Chapter 2 - The Golden Cage
The next morning,
the office felt like a different world,
shimmering with a tension I couldn't ignore.
Every time I walked past a cluster of coworkers,
their voices dropped to a conspiratorial hum.
"Did you see them?"
"She was in his car,"
the whispers chased me like ghosts down the hallway.
I sat at my desk,
staring at a spreadsheet of quarterly projections,
but the numbers were just blurred lines.
Harper slid into the chair next to mine,
her eyes wide and frantic.
"Maya, tell me everything,"
she hissed,
leaning over her lukewarm latte.
"The whole office is talking about how Nathan Carter escorted you out last night."
"He’s in trouble, Harper,"
I said,
keeping my voice so low it was barely a breath.
"His father is forcing him into a marriage,
and I’m just... I’m the girl who’s in the way."
Harper’s jaw dropped,
her hand flying to her mouth in shock.
"A marriage merger?
Like something out of a Victorian novel?"
"Exactly like that,"
I replied,
rubbing my temples where a headache was blooming.
"But he told me he wants to choose me."
"Maya, be careful,"
Harper warned,
her playfulness replaced by genuine concern.
"Men like Elias Carter don't lose,
and they don't care who they crush to win."
As if on cue,
the elevator chimes echoed through the floor,
and a man stepped out who looked like a nightmare version of Nathan.
He was older,
with hair the color of tarnished silver,
and a suit that cost more than my apartment.
Elias Carter scanned the room,
his gaze cold and clinical,
until it landed directly on me.
The air in the room seemed to vanish,
leaving us in a vacuum of silence and fear.
He walked toward my desk,
each footfall sounding like a gavel strike on wood.
"Miss Bennett, I presume,"
he said,
his voice like dry parchment rubbing together.
I stood up,
trying to find the spine I had been building for twenty-eight years.
"I am,"
I said,
my voice steadier than I expected.
"I would like a word with the woman who has distracted my son from a billion-dollar deal,"
he said,
not bothering to mask his contempt.
"He wasn't distracted, Mr. Carter,"
I countered,
clutching the edge of my desk.
"He was listening."
Elias let out a short,
barking laugh that held no humor.
"Listening to the romantic delusions of an analyst?"
"He is a Carter,"
the older man sneered,
leaning in until I could smell his expensive tobacco.
"He doesn't listen to hearts,
he listens to the market."
"Stay away from him, Miss Bennett,"
he warned,
his eyes narrowing into slits.
"Or I will ensure that your career in this city ends before the sun sets."
He turned on his heel and walked away,
leaving a trail of ice in his wake.
I sank back into my chair,
my knees finally giving out.
I looked up to see Nathan standing at the glass doors of his office,
watching his father leave.
Our eyes locked,
and in that moment,
I saw the bars of the cage he lived in.
He picked up his phone,
and a second later,
mine buzzed on the desk.
Don't listen to him,
May you like
the message read.
Meet me on the roof in five minutes.
