# Chapter 41: One Hundred Strands of Hope
Hello everyone, it’s me again! How are you all doing? Today, I will continue to walk with you and review Chapter 41 of *The Housemaid* — and trust me, this chapter is one of the most painful, tense, and emotionally brutal pieces of this story yet. We are locked inside that room with Nina, feeling every strand of hair being ripped from her scalp, every pang of hunger, and every desperate thought for little Cece. So take a deep breath, my friends, because this chapter is going to pull at your heartstrings — and maybe your own hair, too.
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By seven o’clock, Nina has accomplished her grim task.
She managed to gather about twenty strands just by running her fingers through her hair — but that wasn’t enough. No, she needed one hundred. So she began the agonizing process of pulling the rest out by the root. Eighty times, she grabbed a strand, braced her body, and yanked. She tried pulling a few at once, hoping to speed it up, but that was pure agony. Yet, in a strange stroke of luck, her hair was healthy enough that most strands came out with the follicle intact. She even thinks back to after giving birth to Cecelia — back then, she would have had to pluck herself bald before finding enough usable strands.
Now, as the clock strikes seven, she sits on that thin, miserable cot clutching an envelope filled with one hundred strands of her own hair. Her heart races with hope. She can’t wait to hand it over, get out of this room, and serve that sick bastard his divorce papers.
“Nina?” His voice cuts through the silence.
She looks at her watch. Seven o’clock on the dot. She’ll give him that much — he’s punctual.
She jumps off the bed and presses her head against the door. “I have it,” she says.
“Slide it under.”
She slides the envelope through the gap below the door. In her mind, she pictures him on the other side — ripping it open, inspecting her hair follicles under some harsh light, looking for flaws. At this point, she doesn't care what he does with it. She’s done what he demanded. Now let her out.
“Okay?” she asks, her throat painfully parched. She’d finished the last of her water bottles over the course of the day, saving the final one for the last hour. Her plans for freedom are simple: drink five glasses of water in a row, and pee in an actual toilet.
“Give me a minute,” he says. “I’m checking.”
Nina grits her teeth, ignoring the angry growl of her stomach. She hasn’t eaten in twenty-four hours, and her body is screaming with dizziness and hunger. It had gotten so bad that the strands of her own hair were starting to look edible. Let that sink in for a moment.
“Where is Cece?” she chokes out.
“She’s in her playpen downstairs,” Andy says. In the living room, they had created a gated, safe area where Cece could play without hurting herself. It was Andy’s idea. He’s so thoughtful.
*No, he’s not thoughtful. That was all an illusion. An act.* He’s a monster.
“Hmm,” Andy says.
“What?” Nina croaks. “What is it?”
“See,” he says, drawing out the word like a cat playing with a wounded bird, “almost all of the strands are fine, but one of them doesn’t have a hair follicle on it.”
Bastard.
“Fine. I’ll give you a new one.”
“I’m afraid not,” he sighs. The sound of that false pity makes her blood run cold. “You’ll have to start all over again. I’ll check in on you tomorrow morning. Hopefully by then, you’ll have one hundred intact hairs for me. Otherwise, we’ll have to just keep trying.”
“No...” His footsteps disappear down the hall, and it hits her — he’s actually leaving her. With no food. No water. No mercy. “Andy!” Her voice comes out hoarse, barely more than a whisper. “Don’t do this! Please! Please don’t do this!”
But he’s gone.
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By bedtime, Nina has another hundred strands ready — just on the off chance he returns. But he doesn’t. She even adds ten extra as a desperate gesture of goodwill. Somehow, the strands are coming out easier now. She barely feels the pain anymore as each strand separates from her scalp. It’s as if her body is already starting to give up.
All she can think about is water. Food and water — but mostly water. And of course, Cecelia. Her sweet little girl downstairs, completely unaware that her mother is trapped in a dark room, slowly losing herself. Nina isn’t sure she’ll ever see her again. She doesn’t know how long a person can survive without water, but it can’t be long. Andy swore he would let her out, but what if he was lying? What if his plan was to let her die in this room?
All because she missed a hairdresser appointment.
When she finally drifts off at night, she dreams of a shimmering pool of water. She lowers her head to drink, but the water moves away from her. Every time she tries, it escapes. It feels like one of the tortures of hell — water so close, yet forever out of reach.
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“Nina?”
Andy’s voice rips her out of sleep — or unconsciousness, she can’t tell the difference anymore. She’s been waiting for him all night, and she knows what she has to do. Give him what he wants. It’s the only way out.
*Get up, Nina!*
As soon as she sits up in bed, her head spins violently. Everything goes black for a second. She clutches the edge of the thin mattress, waiting for her vision to clear. It takes a full, agonizing minute.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you out unless I get those hairs,” Andy says from the other side of the door.
That horrible voice sparks a wave of adrenaline that boosts her to her feet. Her fingers tremble as she grabs the envelope and stumbles to the door. She slides it under, then collapses against the wall, sliding to the floor.
She waits while he counts. It seems to take an eternity. If he says she hasn't done it right, she doesn't know what she’ll do. She can’t last another twelve hours in that room. That would be the end. She would die there.
No. She has to keep going no matter what. For Cece. She can’t leave her daughter to this monster.
“Okay,” he finally says. “Good job.”
And then the lock turns. And the door swings open.
Andy is dressed in his suit, ready for work, like this is just another ordinary day. Nina had imagined this moment so many times — the moment she saw his face again after being trapped for two nights, she would jump up and scratch his eyes out. But instead, she stays on the floor, too weak to move. Andy crouches beside her, and she notices he’s holding a large glass of water and a bagel.
“Here,” he says. “I brought you this.”
She should throw the water in his face. She wants to. But she knows she won’t make it out of this room unless she eats and drinks something. So she accepts his gift. She gulps down the water, stuffs chunks of the bagel into her mouth, and swallows without even chewing properly until it’s all gone.
“I’m sorry I had to do that,” he says, his voice dripping with manufactured regret. “But it’s the only way you’ll learn.”
“Go to hell,” she hisses.
She tries to get to her feet, but stumbles again. Even after the water, her head is still spinning. She can’t walk in a straight line. She doubts she can even make it down the stairs to the second floor.
So even though she hates herself for it, she lets Andy help her. She lets him lead her downstairs, leaning on him heavily the whole way. When she reaches the second floor, she hears Cecelia singing from below. She’s okay. He didn’t hurt her. *Thank God.*
But Nina isn’t going to give him another chance.
“You need to lie down,” Andy says sternly. “You’re not well.”
“No,” she croaks. She wants to be with Cece. Her arms ache for her. Her heart aches for her.
“You’re too sick right now,” he says. Like she’s getting over the flu, rather than him trapping her in a room for two days and forcing her to tear her own hair out. He’s talking to her like *she’s* the crazy one. Like any of this was her fault.
But no matter how much she despises him, she knows he’s right about one thing — she needs to lie down. Her legs tremble with every step, and the room keeps tilting around her. So she lets him lead her to their king-size bed, and he tucks her in under the covers. And oh, the betrayal of that bed. If there was any chance she might have escaped, it’s gone now. It feels like sleeping on a cloud after two nights of passing out on that awful cot.
Her eyelids feel like lead. She can’t fight the pull of sleep. Andy sits beside her, at the edge of the bed, running his fingers gently through her hair — her torn, abused, plucked-out hair. “You just haven’t been feeling well,” he says softly. “You need a day of sleep. Don’t worry about Cecelia. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”
His voice is so kind. So gentle. For one terrifying moment, Nina starts to wonder if she imagined the whole thing. After all, he’s been such a good husband. Would he really lock her up and make her pull out her hair? That doesn’t sound like something he would do. Maybe she just has a fever. Maybe this is all a horrible hallucination?
No. It wasn't a hallucination. It was real. She knows it was real.
“I hate you,” she whispers.
But Andy ignores her words as he continues stroking her hair until her eyes drift shut. “Just get some sleep,” he says gently. “That’s all you need.”
And the darkness swallows her whole.
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### Reader’s Impressions & Star Rating
Wow. Just wow. This chapter is absolutely bone-chilling. The way Andy shifts between calculated cruelty and gentle, caring husband is nightmare fuel. He starves her, dehydrates her, forces her to mutilate her own scalp, then brings her water and tucks her into bed like he’s the loving husband of the year. The gaslighting is so intense that even Nina begins to question her own reality — and honestly, I felt confused right along with her. That is brilliant, terrifying writing. My heart breaks for Nina. And the detail of her dreaming of water that keeps escaping? Pure psychological torture. She’s trapped, not just in a room, but in his mind games. This chapter leaves you breathless, angry, and desperate for her revenge.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars
### Next Chapter Prediction
I predict that in the next chapter, Nina will wake up even weaker, but with her hatred burning brighter than ever. She’s not going to let herself be broken. I think we’re about to see her play his game — pretending to be the obedient, confused, dependent wife — all while secretly plotting her escape. And with Enzo and perhaps other allies lurking in the background, I believe Andy’s house of cards is about to start collapsing. Nina has finally seen the monster for what he is, and I don't think she’ll stop until she brings the whole house down around him.
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