TRAPPED IN HIS GOLDEN CAGE

ITIAL

Blackwood Mansion

a wraith, unnoticed and unheard. The staff offered

y understood just as she did that she

e was mere

le in

lexander as if sh

a wife in name, with

its limits, and tha

OF ICE A

few rooms in the mansion that provided a sense of comfort. The scent

eking refuge from her suffocating reality b

through the house, followed b

ody t

xan

hadow against the flickering glow of the fireplace. His white dress shirt was slightly undone, sleeves rolled up, v

here?" His voice was de

pond, clenching the book in

ed as he approa

m her, towering above her. "Then why

Because that's exactly what I am,

ed, a flicker of dang

this," he remin

agreed to protect my family, not to

jaw twitched. "B

to the floor. "Or what, Alexander? You'll

r. "You think I have time

t?" Elena retorted. "Not for emotions. Not fo

s flared in

your

im. "Or what? You'll cast me out? Go

l, showing no si

er wrist, his grip fi

e," he said quietly. "

t of his touch seeped through her skin, whil

efore he released her, turni

wasn't f

se me so much?" H

hal

time seemed

lightly, revealing a cold

said softly. "You simply don't

eart

ered, and for the first ti

of his words or the painful acknowledgment tha

h. So ver

ng her there, submerged in

ED IN L

the night wi

out at the sprawling city lights, her

ife spiraled

n who saw her s

t appeared beautiful b

ost painf

her still sought a glimps

ve he wasn't as c

ning had pro

nsignific

, she would

r cheek, but she quickly wipe

herself to cry for

ag

M APPR

t the long dining table, stirring her coffee, while Alexander r

e were i

nched h

ired silence, h

od to leave, his vo

an event

she turned

the newspaper, his expression un

linked.

ause you're my wife. Yo

twisted wi

t was t

her. He didn't

in p

to be

bitterness, she

of his lips, as if he found her defia

se not to

way, ignoring the sensa

thin, she s

uld alter