Chapter 3 - The Gilded Cage of Newport
Two days later, the black Maybach swept through the towering wrought-iron gates of Ashford Manor—Ethan’s sprawling, centuries-old stone estate perched dramatically on the jagged cliffs of Newport, Rhode Island.
Maya sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window in stunned silence. The estate looked like something dragged out of a Gothic romance novel. Massive stone walls, towering oak trees, manicured lawns stretching down toward the churning, slate-gray Atlantic, and a main house that resembled a European castle.
When the car glided to a halt in front of the grand double doors, a butler in a crisp black suit and an elderly woman with silver hair neatly tied back stepped forward to open the doors.
“Welcome home, Mr. Vale,” the butler said smoothly, bowing slightly before turning his polite, masked gaze toward Maya.
“I’m not staying,” Maya whispered fiercely to Ethan as he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened her door. “This is insane. You’ve brought me to a fortress!”
“It’s a home,” Ethan corrected quietly, offering his hand to help her out.
Maya ignored his hand, swinging her legs out of the car herself. She winced slightly as her abdominal muscles pulled, and before she could take a step, Ethan scooped her up effortlessly into his arms, bridal-style.
“Ethan! Put me down right now!” she hissed, her face burning crimson as the servants averted their eyes with absolute, practiced professionalism. “I can walk!”
“You’re recovering from major surgery,” he replied, carrying her up the massive stone steps as if she weighed nothing at all. “And you will walk when Dr. Sterling says you can walk. Until then, you are my guest.”
“Hostage, you mean!”
“Semantics,” he muttered, kicking the heavy oak front door open with his foot.
The interior of Ashford Manor was breathtaking. Vaulted ceilings, massive crystal chandeliers, walls lined with priceless oil paintings, and an enormous marble fireplace that dominated the grand foyer. But to Maya, the opulence felt suffocating. It was a gilded cage, built by a man who didn't know the meaning of the word no.
He carried her up a sweeping mahogany staircase, down a long hallway draped in dark velvet curtains, and pushed open a set of double white doors leading into the master guest suite.
The room was larger than Maya’s entire apartment in Queens. A king-sized bed draped in white silk sat in the center, flanked by floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the roaring ocean below. A roaring fire crackled in the marble hearth, filling the room with the scent of burning birch and subtle vanilla.
Ethan laid her down gently against the mountain of goose-down pillows, adjusting the heavy wool blanket over her legs.
“Mrs. Gable will bring you up some light broth and your prescription painkillers in twenty minutes,” Ethan instructed, standing tall beside the bed. “I have a conference board meeting via satellite in ten minutes. Rest.”
“Ethan,” Maya said, her voice softening slightly as she looked up at him. The anger was fading, replaced by a deep, unsettling confusion. “Why are you doing all this? Really. I’m just... I’m nobody. I work payroll. I live paycheck to paycheck. There are women in your world who would kill to be in this house. Why me?”
Ethan stopped walking toward the door. He didn't turn around immediately. His broad shoulders squared beneath his dark shirt, his hands clenching into tight fists at his sides.
“Because for thirty-four years, everyone in my world wanted something from me,” Ethan said, his voice dropping into a low, haunted rumble. “My money. My power. My ruin. When you collapsed in that restaurant, you didn't look at my suit or my bank account. You just looked like a girl who needed help. And for the first time in my life, I wanted to give it.”
May you like
Before Maya could answer, he turned and walked out of the room, the heavy oak door clicking shut with a finality that echoed in the quiet suite.
Maya lay back against the pillows, staring up at the ornate plaster ceiling, her heart hammering against her ribs. She was trapped in a fortress built by a billionaire who was slowly, terrifyingly, becoming her entire world.
