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Home / A Cage Made of Love / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of A Cage Made of Love: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

11 Chapters

Chapter 1

The moment I opened my eyes, I was lying on a soft but cheap bed.The air was thick with the smell of... instant noodles.A fuzzy little head leaned in close, and a pair of eyes that looked exactly like my first love Ethan Shaw's studied me with curiosity."Mommy, you're awake! If you'd slept any longer, Daddy was gonna throw out all my superhero cards."I sat bolt upright and looked around.A cramped bedroom. Clothes everywhere. Superhero posters on the wall. And a huge wedding portrait.The man beaming in the photo was Ethan Shaw.And the woman beside him, grinning like an idiot in a cheap wedding dress, was me.I rushed to the bathroom. The woman in the mirror had sallow skin, deep dark circles under her eyes, and hair that looked like a bird's nest.It was still my face, but the skin, the energy... it was a world apart from the me I knew.Me, Vivian Quinn, a woman whose eye cream alone cost over a thousand dollars a bottle, reduced to this haggard mess?This was worse than death."

Chapter 2

Before long, I faced my first social crisis in this world.Ethan's "mother," Diane, also known as my "mother-in-law," called on video chat.The moment I picked up, a sharp, pinched face filled the entire screen."Vivian! You fed Ethan instant noodles again, didn't you? I'm warning you, if anything happens to my son, you'll answer to me!"I froze.In my real world, I was the one doing the yelling."I'm warning you, don't think having a son makes you special. You've still got housework to do and a child to raise! Ethan works himself to the bone supporting this family!"Her voice was shrill enough to pierce glass. My first instinct was to hang up and have my legal team send her a cease-and-desist.But then I remembered: I was "housewife Vivian" now.I took a deep breath and forced a smile that probably looked worse than crying. "I understand, Diane."After I hung up, I wanted to cry from the sheer injustice of it.When Ethan came home and saw my red-rimmed eyes, he panicked.The second I

Chapter 3

A flash of panic crossed Fiona's face. She quickly covered it with her shirt. "Oh, that?" she said with a nervous laugh. "It's my son's toy. I was in a rush and forgot to take it off."She was sweating from the pain, and I figured she was just out of it. I believed her.After field day, Fiona parked herself at my house and refused to leave.She commandeered my couch and ordered Ethan around like a personal servant."Ethan, peel me an apple. I want it shaped like a bunny.""Ethan, I'm thirsty. I want freshly ground coffee. No sugar, no cream."And Ethan did it all without a single complaint.I sat there watching this bizarre scene, feeling like a stranger in my own home.That night, while Ethan was cooking in the kitchen, Fiona leaned in close and whispered, "Viv, I need to tell you a secret.""Your husband might be seeing someone."My stomach dropped. "What are you talking about?""I'm not making it up." She pulled out her phone and showed me a photo. "Look, I took this yesterday. He w

Chapter 4

Jamie's illness passed as quickly as it came.By the next day, he was bouncing off the walls and ready to go home.Ethan went to handle the discharge paperwork. Fiona had heard Jamie was sick and volunteered to pick us up.She was extra attentive today. While helping me get Jamie into his jacket, she casually set her phone on the bedside table.The screen lit up with a few new messages.I was about to tell her to grab her phone when my gaze happened to fall on the screen.It was a group chat titled: Project: Awaken Vivian Quinn (Phase One).Someone had posted: @Fiona, Mr. Shaw says you overdid the crying yesterday. Keep it toned down when you pick them up today.My blood ran cold.A second later, Fiona turned and saw the lit screen too. Her face went white. She lunged for the phone, snatched it up, and forced a laugh."Ha, just some annoying sales group. They're always spamming nonsense..."I stood there holding Jamie, frozen to the bone, but I didn't call her out. Not yet.In that mom

Chapter 5

I didn't rush home to confront Ethan.I was Vivian Quinn. A CEO who calculated every variable.Here was the situation: I was trapped inside a gigantic movie set, surrounded by actors, and the director of this whole production was my lovesick ex-boyfriend.What was his endgame? Move me to tears so I'd willingly stay and give him another baby?Really... how laughably naive.I wiped my tears, fixed my expression, and went home like nothing had happened.Ethan was busy in the kitchen, still wearing that pink apron.The moment he saw me, he came over and took my bag. "Hey, you're home. Long day? Dinner's almost ready."I looked at that tender, caring face. I felt nothing. If anything, I wanted to laugh.What a performance. The Academy owed him an Oscar."Honey," I said, putting on my sweetest smile and hooking my arm through his, "I was out today, and I suddenly got a craving for something."Ethan's face lit up. "What? I'll go get it right now!"I stood on my tiptoes and whispered in his ea

Chapter 6

Fiona was at the spa when I called."Business? Are you feeling okay, Viv? What kind of business could you possibly have? Tips on bulk-buying groceries?"Her voice dripped with contempt. She had completely forgotten that she'd hugged me and called me "sweetie" at field day.I wasn't offended. I got straight to the point. "How much is Ethan paying you a month to play my best friend? I'll triple it."Dead silence on the other end.A full thirty seconds passed before Fiona's voice came back, shaking slightly. "What... what are you talking about? I don't understand.""Don't understand? Let me rephrase." I strolled out to the balcony and watched Ethan below, rushing toward a black SUV."Project: Awaken Vivian Quinn. What phase are we at? Is Phase One wrapping up? Am I at the stage where I'm so moved by my husband's devotion that I decide to become the perfect little homemaker?"I heard Fiona suck in a sharp breath."Ms... Ms. Quinn! I... I...""Relax," I said lightly. "I told you, this is bu

Chapter 7

The next day, I kept up my act as the dutiful wife.I banged around the kitchen all morning and emerged with a plate of... something blackened.Jamie wandered over, pinching his nose. "Mommy, is this another one of your science experiments?"Without missing a beat, I packed the "charcoal-grilled tenderloin" into a lunchbox. "This is Mommy's deep love for Daddy."Then, lunchbox in hand, I followed the map to the so-called Riverton University.I had to hand it to Ethan. He had spared no expense.The "campus" sprawled out with lecture halls, a library, a gym, and students wandering the paths, looking perfectly young and carefree.If I hadn't known the truth, I would have believed every bit of it.I walked into the main building and found the lecture hall where Ethan was teaching.He was at the podium, lecturing on Shakespeare.The "students" were hanging on every word. Some were scribbling notes furiously.Great acting. I'd have to suggest Ethan give them all a raise.I didn't interrupt h

Chapter 8

I went home. Ethan wasn't back yet.I figured he was scrambling to deal with the bomb I'd just dropped.Perfectly at ease, I made myself a cup of tea and waited for him to come to me.Jamie ran over clutching his superhero toy, his little face tilted up at me. "Mommy, why did you go to Daddy's school today? That's not what the script says."I ruffled his hair. "Because Mommy's rewriting the script."Jamie nodded, though he clearly only half understood.At ten o'clock that night, Ethan finally came home.He looked exhausted and drawn. The warmth was gone from his eyes, replaced by something complicated, something I couldn't read.He didn't ask if I'd eaten like he usually did. He just walked up to me, his voice hoarse. "You know everything?"I nodded. "What, you thought your act was flawless?"He gave a rueful smile and sank into the couch across from me. "When did you start suspecting?""The moment that nurse said V801 was being held for you." I leaned back on the couch, crossed my leg

Chapter 9

I expected him to panic. To beg for forgiveness.He didn't.He just looked at me in silence for a long moment. Then he reached into his briefcase, pulled out a thick stack of documents, and placed them on the coffee table.It wasn't a business plan.The title read: Psychological Intervention and Environmental Therapy Plan for Ms. Vivian Quinn's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).I froze."What does this mean?""Viv, you really don't remember?" Pain threaded through Ethan's voice. "After we broke up ten years ago, you went to Wall Street. Not long after, you were caught in a hate-fueled mass shooting. You shielded a colleague, and a bullet struck you in the head..."My mind went blank.A shooting? Shot in the head? How could I have no memory of this?"You survived, but you were left with serious lasting effects.""Your memory became distorted. You grew paranoid, volatile, aggressive.""You shut everyone out. All you did was work. You kept making money as if it were the only thing th

Chapter 10

I didn't forgive him right away.I made him send away every last actor, director, and crew member.The city built for me became a ghost town in an instant.Just me, Ethan, and a pretend son named Jamie.I started to re-examine the past ten years.I logged into my email and found the breakup message I'd sent Ethan ten years ago.Beneath it were his replies. One after another after another.They began with pleas for me to stay, turned into worry, and finally became frantic messages as he searched the world for me after learning what had happened.I saw how he'd given up pursuing his doctorate for me, started a company from nothing, and built it into an empire, step by step.Everything he'd done was so he'd have enough power to pull me out of the abyss.Fiona reached out to me secretly and sent me a video.It showed me before I supposedly woke up in another world.In a conference room, I was hurling a report at an employee's face over something trivial, screaming hysterically, my eyes wil

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