Gilded Cage
In a city where secrets fester and shadows dance, Isolde, a seemingly ordinary cafe worker, finds her quiet life shattered by an anonymous admirer. A mysterious perfume, a choker of obsidian diamonds, and unnerving gifts begin to unravel her reality, drawing her into the orbit of Dante Valencourt, a man as beautiful as he is brutal. He sees her, watches her, and orchestrates her world with chilling precision, eager to claim her as his ultimate masterpiece. Will she break free from his gilded cage, or become another exquisite, broken piece in his collection?
The torture cell underbelly reeked of iron and regret. Stone walls, slick with condensation, swallowed the flickering torchlight as Dante Valencourt descended the spiral staircase, his polished Oxfords clicking like a deathwatch beetle.
His silhouette—broad-shouldered, towering—cast a shadow that devoured the corridor. The air grew colder, heavier, as he approached the steel door at the end of the hall. He didn't hurry. Time bent to him here.
Inside the chamber, Étienne Leclerc hung suspended by chains, wrists raw and weeping. His once-arrogant smirk had rotted into a grimace. Blood crusted his temple, his tailored suit now shredded, a mockery of the loyalty he'd sworn.
