Chapter 44 A gilded cage
CHAPTER 44: A gilded cage
Vera
The transition from the clutches of unconsciousness back to reality was a slow, agonizing crawl through thick fog. My eyelids felt heavy like lead, and my head throbbed with a dull, rhythmic ache that pulsed just behind my temples.
My lids flickered as my vision blurred into focus, and the first thing I noticed was the familiar ceiling of our bedroom. I tried to move my arm, then, I felt it…a sharp, pinching sensation on the back of my palm.
I looked down, my breath hitching as I saw the clear tubing of an IV taped to my skin. Cold and visceral terror tore through me, spiking my veins and kicking me into frantic and sudden awareness.
My free hand flew instinctively to my abdomen, my fingers splaying over the slight swell of my womb as my heart hammered against my ribs in fright.
“The baby is safe.”
Silas.
His voice was a low, jagged rasp that seemed to echo from the very depths and shadows of the room.
I recoiled, my body reflexively jerking away from the sound as the memories of the previous night came crashing down like an avalanche.
His rage. His pain. And most especially…the look of loathing and disgust in his eyes for me… It affected me more than I could have imagined.
Turning my head slowly, I found Silas seated in a wingback chair shrouded in the corner.
He looked exhausted, but his eyes burned with the same intensity they had last night. His shirt was creased, and his eyes were heavily bloodshot…rimmed with the kind of raw, exhausted torment that could only come from a night spent without sleeping a wink, just staring into nothing.
He hadn't slept.
How he must have sat there all through the night, watching me, perhaps deciding whether I deserved to breathe the same air as him.
But still he had saved my life, and my baby's. He didn't have to, but he did, despite everything he had discovered.
“Silas,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Thank you. For helping me... for saving us. Despite everything you know... Thank you.”
My gratitude was genuine, but it also riddled me with a fresh paralyzing guilt. He lost his family because of me, but he helped me last night.
The pain I saw in his eyes was pure torture, and i had put it there.
“Don’t thank me, Vera. It makes me want to be sick,” he spat, the words dripping with such raw loathing that I winced as if he’d physically struck me.
I deserved this and so much more.
I swallowed hard, gripping the sheets tightly, fighting back a fresh wave of tears.
“What have you decided? What are you going to do with me? Are you going to–to turn me in to the police?”
He stood, his movements slow and predatory as he stepped into the light.
“Believe me, there's nothing I want more than to see you rot away in a filthy prison cell for what you did.”
A hot tear slid down.
“But I am a practical man, Vera,” he added, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “I have spent my entire life building a reputation that I will not allow your filth dismantle in a single headline.” He stepped closer. “I wish that things were different, but this is the situation we find ourselves, and I have to salvage what is most important…for now.”
I bit on my lips, sobbing silently.
He looked at me, but he didn’t see my pain, if he did, he chose to ignore it.
“If I turn you in now, the scandal ruins the partnership. It ruins the very reason I entered this godforsaken marriage contract in the first place.”
“What have you decided?”
He glared at me, his jaw tight enough to crush bone.
“You will remain my wife for the duration of our two-year contract. Not a day less. Or more. I will not serve you up to your nemesis until you have fully served your purpose in our arrangement. But make no mistake about it, as soon as those two years are up and my aim is achieved, I will personally hand you over to the authorities. I will make you pay for every second of life you stole from them.”
Relief, sharp and overwhelming, flooded my chest. It was a reprieve I didn't deserve. I almost choked on my own tears.
“Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. I’ll do anything. I’ll be whatever you need—”
“You will be my prisoner,” he cut in coldly.
I nodded, severally. I would be and do anything he wanted. He was already showing enough kindness as it was.
He continued. “And since we must uphold and maintain appearances, you’d have to follow certain rules.”
“Okay. What are they?” I asked in a broken voice.
“Rule one: You do not leave this mansion without my permission. Not for any reason whatsoever. Rule two: You will fulfill your duties to the fullest. You will attend every social function, every dinner, and every board meeting I deem necessary, and you will play the part of the devoted wife with such perfection, until I say so. Rule three: On no account will you divulge whatever happens under this roof to anyone without my prior knowledge.”
I nodded, blinking back tears.
He leaned over the bed, his shadow engulfing me. I recoiled trying to sink into the mattress.
“And the final rule: If I find out you have had a single second of communication with Damien, I promise that I'll make you wish that you were in prison instead,” he warned darkly, making chills run down my spine.
I swallowed heavily, then nodded. Besides, I had no desire to have anything to do with Damien anymore.
His eyes blazed. “Disobey me, and I promise that I'll make you wish you were never born. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I agree,” I said breathlessly. “I agree with everything. I just... I have one request. Please. Don’t tell Lily. Don’t drag her into all this. Just…just punish only me instead.”
Silas stared at me, his expression unreadable and stony. He didn't offer a promise. He continued to crowd me, glaring at me.
A sharp knock at the door shattered the silence, still he didn't try to move away.
Elena peered in, her eyes darting nervously between us.
“Mr. Rutherford? I’m sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Chauncey has just arrived. He’s downstairs... and he arrived with Miss Lily.”