ANGELA’S POV
“Miss! Please wake up!”
A distressed voice cut through the darkness. Hands shook my shoulders, dragging me out of the deep sleep I had desperately hoped would never end.
My heavy lashes lifted slowly. The first thing I saw was Iris’s worried face leaning over me. I was still slumped against the wall where I had collapsed the night before.
“Thank God,” she breathed when my eyes finally opened. “Are you all right, Miss? Do you want me to call a doctor?”
“No.” My voice came out rough, my throat dry as sandpaper. “Don’t call anyone.”
It hadn’t been a nightmare. The gilded cage was real. The invisible shackles around my wrists and the crushing weight on my shoulders were real.
“Are you sure? You look pale.”
“I said I’m fine.” The snap in my tone wasn’t meant for her. Iris h
