Evelina had cried until her throat burned raw, until her tears felt dry against her cheeks and the sound of her own weeping became unbearable even to her ears. Yet still, the tears came, slow, silent, stubborn as if her body itself refused to surrender. She sat curled near the velvet curtains that draped heavily over the tall windows of her room, her fingernails digging crescents into her palms.
The words Kairo had spat hours ago still thundered inside her head: "Do you even know how to survive? All you do is cry. That's pathetic."
Pathetic. The word had cut deeper than the others. Because a part of her—ashamed, fragile—wondered if he was right. She hated herself for even considering it.
Her family's betrayal had been played on screen, impossible to deny. The sight of them smiling, accepting his money, hurt in a way no wound could ever compare to. Still, Evelina's heart clung desperately to denial, like a moth beating its wings against the flame.
But when night stretched over the mansion like a suffocating shroud, another feeling stirred inside her—a thin blade of determination. She would not rot here. She would not spend her days being spoon-fed like a broken doll while he laughed at her misery. If she couldn't believe in her family anymore, she would at least believe in herself.
Escape.
The word lit up in her mind like lightning, terrifying and blinding but alive. Evelina raised her head, her eyes drawn again to the velvet curtains. She had never looked behind them long enough—never had the courage. But now, her breath trembling, she pulled the fabric aside.
The window was larger than she expected, reaching nearly from the floor to the ceiling. Beyond it, moonlight spilled silver across the glass, illuminating the darkness of the gardens outside. For one breathtaking second, hope surged in her chest like an untamed wave.
She pressed her palms against the glass. Cold. Real. She slid the latch up, her heart hammering as the faint click echoed too loudly in the silence. Carefully, she pushed. The window groaned, inching open. A rush of cool night air brushed her face.
Freedom. Just beyond her reach.
Her fingers trembled as she gripped the sill, preparing to climb. She pulled herself up—her bare feet scraping against the frame—when her hand hit something sharp, metallic.
Her breath stilled.
She looked closer. Hidden behind the thickness of the curtains and glass, running vertically and horizontally across the frame, were steel bars. Perfectly fitted, polished, unyielding. Like the ribs of a beast designed to swallow her whole.
"No…" Evelina whispered, her voice cracking. She pressed her hands against them, pushing, pulling, anything. The bars didn't so much as shiver. Her heart plunged into a pit of despair so deep she thought she might choke.
Caged. She was caged.
Her body shook violently, her forehead pressing against the cold steel. Her breath fogged the glass as sobs forced their way back up her throat.
And then—
A low sound drifted into the room, smooth and mocking. Laughter.
Her blood froze. Slowly, she turned her head.
Kairo leaned casually against the doorframe, his broad shoulders framed in shadow, his arms crossed over his chest. His golden-dark eyes glimmered in the dim light, sharp as knives but filled with something unbearably amused.
"You really thought it would be that easy?" His voice was deep, velvet laced with cruelty. He took a step into the room, boots clicking softly against the polished floor. "A window, Evelina? Do you think I built this mansion without knowing what desperate little things like you would attempt?"
Evelina staggered back from the window, her lips trembling, but her spine pressed against the bars behind her as if mocking her retreat.
Kairo stopped a few feet away, tilting his head as though she were an animal caught in a trap. "You never stop amusing me," he said, and to her horror, he smiled. Not coldly—not with rage—but with something darker. Enjoyment.
"You're laughing?" Evelina rasped, her voice hoarse. "I—I was trying to—"
"To run?" He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. "Of course you were. It's in your nature. Like a bird slamming itself against the bars of its cage until its wings bleed. You think effort alone equals freedom."
Her knees weakened, but she forced herself to glare up at him. "You… you can't keep me here forever."
He chuckled, low and dangerous, the sound curling down her spine like smoke. "Can't I?" He leaned in, his voice brushing against her ear like a whisper meant for nightmares. "You belong to me now. Forever is the least of what I can do."
Evelina's chest rose and fell rapidly, her body betraying her fear even as she clenched her fists.
Then, unexpectedly, Kairo straightened and stepped back. He gestured toward the window, the steel bars glinting cruelly in the moonlight. "But maybe you're right," he said smoothly. "It must be suffocating, crying in a locked room, trying and failing at your pitiful little escapes."
His gaze locked onto hers, unblinking, dangerous. "So here's my generosity, little dove. You can walk. Freely. Anywhere in this mansion. Every hall, every corridor, every garden. Explore to your heart's content."
Evelina blinked, stunned. "W-what?"
"You heard me." His lips curled. "You're not a prisoner chained to a single room. You're a guest. My guest." The word dripped with mockery. "I'll even unlock the door for you."
Her mind spun. This was a trick. It had to be. Freedom handed so easily could not be real. Yet his tone carried no deception—only the sharp confidence of a man who knew escape was impossible, no matter how many doors she walked through.
Kairo moved toward the door, his hand brushing the handle. "Of course," he added, turning his head just enough for his eyes to catch hers again, "if you try to leave the mansion, you'll learn exactly how merciless my hospitality can become."
Her throat tightened. She didn't doubt him for a second.
He opened the door. The faint creak of the hinges sounded like the drumbeat of fate. "You may explore, Evelina. Cry in every room if it pleases you. Break your hands against every window. I'll watch. I'll enjoy it."
The image of his shadow over the CCTV monitors flickered through her mind, watching, always watching.
And with that, he stepped out, leaving the door wide open behind him.
For a long moment, Evelina didn't move. She remained frozen near the window, the cold steel bars at her back, her eyes locked on the open doorway.
Her heart pounded.
This was no mercy. It was a new kind of torment. A bigger cage disguised as freedom.
Still… she had to try.
She wiped her tears with trembling fingers, her breath shuddering, and took one hesitant step toward the door.
The hallway stretched wide and endless before her, lined with flickering sconces and luxurious paintings. Somewhere far away, she could almost hear Kairo's laughter echoing, invisible and inescapable.
But Evelina lifted her chin. Her wings might be broken, but she would not stop testing the cage.
Not yet.
To be continued...