Chapter 7 - THE TIGER’S DEN
Before dawn broke over the pine woods, I rode back to Sterling Manor under the cover of the dying rainstorm. Slipping back into the conservatory, I reached my private quarters unnoticed.
Clara was asleep in an armchair near the fireplace, but she jolted awake the moment the door clicked shut. Leo lay fast asleep on the sofa, wrapped in a plush woolen blanket, a soft look of peace on his small face.
"Is... is it true, Miss Julianna?" Clara asked in a trembling whisper, standing up. "Did you find them?"
"I found them, Clara," I said, taking her hands and giving them a reassuring squeeze. "They are alive. But until Friday, no one—absolutely no one—can know."
Clara nodded vigorously, tears of relief shining in her eyes. "My lips are sealed till the grave, miss."
By eight in the morning, the heavy footsteps of Marcus Sterling echoed down the third-floor corridor. I quickly hid Leo in the hidden dressing room behind my wardrobe—a secret space Elena and I used during childhood games of hide-and-seek—and sat at my vanity table, applying pale powder to my cheeks to give myself a look of hollow exhaustion.
A sharp knock sounded at the door, and without waiting for an invitation, Marcus stepped inside, followed by two burly guards in dark gray suits.
"Julianna," Marcus said smoothly, his eyes sweeping across the room like a hawk searching for prey. "You look dreadful. Did you sleep at all?"
"How could I sleep, Marcus?" I asked, keeping my voice frail and uneven. I turned slowly in my chair, holding my head as if stricken by a migraine. "I keep seeing their faces. I feel like I'm losing my mind."
Marcus took a step closer, his hands tucked neatly into his waistcoat pockets. "That is precisely why I am here, my dear. The servants told me you took a horse out into the storm last night. Riding alone in the dark... it’s dangerous behavior. Unstable."
He signaled to the guards behind him.
"For your own protection, I am placing security personnel outside your door," Marcus said, his tone dripping with fake sympathy. "You will remain in your suite until Friday evening's gala. I have also instructed the kitchen to send up your meals directly. Rest your mind, Julianna. Let me handle the burden of the estate."
"You are locking me in my own home?" I demanded, pushing myself up from the chair with feigned indignation.
"I am preserving what remains of your sanity," Marcus corrected coldly. "On Friday, during the gala, you will sign the trust transfer documents gracefully in front of the board. Do that, and you will live a very comfortable, quiet life in a private sanatorium in the south. Resist... and I'm afraid your mental collapse may result in a tragic, irreversible accident."
The threat was explicit now. Masked no longer.
"I understand, Marcus," I said quietly, dropping my gaze to the floor as if thoroughly broken.
Satisfied with my apparent surrender, Marcus offered a thin, victorious smile. "Good girl. Get some sleep."
He turned and walked out, the heavy oak doors locking with a resonant THUD from the outside.
Behind the wardrobe, the small wooden panel slid open, and Leo peeked his head out, his dark eyes wide.
May you like
I looked at the locked door, then turned to Leo with a cold, calm smile.
"He thinks he has caged us," I whispered. "He doesn't know we hold the master key."
