Chapter 6
The ride to Alessandro’s estate was silent. Neither of us spoke, and I didn’t dare look at him. It wasn’t fear that kept me still, it was exhaustion. The weight of everything pressed down on the suffocating, leaving no room for anything else.
By the time we arrived, the house was dark, looming in the distance like a shadow waiting to swallow me whole. The staff was lined up outside, bowing as we stepped out of the car. I ignored them. Alessandro did too.
Inside, the house was colder than I expected. Elegant, expensive, but lifeless.
I followed Alessandro up the grand staircase, every step feeling heavier than the last. When we reached the master bedroom, he stopped at the door but didn’t open it. Instead, he turned to face me, his dark eyes scanning my face as if searching for something.
“I had a separate room prepared for you,” he finally said, his voice deep and cold.
“You are allowed wherever you please in this house, and you can use whatever you want. You can take your time in exploring if you would like.” He explained but my mind was so far away.
I didn’t respond to him but I followed him when he opened the door. The moment I stepped in it, my mouth fall open in surprise. The room was huge, bigger than even my father’s office. The bed had was a king size with an ornate, dark wooden frame, draped in the finest silk sheets. A chandelier hung from the high ceiling, its dim light casting delicate shadows across the room. The walls were a soft cream, but the decor was impersonal–luxurious, yet devoid of warmth.
I didn’t know what I had expected. Perhaps something more suffocating, something that screamed prison. Instead, this was a gilded cage, beautiful but empty.
“This is my room?“, I asked totally bewildered.
“I do not enjoy repeating myself“, Alessandro’s sharp tone cut through the quiet, making my spine stiffen. I turned to face him fully, searching his expression for any hint of warmth or leniency. There
was none.
“Right,” I muttered, glancing away. I shouldn’t have expected anything else. This wasn’t a home, it was a contract, a forced arrangement neither of us wanted
“I will be heading to my office. It is downstairs, simply ask one of the maids or my private butler, Jamison, where it is. As for any other time of the day, my bedroom is across from yours. You are welcome whenever you please if I am in there, but not when I am gone. I have business to take care of for now.”
I listened closely to what he said, not until when I bit my lip absent mindedly.
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Chapter 6
Alessandro’s gaze nickered to my mouth for the briefest moment, his expression unreadable Whatever thought crossed his mind, he dismissed It just as quickly.
“If you need anything, ask the staff. They will provide it.”
I exhaled, relief washing over me in waves. I had prepared myself for worse, “Pine,”
Alessandro didn’t linger, and with a curt nod, he turned and left the room. The sound of his footsteps faded down the hallway, and I was left in the silence, the air heavy with the weight of his
absence.
I stood there for a long moment, staring at the door as if it might offer some kind of comfort, but there was none. The room, despite its opulence, felt cold and foreign. It was everything I had feared
beautiful but impersonal, a cage disguised as luxury.
I slowly walked toward the window, pulling back the heavy curtains to reveal the vast expanse of the estate. The grounds stretched out before me, darkened by the night, but even in the dim light, I could see the pristine beauty of it all. It was all so perfectly manicured, like everything else in this house–a show, a performance. But I wasn’t part of it. I wasn’t meant to belong.
I glanced back at the door. Was this my life now? To exist in this house, a stranger to its walls, a prisoner to its grandeur?
The thought made my chest tighten, but there was nothing I could do. I wasn’t free. I wasn’t in control of my life anymore. Alessandro had taken that from me.
With a sigh, I walked back to the center of the room and looked at the bed. It loomed there like silent judge, waiting for me to make my choice. Would I lie down and pretend to sleep, pretending that everything was fine? Or would I remain awake, consumed by the thoughts swirling in my mind?
The weight of the silence pressed down on me, making everything feel ten times worse.
I sank onto the edge of the bed, rubbing my temples in an attempt to clear the fog. How could I get through this? How could I make it out of this without losing myself entirely?
A knock at the door startled me. I tensed, half–expecting Alessandro, but when I opened it, a maid stood there, avoiding my gaze as she held out a folded set of clothes.
“Master Alessandro requested these be brought to you.” Her voice was polite,
emotionless.
I took them without a word, closing the door before she could say anything else.
Changing into the fresh clothes, I sank beneath the blankets, but sleep didn’t come easily. My mind refused to quiet, replaying every moment of the day–the cold ceremony, my father’s satisfied expression, Alessandro’s unreadable gaze.
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Chapter 6
I wasn’t naive. This arrangement wasn’t about love, or even companionship. It was about power, obligation. A contract sealed with rings and signatures, not emotions.
And yet, as I lay is the unfamiliar bed, staring at the ceiling, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that Alessandro wasn’t as indifferent as he wanted me to believe
I drifted in and out of sleep, my body exhausted, but my mind refusing to quiet. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw flashes of the wedding my father’s cold approval, Alessandro’s impassive expression, the weight of the ring on my finger like a shackle..
At some
point, I must have dozed off, because a sharp knock jolted me awake. My heart stammed against my ribs as I sat up, disoriented. The room was still dark, the heavy curtains drawn shut, but the clock on the wall read past midnight.
Another knock, more impatient this time.
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