They then put me in a gilded cage, a lavish villa dressed up in princessy splendor. All the luxury in the world surrounded me, but I felt like a corpse as I couldn’t move freely.
Several private doctors came to treat me, and they quickly stitched and bandaged the wound I’d opened with the table knife.
Just then, the butler’s voice came through the window.
“Mr. Oliver, Miss Dunn’s baby was only stressed. There’s nothing serious happened with the child.”
Only then did Cade relax, but he still stationed ten more guards to watch me closely. While he made sure I was well-fed and that I lacked nothing, he confiscated every sharp thing in the house. Not even a table knife remained.
“Miss Dunn,” the butler sighed, puzzled, “Mr. Oliver has already promised to marry you. If you quietly give birth, you’ll have wealth and comfort. Why would you choose otherwise?”
I didn’t answer. I just laughed coldly. “That wedding, whatever it was, was just for show. Saying he’d marry me was nothing but an act.”
The butler opened his mouth to argue, but I cut him off with a look sharp enough to wound.
Everyone in the Olivers' household treated me like a madwoman. They didn’t dare speak to me much, afraid of getting into trouble.
I lay there in bed for a week until one day, a curious face appeared at the window. It was a little girl in a princess dress peering in.
Phoebe's POV
“So you’re Phoebe?” the little girl snorted, narrowing her eyes. “You’re not even that pretty. If it weren’t for the Olivers' blood running through you, do you really think Cade would give you a second glance?”
“And that wedding?" she scoffed. "Don’t be delusional. In Cade’s eyes, you were just a cheap breeder.”
Her words landed like ice. But upon looking at her, she was clean and pampered, looking every bit the sheltered child I’d heard about. Margaret Jarvis, the pure, naive foster girl, Cade kept hidden away. Six years ago, he’d supposedly saved her life. Everyone in the city knew she existed.
My interest sharpened. Cade had ruined me. I wonder what his face would look like if I killed the one he’d kept like a pet.
A cold smile tugged at my lips. The prey really had walked right into my trap.
I waved her over. “Come here. I have something for you.”
That evening, after Cade tended his wound, he finally came to see me.