a benzodiazepine."

When Michel seemed confused, he added.

"It's a Valium. Usually, it's used for people with high levels of anxiety or panic, but..."

"But what?" Michel emphasized when witnessing the doctor felt uncomfortable.

He had a feeling this conversation was going nowhere, but he wanted to hear it.

"The abuse of it is to keep someone incapacitated or defenseless," Christian concludes with a pained expression.

Letting go of him, Michel stepped back as the reality of the words sank.

Mr. Aiden drugged her. He drugged her to prevent her from fighting back.

"So what do you mean? Tell me how she reacts." His voice was no longer the threat they held just a second ago, he said.

"What you're describing sounds like an episode of hysteria. People with PTSD can get these things. They can act on many things while hallucinating and then can't even recall any of those."

Hearing this, Michel could barely feel his feet as he stood there.

PTSD? Does Fanny have PTSD?

"So she won't remember any of this?"

Christian shook his head. "Most likely not."

Michel felt as if something had just punched a large hole through his chest.

What does that mean? How is he supposed to help her now?

But just as he was about to ask Christian another question, he heard a familiar scream from inside his old bedroom.