The Golden Cage

Bella

The bedroom I was given was bigger than my entire apartment that the bank almost took away from me.

Deep down, I told myself that it was a good thing. Even after I said that to myself more than three times, it was hard to believe in even one of them.

I was shown my quarters and at that moment, it felt like I was a worker in the mansion. The quarters were quite distant from Alex's suite. Then I remembered that it was part of the contract.

The room was beautiful and far from impeccable; It had silk drapes with a vase of fresh rises by the bedside. Its scent filled the entire room, and there were just more features as I looked through each corner.

I opened my mouth slowly to behold the wonders of the room, a type I hadn't seen in a long time of being born into this harsh world.

I was awed by everything I saw, but at the same time, I felt suffocated. It was purely vanity in all forms.

Deep down, I knew I was crawling into my own doom. Because it already started feeling like a cage. I felt like I was going to meet my end right inside this room.

Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. The sound was sharper than my heartbeat, which already sank into my stomach after my realization.

I walked briskly to the door to see who it was.

“I'm sorry for disturbing…” The elderly woman's voice was brisk, yet soft.

"I just needed to tell you that if you need anything, I'll always be here to help you.” She added.

I nodded in response, " Thank you very much.”

I appreciated her as she could save me from the clutches of the rules of this contract. Then, the door was shut and she left. My phone continuously beeped like it was beeping for a long time and I had no idea about it.

I picked my phone to see who was calling.

Valerie calling…

There was nothing to be afraid of. I knew her inside out.

“What in the root of hell is wrong with you? Why do you stress me out?” I nagged before I could even hear her speak.

“I'm still shocked. I never knew that you could stoop so low, Bella." She sounded like she was weeping, but with a bad mouth as well.

I tutted and smiled over the phone.

“You have no idea about the type of person you are dealing with. You underestimated me and that's exactly what you'll get if you do it again," I retorted angrily.

“He is not a good man, Bella. I mean, why did you think I left? Why did you think I returned his diamond ring?” She tried explaining in a bid of manipulation.

"Then you should not be bothered about me. It's not like you care about me either,” I replied coldly.

"Don't call me again, Valerie.” I switched and asked her nicely before ending the call.

I dropped the phone and whimpered.

It wasn't my dearest intention to do so. Everything just spilled the truth that she wasn't really who she was.

I had to sink into the realization that there was nothing more I could do.

"Bella, what's going on?” Mr. Blackwood stormed into the room without knocking.

I was very startled, but there was nothing much to say. I was shocked too.

"Why did you storm into the room like that?” I asked to know, not with the intention of starting an argument.

"You have no idea what you're into. Because if you did, you wouldn't be asking such questions,” he retorted as he walked closer to me.

"I asked a question,” he uttered, reminding me of what he said earlier.

“I was going to change and go to bed," I replied coldly. The pregnancy fatigue became too heavy to carry.

I was tired, and all I needed then was to rest.

"You're in Blackwood's mansion, woman!" He cautioned me and my eyes widened.

“I might break down the next day if I followed you for dinner,” I added, trying so hard to convince him.

"Why do you break down? You aren't food in the stomach. Stop being lazy. I don't see where that is written in the contract.”

His tone was growing to be different. It was my first official night here, and I just had to go along with everything.

I had to pull myself together.

We left the room at separate intervals, but when it was time to walk down the stairs, he was holding my hand like he was never going to let go.

All fake!!

My heart fell heavy as I smiled at the corner of my mouth as he walked me down the stairs. When he reached the dining table.

The details were too sophisticated for me to explain because of how fatigued I was. Everyone welcomed us, except one person.

He didn't look like he was family. He acted like he was forced to stay at the dining table, but when looking at me, he displayed a totally different aura that made me feel anxious.

This left me curious.

However, as I settled on the dining table and smiled at everyone, my phone beeped.

I received $5,000 in my account. Goosebumps stuck to my body and chills ran down my spine.

Because even in my existence as an event planner, it would take a lot of work, a lot of convincing to make a client pay such. It was indeed a golden cage. I had to do anything they wanted and money was going to be thrown in my face.

Tears stunk my eyes because this was the only amount of money I needed to claim my family house back. It was the only thing that would have saved me from the mess of not getting married to my best friend's ex-fiancé.