"Umm." Athena just stares at him and he raises his brow by continuously staring back

at her. He decides to cut off this annoying staring contest.

"Ariana! What did I just said to you! Do it now." He says sternly. Athena just looks at the floor down below her and frowns. Alexander lets out a exasperated sigh.

"What's the matter? You are just looking at me or at the floor like a fool and not even speaking anything!" He yells at her. He feels a little bad when she flinches back in fear and there are tears already in her eyes.

"You can go Alexander!" Athena hears Vincenzo's voice and there he is standing at the door wearing workout clothes.

"She's so difficult, I swear to God-" Alexander mutters while walking out of the gym. Athena looks down again when Vincenzo's gaze meet her.

"Ariana! Come here..." He calls her. She hesitanly comes out of the corner.

"I am going to show you and you will follow what I am doing." She slightly nods her head. He gets down on the floor and does five push up's. Athena tries to follow his lead looking confused. He looks back at her and stands up.

"Ok. I see that you completely forget everything in the span of one year! So I am going to instruct you now. Begin with your chest and stomach flat on the floor. Your legs should be straight out behind you." He take notice of the tremble of her arms but doesn't say anything.

"Keep your palms at chest level and bend your arms at a 45°degree angle."

"Not like that Ariana!" Athena shakes slightly as he grabs her arms and bend them in the correct position.

"Now exhale and push your body from your hands and heels." He instructs her.

"Good Ariana! But just only bring your torso, chest and thighs off the ground." She tries to do it but wasn't able to hold the position and she falls right down on her belly.

Her cheeks turns beet red and a tear manages to roll down her cheek again.

"Get yourself together Ariana and get back in the position!" He says. He doesn't sound angry nor does he sounds annoyed. He is just calm. Emotionlessly calm.

Ariana tries to do it again but everytime she manages to fall. It feels like her body has no strength.

"C-c-can't." She whispers with full tears in her eyes. She doesn't even try to hide the fact that she is about to start crying any next second.

"You can, Ariana! Try again." He says in the same tone. With the next few minutes of failures, she finally learns to hold her balance. But it was only for five seconds.

"That's a improvement, Ariana! Just keep trying." She nods her head and keeps trying. He sounds a little impressed. It is a good sign that he won't kill her after getting angry. It takes her complete twenty minutes to hold herself in the position for at least twenty seconds.

"Now pause for a second in this position and then inhale as you slowly lower back to your starting position." Athena is confused. If it is only for a second so why was he making her hold for twenty seconds. She follows his words but this time quickly. It doesn't feel much difficult now.

"Very good Ariana! Now do ten push-ups and we are done here." She manages to do it and stands up. Her arms and shoulders are hurting badly and it feels like electric current is flowing in them. It feels weird.

"Now Ariana! Relax your mind for a bit and get on the treadmill for 15 minutes."

****************

The three hours are finally over. Ariana slams her body down on the bed completely sweaty and exhausted. She doesn't even noticed when sleep take over her tired senses.

Few minutes later, Romeo knocks on the door and enters. A smile crawl on his lips as he finds her sleeping on her stomach and cuddling with the pillow.

"Ariana!" He gently shakes her awake. Athena tiredly open her eyes and look at him.

"Was Vincenzo too hard on you?" He asks her. Athena shrugs her shoulders tiredly not knowing how to reply. He wasn't stern nor he was really hard on her. He just let her get adjust to the things slowly and doesn't care if it take too much time.

"Breakfast will be served in next 20 minutes. Go take a shower and get downstairs." He tells her. Athena slowly nods her head and watches him as he walks out of the room but suddenly he pauses.

"Sorry if I scared you yesterday! I didn't mean to." He says before walking out.

Athena jumps into the shower this time and quickly dresses up in a red long sleeve top that she tucked into her black pants and walks downstairs barefeet.

On the dining table, only Romeo and Vittorio are present. They looks at her. Vittorio's gaze falls down at her barefeet as she shyly moves to take a seat. He looks suspicious for some reason

She tiredly put her hands around her chin and stares in the space. Her muscles are aching and it feels like her bones are slowly in the process of cracking.

"Ariana! You are going to the hospital with Vincenzo today for a regular check up." Luciano informs after pressing a kiss on the top of her head. He takes a seat beside her.

Athena slowly nods her head but feels her nerves twist a little for some reason. Vincenzo and Alexander enters next. They take their seats and Ariana avoid looking at the servants who serves them.

Halfway through her huge breakfast, Athena feels like she is going to explode anytime soon.

"Ariana! Finish your food sweetheart." Luciano tells her but Athena slowly shakes her head.

"Ok. But you aren't getting out of here without finishing your favourite things. I especially made it for you. First, your favourite nutella sandwich." With a half heart, Athena consumes it making Luciano feel a bit satisfied. She also liked the taste of this sweet sandwich.

"Very good sweetheart." He smiles at her and requests the maid to bring a cup of cappuccino for her. Athena has noticed that he is the only one of Ariana's brother who is polite to everyone despite their positions or anything else. Athena frowns a little but takes the cup in both of her hands feeling their eyes watching her every move.

She takes a first sip of it and its sweetness almost melts her taste buds. Ariana must have a really sweet tooth.

After breakfast, Athena moves upstairs. Vincenzo hasn't told her yet when they are going to the hospital so she has that free time for herself. She starts to clean Ariana's room. She mopped the floor until she could see her own reflection on it. Seeing no other thing to do, she moves towards the hallway and starts to clean it. It is just on the instinct as she has the habit of cleaning.

A maid who was passing by that direction sees this and she lets out a loud gasp. A expensive glass bouquet she was holding in her hands shatters loudly on the ground. Athena flinches and turns back to look at her.

Upon seeing the broken glass pieces her eyes widens. The maid is still staring at her with wide eyes.

Athena makes her way over to her and bend down to pick the glass pieces up but a hand grabbed her arm and tugs her up roughly.

"Don't touch it. You will hurt yourself." Vittorio says while gently pulling her away from the mess.

"And you! Do we give you salary to just stare at us?" He snaps at the maid. Athena flinches slightly in fear and the maid fearfully bows her head.

"I-I apologize Sir. But I-I--"

"You what?" Romeo comes out of nowhere and glares down at the poor maid who is trembling in fear.

"S-sir. Madame w-was mopping t-the floor here. I w-was shocked seeing this and I accidentally d-dropped the bouquet. I am s-so sorry Sir." She pleads. Athena feels the color drain from her face as twins turns to look at her.

"Who are you?" Romeo asks suspiciously. Athena looks down at the floor and starts to tremble.

"Ariana! We are going now." Vincenzo enters in the scene following by Alexander and Luciano. To get out of the situation Athena immediately nods her head.

"Go put on your shoes." Luciano tells her but he sounds a little off. Athena quickly skips out of there and into Ariana's room. She puts on the flats from yesterday and makes her way outside where Vincenzo is waiting for her.

Ariana's brothers looks like in a serious talk but immediately quieten down as she enters. Athena follows Vincenzo out of the front door.

Vincenzo sits down on the driver seat and the guard opened a door for her. He drives out of the premises following by two SUVs.

Athena just quietly looks down at her hands and play a little with her fingers. They soon reach in front of Cortello family's private hospital. Athena looks up at the huge skyscraper building and lets out a audible gulp.

She follows Vincenzo inside. But her mind is fixed on the thought of escaping. This is the only chance and she is going to get out of here no matter what.

Vincenzo shake hands with the head doctor who leads them inside. Athena is first asked to step on the scale where they measure her weight. She only weigh 70 pounds and it concerns the doctor a bit too much.

Athena is next guided to one of the room so the doctor could perform some tests on her. Athena stares at the ceiling mindlessly as the doctor and Vincenzo leaves the room to discuss something leaving her with a nurse.

"I am worried, Mr. Cortello. She is highly underweight and malnourished. She looks so depressed and quiet. The last time I saw Ariana, she was completely different from this image."

"Dr. Jonas! I need you to do something for me." Vincenzo says coldly.

"Yes yes, Mr. Cortello!"

"I need you to perform DNA test on her."