Deep down, Valerie felt nothing but fear; if she let Rovano touch her again, she was afraid the wound on her leg would be made even worse.
"Please, let me clean myself."
Rovano looked at her intently; the man seemed as though he wanted to speak again, yet for some reason he remained silent. The bathroom floor felt colder than before; with every step, it sounded like a threat to Valerie, and the man simply left without saying another word.
Rovano gave Valerie a light blue knee-length dress with black flats.
She hadn't bathed properly because the wound on her thigh was still very fresh; the splashes of water hitting it made her cry uncontrollably.
The warm water flowing over every part of her body soothed her troubled soul; the faint, metallic scent of blood was still detectable, though faintly. The girl stared fixedly at the pool of water in the bath, which was beginning to recede and was still red but no longer dark.
The girl stepped out of the bath, dried herself off and immediately put on the clothes Rovano had given her.
Once she was done, she looked in the mirror; her reflection looked far better than before. Valerie took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and give her heart a little encouragement; she could get through this, she could find a way out.
Valerie stepped out of the bathroom; she peeked in cautiously and saw that Rovano wasn't in the room. Once she was fully inside, Valerie's gaze fell upon the blood on the mattress-still fresh and not yet completely dry. It was her blood.
The red colour meant the wound was quite deep.
The girl limped towards it, every step she took feeling incredibly heavy, as if a knife were still piercing her thigh, which was wrapped in a makeshift bandage.
Valerie stood beside the bed; the wind blew fiercely through the open balcony door, lashing against her frail body.
Valerie lifted her skirt slightly, feeling the bandage wrapped around her thigh; the blood had seeped through it, just a little, and Valerie could not bear the pain. She did not realise that Rovano was peering at her from behind the bedroom door, watching her every movement.
With every breath, the man observed the expression of pain on Valerie's face, as if finding a small comfort in it.
The man was smartly dressed in a shirt matching the colour of Valerie's dress; he had rolled up the sleeves to his elbows. Black jeans and dark brown Doc Martens made Rovano look even taller.
Valerie sighed again; she then closed her eyes for a moment, her face contorted as if on the verge of tears, as she cast off all her pain.
A pain she had never felt in her entire life.
The girl then exhaled quite loudly and audibly, as if she had just cast off her misfortune.
Rovano cursed in frustration; this girl was acting up too much and wasting a lot of time. She was far too dramatic.
"Are you going to wail about it until you die?" Rovano dragged Valerie out of there, "Wasting time."
They left the villa and Valerie paused for a moment as Rovano guided her towards the gate; she was struggling to walk, her steps growing increasingly unsteady.
It had been a long time since Valerie had seen the street; there were a few people passing by up ahead, and the girl hesitated slightly to step out of the gate, especially as her leg was still throbbing.
Rovano turned and gave her a sharp look. Valerie gazed at him sadly.
"Please, don't drag me along. Can't we just walk more slowly?"
Hearing Valerie's words, Rovano almost burst out laughing. "You once ran so enthusiastically that you bumped into me; now you're complaining just from walking like this?"
Valerie's hand was still clasped by Rovano; the girl then gripped Rovano's arm with her other hand.
"M-my leg..." Valerie pulled her skirt up slightly to show Rovano the bandage on her thigh.
The bandage had been clean when Valerie finished getting dressed, but she could feel that the blood hadn't stopped flowing. The bandage was now completely red, and blood was seeping through it.
"T-the blood's coming out again..." Valerie pulled her skirt back down to its original position.
Rovano said nothing; he simply pulled Valerie along again. They crossed the street, walking at a moderate pace towards a small clinic at the end of the road.
Valerie couldn't stop admiring every step she took and the breathtaking views of Stockholm.
She had seen cities and countries across Europe online, read reviews and hoped that one day she might come here.
Now her dream had truly come true, even though her foot was injured and she was being held captive by a handsome, cold, psychopathic man-Evil, Sensual, constantly belittling her, touching her body without permission and claiming ownership over her.
What sort of man was he? Valerie felt that Rovano was the worst man in the world. Valerie struggled to find the right words to describe Rovano.
So this is what it feels like to enter a clinic? Valerie had watched dramas a few times, with scenes set in hospital wards or simply entering a clinic. But here, it turned out not to be as bustling as in the dramas.
The distinctive scent of medicine wafted from every room, but here it felt warm to Valerie-warm in the sense of the atmosphere. It wasn't as oppressive as when she was alone in the room with Rovano.
"Hello, Mr Morvane, it's been a while. Have you made an appointment with Dr John?" A nurse standing at the reception desk greeted Rovano; she then turned to Valerie, looking the girl up and down before turning back to Rovano.
Valerie turned and smiled at the woman, whilst Rovano merely stared at her blankly.
"It's an emergency; I need someone to tend to a wound," Rovano grabbed the girl's arm and gave her a slight shove towards the nurse, as if handing Valerie over for free.
Valerie looked at him with a mixture of sadness and annoyance; did he really have to be so rough that she could feel her thigh throbbing again?
Valerie was lying on the ward bed; Rovano sat in a chair not far from her, playing with his mobile phone.
The nurse with her seemed to speak the same language. She didn't use a foreign language when speaking; Valerie could understand her easily.
The nurse lifted Valerie's skirt slightly and was startled to see that the blood seeping through the bandage was already substantial; she looked at Valerie in confusion, the equipment to treat Valerie had been prepared.
Rovano watched them, but the nurse immediately closed the curtain completely, causing Rovano to snort in annoyance.
Why wasn't Rovano allowed to see Valerie in pain? The man cursed in frustration; he was still eager to see the girl suffer.
"What is this wound? It's very serious. Did you treat this yourself?" the nurse asked as she unwrapped Valerie's bandage.
The girl was very stoic; she didn't cry, perhaps because she felt she'd already shed enough tears since earlier.
"Mr Rovano treated my wound because..." Valerie's words trailed off as the nurse finished unwrapping the bandage, cleaned the blood, and then gasped in shock once more.
He found it really hard to close his jaw after seeing Rovano's name carved into Valerie's smooth thigh.
"...He did it," Valerie continued, then turned her face away from the nurse's gaze.
The nurse nodded in understanding and quickly finished her work. After that, she prescribed some medication for Valerie to take; the nurse had already informed the doctor of the examination results.
The doctor appeared to be talking to Rovano, and then he handed the medication for Valerie to Rovano as well.
"I don't know why Mr Morvane did that to you, but I hope you'll be all right. I never imagined he was the sort of man... Like that." The nurse cast a sympathetic glance at Valerie.
"Please help me, not with this wound but help me escape from that man. He's kidnapping me! I'm the daughter of the-."
"Valerie!" Rovano's voice rang out clearly from behind the curtain; the call cut short Valerie's plea for help.
The curtain swung open immediately and Valerie tried to act as if she hadn't said anything at all.
The nurse left, leaving the two of them alone.
Rovano approached Valerie and whispered, "Don't mess with me, Valerie. If you try to run away, I won't hesitate to torture you right then and there."
Valerie swallowed hard; she was so terrified of Rovano's cruel side that she could only obey and abandon her plan once more.
Rovano immediately pulled her out of the clinic.
"S-sir, please be gentle, I'm afraid the bleeding will start again," Valerie whimpered.
"Shut up," snapped Rovano without looking at her.
