∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

MARIA

"I don't want to see them." I continued to stare down at my dry hands as the two men stared at me. I didn't think that they realised just how powerful their presence was alone and even more together.

Marco and Leonardo were both tall and muscular men that emitted such a strong aura that could make any person submit to their authority. Marco rolled up his sleeves, feeling the heat coming in from the strong sun rays beaming through the windows that Leonardo had opened earlier. His veins pressed against his skin, evident through the sunlight.

"I understand," Marco lamented, giving an empathetic look. He was a lot more in touch with his emotions than Leonardo was. Leonardo folded his arms, looking as though he was ready to hand a whole list of suggestions. It was another day later since I had woken up and I was feeling determined.

I had an unbearable desire to go to Dream, to dance, to work, to sing. To see all the dancers, musicians, the practice rooms - all of it. That had all been taken away from me. I even missed Madame Sylvie; she had sent me many flowers that I appreciated.

"You want Giovanni to go to prison?" Leonardo incredulously asked, stepping away from the wall he was leaning on. I nodded, "it sounds simple but someone like that has never even touched prison grounds. He'll suffer there for a period. A loss of reputation, money, connections," my eyes met Leonardo's, "I'm sure there will be ways to make his experience extremely unbearable."

"Then he'll die in prison, sooner than his sentence ends, of course," I said with a small smile. I pressed my fists against the mattress and shuffled myself up the bed, unconsciously looking down at my leg. I was still on a higher dose of my medication and couldn't feel anything, but the fear of experiencing that horrifying pain again still lingered.

"Even your punishment for Camille is light," Leonardo commented, a hard look in his eyes. He didn't want any of those people to get away easily.

I shook my head in disagreement, "I know Camille."

"If there's one thing Camille cares the most about, it's her appearance," I explained, "having the letters 'Betrayer' branded on her chest is enough to make her lose whatever sanity she has left."

"Taking away her family's generational wealth, their businesses, their livelihoods and sending her back to them?" I couldn't help but lightly chuckle, "Camille's not going anywhere. Her family are strict and ruthless. They'll execute the rest of her punishment for me."

"As for Francis," I slowly pondered. I couldn't think for a moment. Mentioning his name had suddenly brought a pain to my heart, a feeling of emptiness that I had lost someone I genuinely thought was a friend. Francis and Camille's change still hurt. I couldn't look at him the same. "I...would like to see him."

"Francis?" Leonardo repeated sternly, his eyebrows narrowed. "You want to see Francis?" Out of all people, that was the one person I did want to confront.

After a small debate, Leonardo eventually accepted that I wanted to see Francis. It was even harder to get Leonardo to let me see him alone.

I had managed to dress into my own clothes. Francis had been brought in to sit with me in a small cafe in the hospital. I glanced over at the large glass window, Leonardo was still standing there watching, his cautious eyes on Francis from the other side. I looked away, there was no way he was leaving me alone fully.

"I'm...I'm sorry," Francis slowly started, his eyes on the table before us. I had never seen Francis quite like it; a handsome man had turned into a beaten, empty and dirty mess before me. Francis no longer held the charming smile he dazzled women with on his face. Leonardo had really made a right mess out of him. He looked different, his energy felt different. It was not the Francis I was used to.

It all felt wrong; the kisses he'd give me every time we met, the hugs, the jokes, the laughter. It was all genuine and not his playful nature. I never saw Francis romantically and didn't understand how he could.

My eyes continued to study his face. Noticing the silence, Francis' eyes slowly reached mine. He wasn't the Francis that I once knew. "I don't know why, Francis, but I'm hurt," I honestly told him, placing my arm on the wheelchair rest. "I never expected..." I let out a sigh, struggling to find the words to say. "I didn't know you liked me that much, so much to ruin your own marriage."

My eyebrows lowered slightly. "You didn't know me. You don't know me at all. We were friends. I could never be one of your women that come in and out of your house."

"That's it," Francis hoarsely said. His voice was so low and dejected. His eyes ran across my face as he softly added, "you're not like other women...and I never would've treated you like the rest."

I didn't know why I was there suddenly in that moment.

I realised I just wanted to see Francis' face. I could feel myself getting emotional again, rethinking all the memories, the funny moments we shared together, how life could turn a complete 180 with a single decision.

After that short exchange of words, I took off the brakes and wheeled my way out of the cafe, Leonardo in tow and a few tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Leonardo gently asked as we moved despite already knowing the answer. I simply gave him a small smile, feeling empty inside again. Seeing Francis was a reminder that I never had the trustworthy people surrounding me that I thought were good. I was questioning everything again.

I had wiped them away by the time we had reached my room again. Marco opened the door as Leonardo pushed from behind revealing my room being filled with balloons and streamers flying into my face. My eyes widened at the sight of all the colourful, pastel decorations hanging in a room I had only just left half an hour ago.

And there stood Rosa, holding a 'Get Well Soon' banner with a wide smile on her kind face. They were all there; each ballerina I had been with, each standing healthy and strong with a sincere smile stretched across their faces. They were alive, they were well and they finally looked like themselves, Blair, Diamond, Daisy - everyone had came.

I bursted into tears as Rosa laughed. She ran over to me and threw her arms around me tightly, the smell of her freshly washed and conditioned hair hitting me, the scent of her familiar sweet perfume filling my nose. "I missed you." I cried in her arms, hugging her as though my life depended on it.

It was hard; all of us were traumatised. Although the girls came for a celebration of freedom, we spent most of our time together crying and being grateful that we were even alive. They were all receiving therapy. I knew there was something I had to do for the women Giovanni had abused. Dorothy couldn't be forgotten, in Dream and the wider world, there needed to be more protection for women being stalked. It was something I would definitely focus on when I could go back to work.

I had never seen Daisy look so happy; it shocked me that the Daisy before had been replaced with a bright and cheerful young girl, she held a pretty smile on her face and her eyes finally seemed to have emotion in them. It made me cry seeing her like that. She was hugging me, laughing at my tears, even the sound of it turned on the waterworks. I laughed too, wiping my eyes as she pulled away.

"I'll never forget what you did for me," Daisy quietly said, her eyes filled with sincerity. I squeezed her hand, "I'm happy to see you as you and not a product of what happened." There was a knock on the door before it slowly opened.

Marco entered first, bowing his head a little in respect as he awkwardly came into the room. I smiled at his shyness at the amount of people in one room. Thankfully it was large enough to accommodate them all. "There's someone here to see you," he informed me with a genial smile. As my eyebrows raised in curiosity, my eyes followed Marco and then I saw it; the change in the look in his eyes the moment they came across Rosa standing by the flowers with a beam of sunlight shining over her clear skin. I had never seen such an expression on Marco; a flustered yet captivated gaze was towards her.

My smile extended immediately. He quickly averted his eyes and turned to open the door wider. I glanced over at a Rosa, his eyes were right, my best friend was beautiful. Rosa hadn't noticed, she was busy fixing the flowers near my bed. I suddenly felt jittery, a little feeling of happiness seeping into my heart. That was something I definitely needed to pay attention to.

My eyes widened as the girl walked in with her own two feet, a wide smile across her face.

"Daphne?"

I had never seen Daphne that way before, a completely different girl to how she was in that hospital bed. It brought tears to my eyes again. "I'm glad you're doing a lot better," Daphne's warm voice said.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

I spent the whole afternoon with the girls and when they all left, there was a sudden emptiness in the room. I sighed, "I wonder when I can go home," I murmured, feeling the medication hit me again. I leaned my head backwards, hoping that would help soothe the headache I was experiencing. But what was home? My own place? Or where I had been staying months in with Leonardo? Where he was adamant on me returning. Even that thought made my head hurt even more.

"Well, you broke a hell of a few things so I don't think any time soon," Iris chuckled, placing the iPad done and turning it off. I smiled, "you've been working all day. What have you been up to?" Iris gave me a look, shaking her head.

"I told you," Iris cautioned playfully, "forget about Dream for now." I gave her a childish frown. "I can't. Dream is my life and I've been away from it for so long that I feel weird." I turned to face her better, a desperate look on my face.

"Just tell me something--anything!" I desperately asked with pleading eyes. I needed the distraction. Iris hesitated before giving in.

"Well...The Grand Performance was a success," Iris informed me, "great reviews, huge donations, it's our best show yet." That was pleasing to hear and brought a smile to my face. At least our hard work had gotten us somewhere. "The company is under the right hands," she chuckled, "I even got rid of Victor, and Dream sends its love to you. You are the talk of the town." I had received what felt like hundreds of balloons and flowers from Dream.

"What about the media?" I questioned, unsure if I really wanted to hear the answer.
"What kinds of things are being said there?" I hadn't gotten my phone back from Leonardo and I didn't ask for it either. I knew it wouldn't be the best choice to see everything that had been going on right away.

Iris answered, "well. .better than expected. There's always a bad bunch but the majority are okay. Sympathy and curiosity. Some people just don't know how to mind their business." I was somewhat glad the media wasn't as bad as it was when I performed with Azia.

I exhaled slowly. Things seemed to be going fine.

There was only one way to go from there and that was up.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

~ Author's Note ~

Next chapter is a time jump from the last!

Keep reading to see how Maria's recovery is going!

Thoughts on this chapter?

Please vote, comment, share and follow.

Please tag users you think will be interested in NEPENTHE!

Votes and comments really help me know how the story is going, if the book is going well or not, and helps boost my confidence for more updates :)

Thanks lol for reading!

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘