The lock clicked open. I heard David's slow footsteps moving away from my door. I was free to walk the halls for the first time in weeks. But I did not feel free. I felt like bait. Hayden had given me freedom to see what I would do with it.
I did not go to the garden. I went straight to the recycling bin and dropped my recipe note. It was a short one. I hoped Grace would find it and understand.
I spent the afternoon sitting in the library. I read a book. I watched the clock. I did not try to escape. I played his game. I wanted him to think I was a good, broken wife.
Hayden came back late. I was already in my room. David was outside my door again.
Hayden walked into my room without knocking. He had a small box in his hand. It was velvet and dark blue.
"I have something for you," he said.
I looked at him. He was wearing a fresh suit. He looked tired from his business meeting.
"What is it," I asked.
He walked over to me and held out the box. "An apology," he said. "For locking you up and treating you badly. I was wrong to lose my control."
I took the box. It felt heavy. I opened it slowly.
Inside was a necklace. It was a thick chain of silver. The stone in the middle was a dark blue sapphire. It was very beautiful. And very expensive.
"Hayden, this is too much," I said.
"Nothing is too much for my wife," he said. He smiled. It felt wrong. It was too calculated. Like he was checking off an item on a list.
"I don't want it," I said. "I want my freedom. I want my dad's company back."
He ignored that. He reached into the box. He took out the necklace.
"I insist you wear it, Aliyah," he said. "It will show the world we are a united front. It will show them that our marriage is strong. It will show them that you trust me again."
He moved behind me. He did not ask. He just moved my hair and put the cold metal around my neck. The sapphire stone rested right in the dip of my throat.
He fastened the clasp. His fingers were cold.
"There," he said. "It suits you. Wear it always. It is my gift to you."
He stepped back. He looked at me with satisfaction.
"Thank you, Hayden," I said. My voice was dull. I knew I had to pretend to like it.
He stayed for ten minutes. He talked about his meeting. He talked about a company he was buying next. He talked like I was a person and not a prisoner. But he was just talking to the necklace.
When he left, he did not lock the door. That was his new freedom. He was trusting me, but I knew the necklace was why.
I walked over to the mirror. I looked at myself. The sapphire was huge. It looked like a very expensive collar.
I touched the stone. It was cold. I felt a small bump on the back of the clasp. It was not smooth like the rest of the chain. It was a little square piece of metal.
I tried to turn the necklace around. I needed to see the back.
I unfastened the clasp slowly. I turned the necklace over in my hand.
The square piece of metal was stuck to the back of the clasp. It was silver. It had two tiny, almost invisible screw heads.
I pressed the small bump with my finger. It was slightly warm.
My heart started to pound hard. This was not jewelry.
I ran to my desk. I grabbed a tiny, sharp pin I used for my hair. I started to carefully scrape at the seam of the small metal square.
The plastic cover chipped away. Underneath was a tiny green light. A chip. And a battery spot.
Rage hit me. A blind, hot wave. He was not giving me an apology. He was putting a tracking device on me. The necklace was not an apology. It was a leash.
He gave me freedom to see where I would run, and this necklace would tell him my exact location. He did not trust me at all. He knew I was planning something. He was waiting for me to make a move.
"He is going to kill me," I whispered.
I grabbed the necklace with both hands. I pulled hard. The delicate chain snapped. The sapphire rolled across the floor.
I ran to the bathroom. I locked the door. I looked at myself in the mirror. I was red faced and shaking.
I lifted the heavy glass perfume bottle from the counter. I hit the mirror as hard as I could.
The mirror shattered into a thousand pieces. I stood there, breathing fast, looking at my broken reflection. I wanted to break everything in the room. I wanted to break Hayden.
I had been so stupid to think his kindness was real.
I threw the perfume bottle at the wall. It hit with a loud smash.
I stayed there for five minutes. Breathing fast. Crying without tears. Just pure, silent rage.
Then I heard a soft knock on the door.
"Aliyah," Margaret's voice was outside the door. "Are you all right there. I heard a loud noise."
I froze. I had to hide my reaction. Hayden would know. He would know I found the tracker.
I unlocked the door and pulled it open.
Margaret stood there. She saw the smashed mirror. She saw the broken glass on the floor. She saw my shaking hands.
"What happened, dear," Margaret asked. Her face was worried.
"I dropped a bottle," I said. My voice was shaky. "The perfume bottle. It slipped out of my hand and hit the mirror. I'm sorry. I will clean it up."
Margaret looked at the mirror. Then she looked at me. She saw something was wrong. But she was kind.
"No, no," she said. "Don't worry. I will get Grace and we will clean it. Just be careful with the glass."
She did not ask about the rage in my eyes. She did not ask why I had hit the mirror so hard.
I let her leave. I closed the door. I walked back to the desk.
I found the sapphire necklace. I picked up the chain. I picked up the small piece of metal that was the tracking device.
I took the pin again and I broke the tiny green chip into dust. I smashed it with the back of the perfume bottle cap. I wiped the dust away.
Then I put the necklace back together. I found a tiny piece of thin wire from my broken hair clip. I used it to reconnect the chain and the clasp. It was rough, but it held.
I put the necklace back on. I put it on my neck. I fastened the clasp. The chain was slightly bent.
I stood in front of the window. I looked at my reflection in the dark glass.
I was wearing his leash. I was pretending submission. I was the good, broken wife who loved his apology gift.
But the real gift was the knowledge. I knew he was watching. I knew he was waiting for me to run.
Now I knew how to play the game better. I could wear the tracking device, but it was broken. I could pretend to be safe and obedient. And he would think he knew exactly where I was.
I did not have to hide the notes in the recycling bin anymore. I could just walk out the door. The time to run was coming soon but not yet. Not until I knew when Alex was ready. I had to wait for the perfect moment. I would wear the broken leash until the very end, i was going to use his calculated gesture against him.