Page 70 of Vengeful Lies

Tired.

Exhausted more like it.

With a sigh, she pushed herself up into a sitting position, fighting through a sickening wave of dizziness that made it feel like her brain had taken a ride on one of those horrible amusement park rides that tossed you up and down and side to side without her permission.

Finding the phone, she managed to lift it up and see a text from Susanna.

The woman had taken to checking in a couple of times a day. Usually in the morning, around midday, and then again in the evening. It felt like maybe it was because Susanna, a trained psychologist, was checking up on her because she was worried.

If she was honest with herself, Gabriella agreed that the woman had a reason to worry.

While it wasn't like she was actively going to take her own life, it also wasn't like she’d been doing much of anything to take care of herself these last several days.

The opposite in fact.

She still had pretty much zero appetite and wasn't eating anything more than the occasional piece of fruit that the bodyguards dropped off for her each morning. Sleep seemed like it had just evaporated from her life given how little of it she’d managed to get. Every time she closed her eyes, she was either back in that tiny room being forced to take beatings or perform sexual favors to keep Essie safe, or she was in Cade’s bedroom reliving the moment he’d told her she was fired.

There had only been one time she’d dreamed anything pleasant, and that was sex with Cade. But after waking upto remember how he’d thrown her out of his and Essie’s life, leaving her lost and alone, she’d sobbed so hard she couldn’t breathe.

Normally, she’d reply to Susanna’s text with an emoji or maybe a word or two, but today she just didn't have the energy.

No food or sleep were draining her bit by bit, and she wondered what happened when her energy finally ran out, leaving her completely empty.

Would her bodyguards come in one day to find her dead body lying in the bed?

Or maybe she’d last long enough for Cade and his family to find the final person involved in their mom’s rape and she wouldn't need any bodyguards. Then it would be some poor housekeeping employee who would find her dead body.

It was becoming harder and harder to see herself having any sort of future. Happy or not.

Tossing the phone back onto the bed as a wave of heat crashed over her making it feel like she was burning from the inside out, Gabriella groaned and shoved the covers off her body, kicking them away so she was left lying in nothing but her panties and a tank top.

Too much.

Too much clothing.

It felt heavy against her skin, and she realized she was covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

Staggering to her feet, she wobbled wildly and had to throw out a hand to grab the headboard of the bed to remain standing.

Passing much too slowly, when the dizziness subsided enough that she could stand unassisted, she stumbled across the bedroom and into the bathroom.

Too hot.

She needed to cool herself down and a shower was the perfect way.

Turning the faucet until the water came out one step up from freezing cold, she stripped out of her panties.

When she went to remove the tank top, she found that the thin material was stuck to her body.

“What the heck?” she mumbled as she moved so she was looking at herself in the bathroom mirror.

Her eyes widened when she saw that the left side of the tank top was a mixture of red and brown. That kind of yellow-brown of puss.

The bite wound.

It had been looking red and enflamed for days, and she’d known it was infected, just hadn't cared to do anything about it. The pain from the wound helped to dull the pain in her heart from Cade’s betrayal.

Anything was better than that.

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