🌒 Chapter Five: The Golden Cage
2006 Words
Selene woke to silence.
Not the kind of silence you got in the woods or when it rained. This silence was different. It was clean. Heavy. Cold.
The bed felt too big. She shifted slightly, but the sheets beside her were already cold.
He was gone.
She opened her eyes slowly. The room was still dark, but light pushed in at the corners. Big windows stretched from floor to ceiling, showing nothing but sky and glass towers. Crescent City buzzed somewhere far below.
Selene pulled the blanket tighter around herself. Her body ached. Every muscle felt like it had been stretched and used. Her throat was dry. Her mouth tasted like last night.
She didn’t cry.
Not yet.
She sat up instead, carefully, like her own body might betray her. Her skin was bare. Her legs were marked. His scent still clung to her neck and between her thighs. Her fingers drifted across her stomach—too fast.
Nothing had changed.
But something had.
---
She found her dress on the floor and slipped it back on. No underwear. No bra. No sense of who she was.
The door creaked slightly when she opened it.
The penthouse was still too quiet. Even the air felt like it didn’t want to touch her.
She walked slowly down the wide hallway. Her bare feet padded across marble tiles. Every step echoed.
Then she found it—laid out like a photo in a magazine.
Breakfast.
Pancakes, fruit, eggs, toast. Coffee still steaming.
No note. No sign of him.
She stared at it for a long time. Her stomach curled. The smell of syrup and butter made something in her chest ache.
She couldn’t eat.
Before she could turn away, she heard the front door open.
Footsteps. Heavy. Sharp.
Richard.
He was already dressed. Gray suit, black shirt, no tie. His hair was combed, his jaw clean-shaven. He looked expensive and distant, like a man who had never lost control in his life.
He was on the phone.
“No. That’s not the deal,” he said. His voice was clipped, low, and tense. “I’m not doing that. A child would ruin everything. I’ve told you—this isn’t the time.”
Selene froze.
She didn’t move. She didn’t breathe.
Richard turned the corner and saw her. His expression didn’t change. But he ended the call with a sharp tap of his screen.
“Morning,” he said.
Selene swallowed. “Morning.”
He walked past her like it was just another day. He poured himself coffee, took a sip, and looked at her over the rim of the mug.
“Did you sleep?”
“A little.”
He nodded. “Eat something.”
“I’m not hungry.”
He set the mug down. “You need to keep your strength up.”
She blinked. Her hand slipped protectively to her stomach before she could stop it. She hid it behind her back.
Richard noticed. But didn’t say anything.
“I have meetings this morning,” he said. “But if you want to go out, take the car. Driver knows where to go.”
Selene hesitated. “Do I have to go somewhere?”
“No,” he said. “But I thought you might want something new. Clothes. Books. Food you actually like.”
His voice was kind. Almost gentle.
But it didn’t match his eyes.
“Can I walk?”
“No,” he said immediately.
“Why not?”
“Because this is Crescent City,” he replied, sipping his coffee. “And I don’t like the idea of you getting lost. Or worse.”
Selene nodded slowly. “So I’m allowed to go out… as long as you’re watching.”
Richard smiled slightly. “I prefer to think of it as looking out for you.”
She didn’t answer.
He checked his watch.
“I’ll be back by seven,” he said. “We’re going out tonight. Wear something black.”
Before she could say anything, he was already walking away. Back to the door. Back to whatever world he ruled before she came into it.
And then he was gone.
---
The day crawled.
Selene didn’t leave the penthouse. She stared out the windows. Tried to read a book. Gave up. Took a shower. Sat on the couch. Tried not to think.
But her mind refused to stop spinning.
She kept hearing his voice.
> “A child would ruin everything…”
She pressed her hand gently against her stomach again.
No bump. Nothing visible. But her body felt different. Tighter. Warmer. Like something was growing inside her that didn’t belong to this life.
She didn’t take the car.
She didn’t eat.
She waited.
---
By the time Richard came back, the sky outside had turned pink.
He looked just as sharp. Not a wrinkle in his shirt. Not a hair out of place. But his jaw was tense.
He handed her a box.
Inside was a dress.
Black. Satin. Bare shoulders. Deep cut down the back.
No bra.
No choice.
“Put it on,” he said.
She did.
He watched her from the doorway as she moved around the room. Not like a lover. Not like a friend.
Like a man watching something he owned.
---
They drove in silence. A different car this time—sleek and silver. The driver didn’t speak. Richard didn’t either.
Selene stared out the window, lights flashing past.
They pulled up in front of a tall building with gold lights and dark glass. People were already gathered at the entrance—men in tailored suits, women in shimmering gowns, camera flashes going off.
Richard stepped out first.
He didn’t open her door.
The driver did.
Selene followed him up the steps. Her heels clicked on the stone. Her dress pulled tight across her chest.
Inside, the air was colder. The floor was marble. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Waiters in white gloves moved through the crowd with silver trays.
Everyone turned to look at her.
Not long. Just enough.
Just enough to say she didn’t belong.
Richard moved through the room like he owned it. Every few steps, someone stopped him. A handshake. A nod. A question.
Selene stood beside him like a shadow.
He didn’t introduce her.
He didn’t hold her hand.
He just kept her close, like a silent warning.
She started to feel the tightness in her chest again.
Then she saw him.
An older man.
Tall. Slim. Hard face. Silver hair slicked back. Gray eyes like knives.
He walked straight toward Richard.
Selene stepped back instinctively.
The man didn’t look at her. He spoke in a voice low and sharp.
“You’re late.”
Richard’s jaw tightened. “Traffic.”
“You’ve been avoiding my calls.”
“Because they’re always about the same thing.”
“And yet you never listen,” the man said, smiling coldly. “No heir, no empire. You know the rules.”
Richard didn’t answer.
The man looked at Selene briefly. Just long enough to let her know he’d seen her. Judged her. Filed her away as unimportant.
Then he turned and walked off without another word.
Richard stood still for a moment.
Then took her arm gently.
“We’re leaving.”
---
They didn’t speak in the car.
Not one word.
Selene didn’t ask who the man was.
She already knew.
Someone powerful. Someone dangerous. Someone who could make Richard flinch.
She held her stomach in the dark.
Her heart thudded loud and sick.
Because something inside her had already begun to grow.
And if Richard ever found out… she wasn’t sure what he would do.
The penthouse door shut behind them with a soft click.
Selene stepped out of her heels before she even made it to the hallway. Her feet ached. Her head spun. She could still feel the weight of the old man’s eyes.
Richard walked ahead without a word.
He loosened his tie. Threw his jacket over a chair. Poured himself a drink and swallowed it in one gulp.
Selene stood by the window, arms wrapped around herself. The glass was cold under her fingers.
She didn’t speak.
She didn’t have to.
Richard finally turned to face her. His eyes were unreadable. But the tension in his shoulders hadn’t faded.
“That man,” she said quietly. “He’s important.”
He stared at her. “He’s my father.”
Selene’s stomach dropped.
Richard poured another drink. Slower this time.
“He doesn’t care about me,” he said. “Just the name. The business. The line.”
He walked toward her, drink in hand, voice bitter.
“Everything he built—he wants to pass down. But not to me. Not unless I follow his rules.”
Selene’s heart thudded. “What rules?”
Richard looked her dead in the eyes.
“Produce an heir. Get married. Settle down.”
Selene flinched.
“He thinks I need a child to be taken seriously,” Richard said. “He thinks I need… roots.”
“And what do you think?”
Richard moved closer. The drink hung between his fingers.
“I think a child is a distraction. A weakness. I don’t want anything that ties me down.”
He took a long sip, eyes still locked on hers.
Selene stepped back.
But he followed.
“Besides,” he added, his voice dropping, “I already have enough on my plate.”
He set the glass down.
Then touched her.
His hand brushed her bare arm, gentle at first. His fingers slid up, tracing the strap of her dress.
Selene tensed.
“Take this off,” he whispered.
She didn’t move.
He leaned in. His mouth brushed her ear. “I said take it off.”
So she did.
The dress slipped from her shoulders. It hit the floor in silence.
No bra. No panties. No safety.
Richard didn’t say anything.
He just stared.
Then his hands found her waist. His mouth found her neck. And everything else… burned.
They moved together through the shadows, colliding like fire and glass.
His mouth on her collarbone.
Her breath in his ear.
His hands gripped her thighs, lifted her onto the counter.
She wrapped her legs around him without thinking.
There was no pause. No question. No protection.
Just heat.
Raw. Messy. Fast.
He took her like he owned her.
She let him.
And when it was over, she lay there gasping, skin slick with sweat, heart pounding in her ears.
He kissed her shoulder.
Then left her on the counter like an empty glass.
---
She lay in bed that night wide awake.
The lights were off. The curtains were drawn. But sleep wouldn’t come.
Not when her body ached like this.
Not when her mind screamed.
She’d had unprotected s*x—again.
And he didn’t care.
She curled on her side, hand pressed to her stomach. Her eyes stung. But she didn’t cry.
She couldn’t.
Because part of her was already gone.
Swallowed by this place. By him.
Richard had wrapped her in silk and glass.
A golden cage.
And worst of all?
A small part of her was starting to believe she deserved it.
She shut her eyes.
But something shifted.
A twist.
A flutter.
Deep inside her.
She froze.
Her hand flattened over her belly.
It was too early. Too small. It could’ve been her imagination.
But it wasn’t.
Something was alive inside her.
And she wasn’t sure how long she could keep it hidden.
Not from Richard.
Not from herself.
Outside the window, the city lights blinked like warning signs.
Inside, Selene lay wide-eyed in the dark—her pulse racing with a fear she didn’t dare name.
And in the next room…
Richard stood by the bar, pouring a drink with steady hands, staring at the spot where she’d stood naked just hours ago.
He didn’t smile.
He didn’t blink.
He just muttered one word under his breath—
> “Mine.”
- Writer
