Chapter 2 A Gilded Cage

Ivy 

The gate shut with a loud, heavy clang, and I felt the air leave my lungs as the car stopped in front of the massive stone house. I stared at my hands in my lap, noticing how they shook.

"Welcome, Miss Carter, I am Mrs. Albright, the head of household," a woman said as she opened the car door, her voice as sharp. She was tall and slim, wearing a black dress that didn't have a single wrinkle.

"Thank you, it’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Albright," I said, trying to make my voice sound light and easy like Zara’s always did.

"Mr. Hale asks that you get settled quickly, he prefers things run on schedule, and we are already behind," she said, turning on her heel without waiting for me to respond.

"Of course, I’ll follow your lead, I don't want to cause any trouble," I said, catching up to her, my heels clicking loudly on the marble floors that cost more than the house I grew up in.

"Trouble is a luxury we don't have time for here, Miss Carter, please, follow me this way," she said, walking past paintings that looked like they belonged in a museum.

"Is the house always this quiet?" I asked, looking around the empty hallways.

"It is when Mr. Hale is resting, he values his privacy above all else, which you would do well to remember," she replied, her eyes scanning me one more time.

“I’ll be very quiet.” I clasp my hands tighter, but she didn't answer, she just led me into a massive library where a man in a very expensive suit was waiting.

"Ah, the future Mrs. Hale, you’re finally here," the man said, not even looking up from his briefcase as he spread papers across a mahogany desk.

Future Mrs. Hale. My heart thumping against my ribs so hard it hurt.

"I’m Mr. Sterling, the family lawyer, and we need to get these signatures handled immediately," he said, pointing a gold pen at me.

"Just like that? Don't I get to sit down first?" I asked, trying to smile, but he didn't smile back.

"Time is money, and we’ve already spent enough of both today, so sign here and here," he said, tapping the paper.

"Can I read them first?" I asked, reaching for the documents.

"Of course, but it’s standard procedure for an arrangement of this nature, Mr. Hale’s legal team drafted everything, so there shouldn't be any surprises," he said, though his face told me he was annoyed I was even asking.

"I just like to know what I’m signing, my father always said I should be careful," I lied, because my father actually told me to shut up and do what I was told.

"Your father has already agreed to the terms, Miss Carter, so unless you are planning to back out now, I suggest you pick up the pen," Mr. Sterling said, staring at his watch.

I looked at the lines, but the words were swimming, all I saw were things like inheritance, confidentiality, and liabilities. I thought about my mother lying in her bed back home, pale and coughing, needing the medicine my father said he wouldn't buy unless I did this. I thought about Zara, who was probably halfway across the country by now, free and happy, while I stood here in her shoes.

"Fine," I said, and I picked up the pen, feeling how heavy it was.

"Excellent, sign as Zara Carter, please," he said.

I wrote the name Zara Carter on the first page, and it felt like I was erasing myself with every stroke of the pen. I did it again on the next page, and the next, until my hand felt cramped.

"There, is that everything?" I asked, pushing the papers back.

"For now, yes, Mrs. Albright will show you to your room, dinner is at seven sharp, do not be late," he said, packing his things and walking out without saying goodbye.

"He was charming," I whispered to myself.

"He is efficient, Miss Carter, which is what Mr. Hale pays for," Mrs. Albright said from the doorway. "Come, your room is ready."

I followed her up the stairs, counting each one... one, two, three, up to twenty.

"You will change into the dress laid out on the bed," Mrs. Albright said, opening a door to a bedroom the size of my entire apartment. "Mr. Hale will meet you in the dining room."

An hour later, I was sitting at a dining table so long I could barely see the other end. Alistair Hale sat at the head, and he looked exactly like the newspapers said... powerful, cold, and older than the papers made him seem.

"You made the trip without trouble?" he asked, his voice sounding like dry leaves.

"Yes, thank you for sending a car, it was very comfortable," I said, trying to keep my hands from shaking.

"Of course," he said, looking at me.

I was so nervous I reached for my water, but my sleeve caught the silver fork next to my plate. It hit the marble floor with a loud clatter.

"I'm so sorry," I said, my face burning hot.

Alistair didn't say a word, he just watched me, his eyes dark and empty. He didn't even tell the maid to pick it up, he just let it lie there on the floor.

"Eat," he finally said.

The dinner felt like a funeral, we ate in total silence, and as soon as he dismissed me, I practically ran from the room. I needed to breathe, so I wandered down a side hallway, trying to find a way out to a porch or a garden. I stopped when I heard voices coming from a half-open door near the kitchen.

"Doctor came again yesterday, didn't he?" a woman’s voice whispered.

"He did, stayed for three hours up in the master suite," another voice replied.

"And? What did he say?"

"A year, maybe less, he’s getting worse fast, they’re just trying to keep him comfortable now," the first voice said.

I pressed my back against the cold wall, my heart hammering against my ribs. A year? Alistair was dying. I had just signed a contract to marry a man who would be dead in a few months, and I was doing it under a fake name. If he died and they found out I wasn't Zara, I wouldn't just lose the money... but what about the consequences I don’t even understand yet.

Suddenly, a loud, roaring sound broke the silence of the house. It was deep and rough, the sound of a motorcycle engine firing up somewhere in the back of the property. It didn't sound like it belonged in this quiet, stiff place.

"Who is that?" I whispered to the empty hallway.