Life Inside a Gilded Cage

The sharp scent of disinfectant seeped into Alexi’s senses. Her eyes fluttered, then slowly opened. Dimly, she saw a white ceiling overhead. When she shifted her gaze, an IV line hung beside the bed, its tube leading into her hand.

“I’m still alive.”

“Lexi.”

That gentle voice reached her ears. Moments later, a woman with brown hair appeared in front of her.

“Mom.”

“Oh God. You’re awake. Wait, let me call the doctor.” Camella hurried out of the cubicle to inform the medical staff that her daughter had regained consciousness.

Footsteps approached the bed as Alexi gathered the fragments of what had led her here. Her head felt heavy, her entire body ached.

Sure enough, the doctor and nurses surrounded her to examine her condition. Alexi remained silent, the throbbing in her head refusing to ease.

“What is your name, Miss?” the doctor asked.

“Alexi Mauren, twenty-four. Want to ask my blood type too while you’re at it?” Alexi rolled her eyes upward. Her head was pounding, and being asked trivial questions only irritated her.

The female doctor examining her smiled kindly. “We just want to make sure you don’t have a concussion, Miss. Thankfully, you seem to be doing well.”

“So my daughter is all right?” Camella stepped closer, peering at her daughter with relief written across her face.

“Yes, Mrs. Midaz. The blunt object did not cause serious damage to Miss Alexi’s head. Only bu—”

“But my head hurts so much,” Alexi cut in, holding her bandaged head.

“Are you nauseous? Is the dizziness unbearable?” the doctor asked again.

“No nausea. Just dizzy and heavy. My whole body hurts,” Alexi complained.

“Forty-eight hours. If the police are incompetent at searching, you know what to do, right? Bring her to me tonight.”

That baritone voice echoed through the emergency department of the Stockholm city hospital. It belonged to Darwis Midaz, Alexi’s stepfather. He was speaking to someone on the phone. Once the call ended, he pulled back the curtain where Alexi lay.

All eyes turned toward the tall man with a pronounced Adam’s apple and a sharp, commanding gaze. “After this, you’re coming home. Outside is not safe.”

“Which home?” Alexi replied without looking at him.

“Our home,” Darwis answered coolly, his eyes fixed on his stepdaughter.

“That’s not my home. I—”

“Don’t argue, Lexi. Look at the result of your decision to leave the house. You’re lying here helpless. Don’t think only of yourself. Your mother cried seeing you covered in blood like this. This time, don’t defy me,” Darwis said firmly, his decision final.

Silence followed. No one dared speak when Darwis spoke like that. Even Alexi turned her gaze away. This time, she had no choice. For the past year, she had lived with Arron, who had ended up hurting her both physically and emotionally.

Camella gently stroked her daughter’s wrist. “He cares about you deeply, Lexi. He canceled an important meeting just to see you,” she said softly.

“Who told you about me?” Alexi remembered that before she lost consciousness, Arron had been seen leaving their room. He must have fled.

“The building staff. Someone called them and said your number was hard to reach. He asked them to check on you, and yes, they found you and brought you to the hospital,” Camella explained.

“Who was it? A woman or a man?”

“A man.”

Alexi frowned. Who could it have been? She did not have many friends who knew where she lived. Unwilling to dwell on it, she let the thought go.

After two days in the hospital, Alexi’s condition gradually improved. She was allowed to go home, reluctantly agreeing to her parents’ wish that she stay with them.

And here she was now, inside the luxurious Mediterranean-style mansion of the Midaz family. Her mother had remarried six years ago. Once Alexi started working, she lived on her own, fell in love with Arron, and moved in with him, distancing herself from her mother’s new family.

“Your room is ready. Rest for now. I’ll be heading back to the office,” Darwis said as he led the way into the house.

“Aren’t you having lunch first?”

Darwis turned to his wife. “No, sweetheart. I have an important meeting. I already came home early, didn’t I?”

Camella nodded and received a kiss from her husband.

“If you need anything, tell your mother, Lex. This is your home too, all right.” Darwis also patted his stepdaughter’s arm.

“Thank you,” Alexi replied with a stiff smile.

“I’m sorry I haven’t found that bastard yet. But I promise I’ll bring him before you. You can choose whether he comes to you breathing or not, hmm?” Darwis said gently, protective of his daughter.

Alexi shrugged. She had no plans to retaliate against Arron. On the other hand, she felt partly at fault too. He had been enraged because of her, but he had started it first by sleeping with his boss. Why had everything become so complicated?

***

A knock on the door interrupted Alexi’s rest. She glanced toward the window, where streaks of orange spread across the sky. “Yes.” She got out of bed and went to the door.

“Did I wake you?” Camella entered the room, carrying two pieces of fabric, one black and one blush pink.

“What are those?” Alexi asked, eyeing what her mother held.

“There’s a dinner at the house tonight. Get ready.” Camella handed the two dresses to her daughter. “Choose the one that suits you.”

“It’s just a regular dinner, right? Why do I need something like this?” Alexi lifted one of the dresses. “This looks like party wear.”

“Hagia just returned from New York after a year managing the company there. She’s still on her way, so we’re having an intimate dinner.”

Hagia was her stepsister, four years older than Alexi. They rarely met, partly because they did not live together, and partly because of Hagia’s busy schedule. She was groomed to become the heir to the Midaz business, being Darwis’s only biological child. Darwis and Camella had no children together.

“Can’t it be tomorrow or another day? I just got out of the hospital,” Alexi complained. She was not fully recovered yet. She was also self-conscious about the small bandage on her head.

“This dinner was planned before the incident, Lex. Even if you weren’t hurt, I would still have picked you up for this. No matter what, you’re part of the Midaz family now. If you pull away, we’ll pull you back, Alexi.”

Alexi placed the dresses on the bed and looked at her mother intently. “Are you happy with your life now? Living inside the Midaz golden cage?”

Camella raised an eyebrow, then a smile appeared on her lips. “Why would you ask that? Don’t you feel it?”

“I feel like you’re restrained. Always following Darwis’s wishes. I don’t know if it’s really like that or if it’s just my perception.” Alexi let out a soft breath, looking at her mother with sympathy. She reached for Camella’s hand, a hand she had rarely held in a long time. “I feel like he always controls you. Like you never have room to speak. Isn’t that true, Mom?”