Chapter 4 — The Gilded Cage

Lila

The air inside the mansion was thick, almost suffocating, as if the storm outside had seeped into its very walls. The steady drizzle tapping against the tall windows was a constant reminder of the world beyond—the one I couldn’t reach. It wasn’t just the rain. It was the weight of the silence, the looming emptiness of the halls, the press of unseen eyes from the hidden cameras I kept spotting. Every step I took deepened the sense that I was being watched, studied, contained.