Chapter 163 The Gilded Cage

Chapter 163 The Gilded Cage
Sha's pov

The estate was cold and the halls were empty and the silence was suffocating.

I sat in my room and the windows were tall and the view was vast and the world outside was white and still. The fire was crackling and the candles were flickering and the room was warm. But the warmth did not reach me and the comfort did not touch me and the peace did not find me. I was trapped in a gilded cage and I was rotting from the inside out. The walls were covered in expensive tapestries and the floors were covered in thick carpets and the furniture was carved from dark wood. But none of it mattered. None of it could fill the emptiness that had taken root in my chest.

My father had summoned me home and my mother had pretended to be concerned and my siblings had pretended to care. But I knew the truth. They were ashamed of me and they were embarrassed by me and they were waiting for me to disappear. The suspension was meant to be a punishment and it was meant to be a lesson and it was meant to break me. But I was not broken. I was angry. I was furious. I was burning with a rage that would not be contained. It burned in my chest and it clawed at my throat and it screamed in my ears.

I had been sitting in this room for days and I had not eaten and I had not slept and I had not spoken. The food trays were left untouched and the servants whispered and the family watched. But I did not care. I did not care about anything except the hatred that was consuming me.

I stood and walked to the window and pressed my hand to the cold glass. The frost spread beneath my fingers and the cold seeped into my skin and the anger burned in my chest. The snow was falling and the world was white and the silence was absolute. I could see the gardens below and the frozen fountain and the bare trees. Everything was dead and everything was cold and everything was waiting.

"Cressida," I whispered.

The name tasted like poison and the anger flared and the hatred burned.

I had been patient and I had been kind and I had been perfect. I had waited for twelve years and I had done everything right and I had been rewarded with nothing. She had arrived and she had taken everything and she had destroyed everything and she had walked away without a backward glance. She had taken Lucian and she had taken my future and she had taken my dignity. She had humiliated me in front of the entire academy and she had laughed while I burned.

I pressed my forehead to the glass and the cold bit at my skin and the tears burned in my eyes.

"I will make you pay," I whispered. "I will make you pay for everything."

The door opened and my mother walked in.

Her hair was gray and her face was lined and her eyes were cold. She crossed the room and stood in front of me and her voice was sharp. She was carrying a tray and the food was steaming and the smell was rich. My stomach turned and my throat tightened and I looked away.

"Sha."

"Mother."

"You have been in here for days."

"I have been thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"Thinking about everything."

She set the tray on the table and her voice was low and careful. "You need to eat."

"I am not hungry."

"You need to eat."

"I said I am not hungry."

She stepped closer and her eyes were sharp and her voice was firm.

"You are wasting away. You are pale and you are thin and you are not yourself."

"I am exactly myself."

"You are not."

"I am."

She reached for my hand and her fingers were cold and her grip was firm.

"You need to let this go."

"I cannot let this go."

"You need to move on."

"I cannot move on."

She squeezed my hand and her voice was soft. "She is not worth it."

"She is worth everything."

"Sha..."

"She took everything from me. She took him. She took my future. She took my life."

My mother was quiet for a moment and her voice was soft. "You are going to destroy yourself."

"I am going to destroy her."

"Sha—"

"Leave me alone."

She stared at me and her eyes were sad and her voice was quiet.

"I am just trying to help you."

"I do not want your help."

She turned and walked out of the room and the door closed behind her. The food tray sat on the table and the steam rose and the smell made my stomach turn. I picked up the tray and carried it to the window and I opened it and I threw the food into the snow below. The plate shattered and the food scattered and the servants would clean it up.

I did not care.

The night came and the fire crackled and the candles flickered and the room was dark.

I sat on the bed and the anger was still there and the hatred was still there and the pain was still there. But the plan was there too. The plan that had been forming and the plan that had been growing and the plan that would change everything. I had been thinking about it for days and I had been refining it and I had been waiting for the right moment.

The door opened again and my father walked in.

His face was hard and his eyes were cold and his voice was low.

"Sha."

"Father."

"I have heard that you are refusing to eat."

"I am not hungry."

"You need to eat."

"I do not need to do anything."

He stepped closer and his voice was sharp. "You are embarrassing this family."

"I am embarrassing this family?"

"You are. You are throwing a tantrum like a child."

I stood and my voice was sharp. "I am not throwing a tantrum."

"You are."

"I am not."

"You are."

He stepped closer and his voice was low. "You need to get over this."

"I cannot get over this."

"You need to."

"I cannot."

He reached for my arm and his grip was firm and his voice was hard.

"You are going to destroy yourself."

"I am going to destroy her."

"Sha—"

"Leave me alone."

He stared at me and his eyes were cold and his voice was flat.

"Fine. Starve yourself. Destroy yourself. See if I care."

He turned and walked out and the door slammed behind him.

I stood in the middle of the room and the anger burned and the hatred burned and the pain burned.

I picked up my phone and dialed the number and the voice on the other end was familiar and cold.

"I need your help," I said.

"What kind of help?"

"The kind that will destroy her."

There was a pause and the voice was low.

"I am listening."

I smiled and the expression was sharp and cold.

"She has taken everything from me. Now I am going to take everything from her."

The voice was steady. "Tell me what you need."

I walked to the window and looked out at the snow and the darkness and the world that had betrayed me.

"I need her to suffer," I said. "I need her to feel what I have felt. I need her to lose everything."

The voice was low. "That can be arranged."

I smiled and the frost spread across the glass and the cold deepened and the hatred burned.

"Good," I said. "Then let us begin."