Bought as his bride.......:EPISODE 6
412 Words
Episode 6: The Woman in the Portrait
I couldn’t sleep.
Even after Darius left my door, even after the mansion went silent, his words wouldn’t leave my head.
> “This marriage is already complicated enough.”
But it wasn’t the marriage. It was the past.
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The next morning, I found myself drawn to the hallway again. The one with the locked room. I stared at the large portrait of his mother. She looked nothing like me — elegant, cold beauty in a high-neck gown, eyes distant like she was never fully here.
> “You really don’t listen, do you?”
I turned, startled. Darius stood at the end of the hallway, arms crossed, suit flawless, eyes unreadable.
> “I’m not going in,” I said softly. “Just… trying to understand.”
He walked toward me slowly.
> “What exactly are you trying to understand, Amara?”
> “You,” I whispered.
He stopped, just a step away now. His scent — expensive and clean — wrapped around me like silk.
> “Understanding me is a dangerous thing,” he said.
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Later, I tried to distract myself by helping in the kitchen. The staff were surprised but kind. They called me ma’am, but I didn’t feel like one. I felt like a stranger wearing someone else’s name.
Nathan came in through the back door, holding a box of fresh herbs. He gave me a gentle smile.
> “He’s not as heartless as he pretends,” he said under his breath.
> “Who?” I asked, playing dumb.
> “Darius,” he replied. “He just… built a castle around his pain.”
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That night, I sat on the balcony outside my room, watching the lights of the city flicker like stars. Somewhere below, life was happening — people laughing, falling in love, getting hurt.
And here I was, bought and locked inside a fairytale gone wrong.
Just then, I heard soft piano music coming from downstairs.
I followed the sound, quietly, down the stairs and through the hall.
In the grand sitting room, lit only by a single lamp, Darius sat at the piano.
Alone.
Playing something slow, haunting. A melody filled with longing and loss.
He didn’t see me at first.
But I saw him.
A man no one else had seen.
And my heart… did something I didn’t expect.
It ached.
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💭 End of Episode 6
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- Writer
