Chapter 103

* Janie *

“What is this place?” The scenery gave me hope. The gardens, which were about all I could see so far, were lush and beautiful, and the building up ahead looked like one of those Antebellum mansions from an old black-and-white movie. The kind that has stately Greek marble columns running around the front and sides with a wraparound porch perfect for enjoying the view while avoiding the heat of the sun.

My heart started racing with excitement because, truth be told, after everything that had happened in the last few days, I was expecting to be left in a ditch somewhere by these people. Though no one had physically harmed me to this point, their actions toward me have been anything but friendly or welcoming.

He didn’t answer; he just kept walking as if I hadn’t spoken. I still don’t even know his name because no one thought it necessary to introduce us. He’d barely looked at me since we left the plane, which I found insulting before I remembered what my face looked like these days.

Somehow, I had forgotten for a moment that I was no longer the beautiful wife of one of the world’s foremost performers. Just a few weeks ago, I would’ve had him eating out of my hand. Men were always falling all over themselves to get close to me, and not just because I was Ryder’s wife.

But now that was all in the past, all gone. I had ugly gouges in my cheeks the last time I looked, and my hair hadn’t seen a comb or brush in days. The reminder was a bit daunting in the midst of all this beauty. I was about to broach the question again, but then I saw them up ahead, and my blood turned to ice.

“What are they doing here?” Nicole and Noelle were coming around the side of the mansion, looking much the same as they always did. No hair out of place and dressed for the next outing meant to catch the eyes of the paparazzi. They caught sight of me at about the same time and came rushing over.

“What is she doing here?”

“Ladies, follow me inside, you’ll learn everything there.” He spoke for the first time.

“We don’t want her here; her father killed our mother.” Noelle rushed me and smacked me across the face hard before I could protect myself, and Nicole wasn’t far behind. I thought for sure that this was it; I had come to my end.

My lip was bleeding, and my ears rang from the blows by the time we were separated. He’d taken his sweet time doing it, that’s for sure. But as I was about to learn, that was just the beginning of my new hell because I was walked into the mansion with the two of them following close behind calling me every name in the book.

I was still a bit shaky from the fight or whatever that was, plus the fact that I no longer knew what was going on around me. Nothing seemed real, and I knew it was a mixture of withdrawals, the attack, and my weak system from not having eaten much of anything in days.

Even the food on the plane had gone untouched even though they had gone out of their way to make all my favorite dishes, which I still am not sure how they knew what I liked. In short, I felt as though I was having an out-of-body experience. Nothing seemed or felt real; it was almost like I was watching this all happen from a distance, and it was happening to someone else.

Once inside, I couldn’t even enjoy the beauty of the place because there was so much dread and fear eating away at my insides. This is the kind of place I would’ve chosen for myself for a nice little getaway. A private island with no one else around, the landscape looked like something from a fairytale, with the scent of flowers on the breeze as it drifted through the open windows and French Doors.

But the excitement I’d felt upon seeing the place was now marred by the presence of Noelle and Nicole because I had a nasty suspicion that they were going to be staying here as well. I couldn’t for the life of me hold onto a thought long enough to work out in my mind why anyone would do this, why anyone would bring the three of us together here, but I didn’t have long to wait.

The three of us were taken into an entertainment room, like an in-home theater setup that at any other time I would’ve been bowled over by but was now too nervous to appreciate. “Someone has a message for you.” The hot guy said before turning on some kind of system that reminded me of the time in the warehouse, and I knew who was going to be there before I heard her annoying voice.

“Ladies, welcome to your new home, at least for the next little while.” That started Nicole and Noelle on a rampage before they ended with threats of what they would do to me if forced to stay here with me. Apparently, they were fooled into coming here with promises of a getaway to escape the press who had been hounding their family since their mother’s death.

No doubt they’d been promised a hefty payday because these bitches don’t do anything without getting paid, which is exactly what I said out loud. This led to another attack from the two of them which I was ready for this time and was able to hold my own and gave as good as I got.

There were years of pent-up rage on my side, so even though it was two against one, I was still able to get some licks in. Once again, it seemed to take forever before we were pulled apart and pushed into our seats and told to behave like we were dogs or something.

“We’re not staying here with her, no way. Her father killed our mother.”

“I doubt that very seriously; maybe it was one of the people she screwed over who finally had enough of her shit that did it. My father had no reason to kill that bitch.”

I have no idea one way or the other if Dad had really done it since I hadn’t been able to talk to him since the arrest, and the way she’d been killed did seem like something he could’ve done since he likes hunting with a bow, but still, my dad might be a greedy fuck, but he’s never struck me as the above cowardly type.

Besides, Mary was one of his cash cows, as he’d laughingly told me more than once, because of all the things he knew about her that she wouldn’t want the world to know. So, he’d most likely have extorted her rather than taken her life. I might not be working with all cylinders, but I know that much, at least.

More harsh words were said before the voice came over the surround sound speakers again. “Before I say anything else, I should warn you that this place is completely rigged with surveillance cameras, some of which you cannot see, so if you commit murder, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

“It doesn’t matter because we’re not staying here. Come on, Noelle, we’re leaving.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” The little bitch said. I half expected muscle-bound men to show up in lab coats to keep us in place, but no one entered the room with us. Still, something in her voice made me feel as if I was being restrained.

In all the fuss, we hadn’t noticed that the cutie had left the room, and it was only the sound of a plane engine firing up in the distance that alerted us to the fact that we had been left alone. “What is going on? What is this place?” I asked, already feeling defeated. I’ve come to realize that when this one is involved, things never work in my favor.

“Don’t you like it? It’s right up your alley. Like I said, there are cameras covering every inch of this place, which I thought you would all like since you love broadcasting your lives so much.”

“Wait, are other people watching us?” Nicole sounded like she was ready to faint as the three of us started looking around the room in search of the eyes and ears that were watching and listening to our every action.

“Why so annoyed? I thought the three of you craved attention. It’s time the world saw what you are really like behind the fake facade.”

“You can’t do that. We didn’t consent; this is illegal.” Noelle looked as though she wanted to rush to the wall where the sound of the little bitch’s annoying voice came from.

“Neither was tormenting and denigrating Elena Gianni for the past five and a half years. Neither was trying to drive her crazy with your evil intent. Now you’ll see what that feels like.” The two idiots started screaming like that was going to do something. I guess they forgot there was no one else around to hear those screams.

“Tsk-tsk, it’s only the first day and already you’re losing your minds. Come on, ladies, I expected better from you. Don’t forget, your every move is being recorded, kind of like when you had listening devices placed in Elena’s home without her knowledge.”

How does she know so much? “Did that bitch Rachel tell you that?” Nicole took the words right out of my mouth. Since she wasn’t one of us, that’s the only way I could imagine her having all the information she had. Rachel hadn’t been seen or heard from in days, as far as I know, so that would explain how these people knew the ins and outs of everything we had done.

But somehow, there was a sneaky suspicion that that wasn’t all of it because she knew things that Rachel didn’t know. Who exactly is this person, and why is she going to these lengths for that bitch Elena?

I probably shouldn’t be thinking about that now and be more focused on how the hell to get out of here, but I think I already knew that it was a lost cause. “I have a lot more to say to you three, but not now. Today, I just wanted to welcome you to your new reality show. Remember, everything you do and say here is being recorded. Who knows when I will make it all public? Oh, by the way, there’s no staff there; you’re on your own for meals and such.”

She left, leaving the three of us like stone statues, none of us daring to move for fear that people, strangers, really were watching us. I felt like a bug under a microscope, and that was enough to sober me up, at least for now.

I couldn’t help but take a dig at the two of them. “Why are you so stressed? Don’t you people like living your lives in front of cameras? What happened, no script to follow?”

“You bitch, this is all your fault. If you’d been able to keep your husband….” Noelle started to rage but then remembered the cameras and reined herself in.

I left them there and headed for the kitchen because even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to taste anything, I was feeling hungry again. I needed energy to keep my wits about me because this whole thing felt like a nightmare waiting to happen. I’m not sure who, if anyone, is really watching us because no sane person would illegally do this, and besides, you can’t just broadcast things on TV, something I would think those two idiots would know by now.

If I thought things were bad, that was nothing compared to what awaited me in the kitchen. “I can’t eat this,” I yelled at the room at large, not knowing where the stupid cameras were in there but guessing this sick bitch was looking on to get a kick out of what she was doing to us.

Everything was fat, salt, sugar, and more fat. Carbs that I wouldn’t be caught dead touching. It would only take a few days for the pounds to pile on if I touched the sugary sweet nonsense on the shelves and in the refrigerator. I saw that quickly as I snatched doors open in search of something that an adult would eat.

There was a note taped to the fridge that I had somehow missed and now tore off in anger. “There’s a garden plot out back and there are packets of seeds in the basket on the counter. You can plant your own vegetables if you’d like.” I could almost hear this sick bitch laughing her ass off.

“I don’t know how to plant shit, you moron.” Maybe it was her intention to starve us while we were here, but somehow, I get the feeling it’s much worse than that. There was more yelling and cursing when the two of them followed me not much later and saw what was on offer.

If this was happening to someone else, I would have laughed my ass off. I had a slight memory of making Rachel tamper with Elena’s food in the early days. But surely this couldn’t…. No. There’s no way she plans on making us live out the things we had done to that bitch all those years.

I started screaming, which scared the other two, who turned to look at me as if I had lost my mind, which I think I might have. This cannot be happening. Who would think of such a thing? But I have the sinking feeling that that’s exactly what this was, and it started with my stay in the hospital.

“This isn’t going to end well for any of us. She’s going to make us suffer the way we made Elena….” Too late, I remembered the cameras and clapped my hand over my mouth as the two of them stared back at me in horror. How long does she plan to keep us here? Surely, she can’t fit five years of torment into just a few days.