Chapter 138 Into the Cage by Choice
The first drawing showed Edith with a shy smile, as he knelt on one knee, holding up a ring in proposal.
The second was a church aisle. They stood hand in hand before the minister, exchanging rings.
The third was a nursery. Edith's slightly rounded belly pressed against his chest as they looked together at an ultrasound image.
The fourth, fifth, sixth… all of them were Edith and him.
Their proposal. Their wedding. Honeymoon. Pregnancy. The baby's birth. First steps. First words. Weekend family picnics. Falling asleep in each other's arms at night…
Caroline's fantasy. If Edith had lived, this was the happy life she imagined they would have shared.
So… Caroline had always wanted Edith to live? To be with him?
But where was she herself in all of this?
In these beautiful dreams filled with Edith, there was no place for Caroline.
His gaze trembled and fell on the last drawing.
A skeletal woman in prison clothes curled in the corner of a massive iron cage, arms wrapped around her knees, face buried deep in the crook of her elbow.
In her bone-thin hand, she clutched a key.
At the very bottom of the page, a few lines of tiny writing read:
[Edith said to take care of Mom and Dad. To marry Alexander. She told me to live well. To live for both of us.]
[Don't worry. I will live.]
[Even if it is only for one more breath.]
A roar filled Alexander's ears.
So that was it!
That morning when she cried and begged him to marry her—it had not been because she had drugged him. It had not been to replace Edith.
It was because that was Edith's dying wish.
Caroline had not walked into the cage he built for her.
She had locked herself inside a cage called Edith's Last Wish, bringing the key that could free her inside with her.
Because she had promised Edith she would live. Even if it meant living in hell.
Alexander let out a strangled roar, collapsed to the floor, and clutched his head in agony.
"Sir! What is wrong?!"
Liam, stationed outside, heard the commotion and burst through the door.
"Get away!" Alexander knocked aside Liam's outstretched hand. "Where is Caroline?! Take me to her!"
"In her room!" Liam answered quickly.
Alexander shot to his feet and stumbled out of the meeting room.
He had to find Caroline.
Apologize? Repent? He did not know.
He only knew he had to see her. Right now.
He shoved the hospital room door open.
The sight before him froze him in the doorway.
Caroline stood barefoot in a patch of sunlight by the window, moving slowly—dancing.
Ballet.
The movements were awkward, stiff. Her body swayed when she turned, her footing unsteady when she landed.
But her expression was utterly serious, as if she were reverently recreating some fragment from memory.
Alexander's eyes narrowed sharply.
These steps… he recognized them.
The most basic ballet combination Edith had learned as a child.
Edith had danced it for him once—light and graceful, like an elegant little swan.
Later, during the days when his torment of Caroline was most brutal, he had commanded her to imitate Edith.
Her clothes. Her makeup. The cadence of her speech. Even Edith's beloved ballet.
He had hired Edith's ballet teacher and forced Caroline, who had no dance training, to learn.
He had watched coldly as she turned pale from the pain of leg stretches and back bends. Watched the teacher strike her calves with a ruler when her form was wrong. Watched her fall again and again, knees bruised purple and blue.
He had said, "Make it look more like her. Edith danced beautifully. You look like a clumsy duck."
He had said, "Keep going. Dance until I am satisfied. Otherwise, you know what happens."
He had used her as a substitute to remember Edith, then despised her for not being enough like her—humiliating and tormenting her again and again.
And now, Caroline stood in the sunlight, dancing that routine that had once left her body covered in injuries.
A missed turn. She lost her balance and fell hard onto the cold floor.
Alexander's heart clenched, his instinct urging him to rush forward.
But Caroline seemed not to feel the pain. She sat there, head down, staring at her bleeding ankle.
She tilted her head slightly and spoke softly to the empty room.
"I am so stupid… my feet are bleeding and I still cannot get it right…"
"He made me learn this. He said that when I dance, I look a little like Edith. It makes him a little happier…"
Her brow furrowed lightly, as if puzzling through something difficult.
"If I cannot dance well, I will not look like her. He will not be happy. Then I will have broken Edith's wish…"
"Edith said to take care of him. I promised. I have to keep my promise."
She looked down at her bleeding foot, silent for several seconds.
Then she pressed her hands to the floor and struggled to her feet.
She positioned herself again, rose onto her toes, lifted her arms.
She fell again. Got up. Continued.
Alexander's body shook violently in the doorway. He staggered back two steps, gasping for air, trying to suppress the pain in his chest. But he could not. It only grew stronger.
Until finally his lashes trembled and a tear rolled down.
He raised his hand and touched it in a daze.
He was crying—for Caroline.
Alexander's knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor.
Caroline did not hear the sound at the door. She kept dancing. This time, she finally completed the entire routine.
"I did it! Edith! Did you see?"
She looked at her reflection in the glass with delight, rushed forward, and embraced her own shadow.
"I look so much like you now, do I not? Alexander wants me to become you. That will make him happy! Edith, I have not failed you!"
"Caroline…" Alexander's voice came out in a hoarse whisper.
Caroline seemed to finally hear him. She turned and nearly ran toward him.
Her bleeding ankle left a trail of bright red marks across the floor.
"Alexander, you came!" She grabbed his hand. "I learned the dance Edith used to do! Let me show you!"
"Do not dance anymore." Alexander reached for her, trembling.
"Watch! You used to love watching Edith dance, did you not? I am doing it right now! I am so close!"
Caroline tried stubbornly to pull away.
"Stop dancing!"