Chapter 2 – Caged Vows
919 Words
**“You've got cameras in my mirror?"**
Ivy stood barefoot on the heated marble floor, arms crossed, staring into the polished glass above the sink. The faint red blink had given it away. Her breath fogged the surface. The dot blinked again.
The door behind her opened with a soft click.
“You shouldn't be up," Adrian said calmly. “Your vitals dropped during sleep."
“Is that your concern, or your chip's?" Ivy shot back, whirling to face him.
Adrian didn't blink. “Both."
She pointed to the mirror. “Who watches me shower? Who tracks how long I sleep, eat, breathe?"
“No one. It's an automated feed."
“That's not better."
“It keeps you safe."
“You mean contained." She stepped closer, chin lifted. “You're not just sick. You're paranoid."
Adrian studied her. “I know how this looks—"
“Do you?" Her voice dropped. “You think velvet prison bars make this okay?"
He took a step back, visibly resisting proximity. “You're not a prisoner."
“Then unlock the door."
“I can't."
“Why not?"
He hesitated. “Because I'll seize."
“So I'm the key."
His silence answered for him.
---
At breakfast, Ivy sat alone in a clinical white dining room, pushing steel-cut oats around her bowl.
The assistant—Calla—entered with a clipboard. “Today's schedule includes a supervised walk in the south atrium. Fifteen minutes."
Ivy snorted. “How generous. Do I get a leash?"
Calla didn't flinch. “I would suggest wearing the smartwatch. It tracks distance and alerts security if you exceed your safe range."
“Your boss can't walk two feet without me, but I need a babysitter?"
Calla tilted her head. “You'd be surprised how many wives choose power over freedom."
“I didn't choose either," Ivy muttered.
---
The atrium looked like a greenhouse stripped of joy—fern walls, simulated sunlight, security drones circling the ceiling.
Ivy walked in silence, Calla ten paces behind. Each time she neared the exit, her watch pulsed red.
On the third lap, she said over her shoulder, “What happens if I run?"
“Security will engage. Mr. Fu's implant will destabilize."
Ivy laughed bitterly. “So I'd kill him."
“Unintentionally, perhaps."
“And if I'm willing to take that risk?"
Calla paused. “Then I'd advise you not to, for your own sake."
---
That evening, Adrian appeared again.
He carried a small medical tablet. “Pulse, 62. Neural equilibrium holding. You slept six hours. Nightmares."
“Stop reading my data like a grocery list."
He looked at her. “I don't want to fight you."
“Then let me leave."
He didn't move.
Ivy stepped forward. “You say I'm free. So give me my passport. Give me my phone. Let me walk out those gates."
Adrian's hand flexed at his side. “I can't."
“You mean won't."
His gaze dropped. “The chip is designed to sync with a biological regulator. You're the only match."
“And if I get hit by a truck tomorrow?"
“Then I die."
“Dramatic."
“Accurate."
She stared at him. “Why me?"
He looked up. “Genetic resonance. Your blood sample from a high school health drive was flagged by our system six years ago. You're a perfect match. No one else came close."
Her breath caught. “You've known about me that long?"
“Yes."
“And all this time you… planned this?"
He hesitated. “I resisted for years. But then my seizures worsened. There were no options left."
“So you bought me."
“I negotiated a contract."
“With a desperate man."
Adrian stepped forward, stopping exactly one meter from her. The implant in his temple blinked green.
“Right here," he said softly. “That's my safety zone."
Ivy stared at the floor between them. “Your prison is one meter wide."
He nodded. “And you're the only exit."
---
Later that night, Ivy searched the walk-in closet for anything sharp, any tool. Nothing. Even coat hangers were rounded plastic.
She paced. “Think, Ivy. Think."
Pulling back a curtain, she examined the rods. Hollow. Lightweight. Possible.
She pried one loose, careful not to trigger the motion sensors.
In the bathroom, she unscrewed the vanity light cover. Taped inside was a prepaid SIM card—courtesy of her plan B.
She whispered, “You think I'm just a pill you can swallow. Let's see how well you function without me."
---
On the fourth day, the dressing-room mirror went dark.
Adrian entered moments later, eyes strained.
“You're farther than usual," he rasped.
“I was taking inventory."
His hand gripped the doorframe.
Ivy slowly stepped closer.
The tension in his shoulders eased.
“You don't even know how to stand near someone, do you?" she said.
“I know proximity. Not intimacy."
“You want to know me?"
He nodded, cautious.
“Then unlock the mirror."
He flinched.
“I'm not a variable to observe through glass."
“I didn't authorize that feed."
“Who did?"
“The doctors."
“Who own you?"
“They saved my life."
“And caged mine."
He didn't answer.
---
Outside, wind lashed the manor walls.
Ivy watched from her room, arms wrapped tight.
The Hudson looked frozen. Cold. Beautiful. Dangerous.
Like Adrian.
She whispered to herself, “I'll find the fault line in you. And when I do, I'm walking out. Free."
- Writer
