THE MANSION.

Jessica’s phone slipped from her fingers and shattered on the marble floors. 

For a moment no one moved. Silence. No movement.The ballroom had held it’s breath.

Then the silence came  thick, suffocating, pressing against her ears until she thought her skull would split.

They killed her.

Her knees buckled.

John caught her before she hit the floor. His arm wrapped around her waist, strong and unyielding, holding her upright like a puppet on strings. To the guests, it looked tender, romantic and protective.

Applause scattered uncertainly through the hall.

John leaned in closer to Jessica with his lips brushing her left ear.

“She’s alive,” he whispered. “For now.” He added.

The words slid into her spine like ice. Jessica’s vision swam. The officiant resumed speaking as if nothing had  happened. Love. Devotion . Eternity 

All lies. 

“Jessica Cooke, do you take John Lewis, as your lawfully wedded husband?” The officiant asked 

“Yes, I do” Jessica replied with her voice cracking.

“John Lewis, do you take Jessica Cooke, as your lawfully wedded wife?”

“Yes,I do”

“You may now kiss your bride” the officiant said. 

The room was filled with applauding sounds. To them, the view was romantic. But Jessica’s reaction told a different story. 

The kiss was brief.

She didn’t remember saying I do. She didn’t even remember the ring sliding unto her finger. She only remembered the gun shot sounds and only cared to find out what they had done with her mother. As they stood up to walk out, John gripped her waist tight from behind. It was a silent command reminder. 

“Mrs. Lewis . Mrs Lewis smile for the camera.” 

“Look her”

“Mrs. Lewis”, she whispered to herself. 

it hit her again. But harder this time.

She was officially married.

Voices congratulating her.

Champagne glasses pressed into her fingers.

Her name dissolving.

Mrs. Lewis.

Mrs. Lewis.

Mrs. Lewis.

Each repetition sounded like a hammer sealing a coffin shut.

John never left her side. His hand stayed at the small of her back, guiding every step, every smile, every nod. She felt owned. Displayed. Contained.

By the time they escaped into the car, Jessica felt hollowed out.

The doors shut,The noise vanished,Silence rushed back in.

Then,she  jerked away from him.

“You said she’s alive,” she whispered. “Prove it.”

John loosened his tie slowly, like a man finishing a long meeting. Not a groom who had just threatened a life.

“Relax,” he said.

Her chest tightened. “Prove it!” Her voice cracked but she was sharp and desperate for the truth.

For a flicker of a second, irritation flashed across his face. He reached into his pocket and tossed a phone into her lap.

“Answer when it rings.”

As if summoned, it buzzed.

Video call.

Jessica’s hands shook as she accepted.

Her mother appeared on the screen.

Alive,Bruised and tied to a metal chair.

Jessica’s breath broke. “Mom—”

Talia looked up, eyes wide and glassy. “Jessica— baby—- where am I?”

The question tore straight through her.

A masked man stepped into frame. He rested a gun casually against Talia’s shoulder. Not firing.

Just reminding.

Jessica’s stomach twisted violently.

“She’s breathing,” John said beside her. Calm. Detached. “As promised.”

The masked man leaned close to the camera.

“She knows too much,” he said.

The call ended.

Jessica stared at the blank screen. Her pulse thundered in her ears.

Slowly, she turned to John.

“What does that mean?”

For the first time—he hesitated.

It was small. Barely visible. But she saw it.

And fear crawled up her spine. The car slowed down. The window rolled down slowly. Jessica looked outside the window. They weren’t heading towards a mansion. They weren’t heading towards a hotel. “Where are you taking me now ?” She blurted out. 

“You will find out” He said with his eyes glued on his phone screen. 

The car slowly descended. Concrete walls swallowed the car. Harsh white lights flickered overhead. Rows of black SUVs lined an underground garage guarded by armed men. Jessica looked straight ahead and there it was a huge mansion. The car entered. And the car stopped.  Jessica’s throat tightened “Where are we ?” 

“Home” he said.  The door clicked open instantly. “We are home now m’am”. The driver said.

Cold air rushed in instantly. She stepped out onto the polished floors of the mansion. The air smelled cold and expensive, her energy shifted as soon as she stepped out. “Are you sure this is your house ?” “It feels like a prison here”. 

John looked at her and said nothing. 

The front doors opened before they reached them.

A woman stood inside.

She looked Old, Mid-fifties,with grey streaks in her  curls,she was fitted in a black uniform pressed to perfection. But her eyes — her eyes were kind.

She looked at Jessica first.

Not John.

Jessica clung to that detail like a lifeline.

“Welcome home, Mr. Lewis,” the woman said softly.

Her gaze flicked back to Jessica.

“And Mrs. Lewis.”

The title hit her chest like a weight.

John didn’t respond. He walked past them both. The woman stepped aside and leaned closer to Jessica, voice low enough that the guards couldn’t hear.

“You are safe here,” the woman said.

“Safe?” 

“Yes safe , I’m Sharon ”she added” I run this house.”

“Run this house?”  “Not work in it?”

“Yes m’am come with me I will take you to your room” 

Jessica followed her inside.

The doors shut behind them with a heavy thud.

The sound echoed.

Locked.

The foyer stretched endlessly — marble floors, glass staircase, art that looked like it belonged in museums. But the silence pressed in. No laughter. No music. No life.

A mansion built to impress.

Not to live.

Sharon guided her down a long corridor.

“ you will stay in the east wing, “ she said quietly “Mr. Lewis prefers privacy”

“Privacy?” Jessica said, almost laughing.

“Looks like privacy means something different to monsters.”  Sharon reached for the door knob and twisted it open.  The room was enormous. Something Jessica had never seen before.Floor-to-ceiling windows. Silk curtains. A bed big enough to swallow her whole. Everything white. Clean. Untouched.

Like no one had ever slept there.

Jessica stepped inside slowly. ”this is mine?”

Sharon nodded. “For now.”

Jessica turned sharply. “For now?”

Sharon’s expression flickered.

Then smoothed.

“You should change,” she said gently. “Dinner is at eight.”

Dinner.

The word sounded absurd.

Her mother was kidnapped.

She was trapped in a marriage.

And she was supposed to attend dinner?Jessica laughed. Sharon stepped closer, shutting the door behind her. “Listen to me m’am this house has rules learn them quickly and you will survive” “ you are not the first woman to be in this house, Mr. Lewis has many many women in his life and trust me he treats them like they are nothing, tosses them around and changes them like a broken chair. I’m not sure why he married you but he’s not good news.” 

Jessica’s throat tightened. “You’ve seen this before ?” 

Sharon didn’t answer. 

Her silence was all she needed to know. A knock cut through the air.

A guard stood at the door.

“Mr. Lewis requests his wife,” he said.

“Requests?” 

Sharon squeezed her hands. 

“Walk slowly never show fear”