Member-only story
LOVE OR PRISON
THE COURAGE TO SAY NO TO THE GOLDEN CAGE
“You have exactly thirty minutes to decide if you want to keep being a puppet or start living your own life.” Her grandmother’s words echoed through the phone as Olivia stared at the half-packed suitcase on the king-size bed in her luxury Boston apartment.
Outside, the city buzzed with typical Thursday night energy, oblivious to the drama unfolding on the twentieth floor of the most elegant building in the neighborhood. Her fingers trembled over the Chanel dress that Eleanor, her “future mother-in-law,” had insisted she wear to tonight’s engagement dinner. The sixteen-year age gap had never felt heavier than at this moment. At nineteen, Olivia was about to trade her freedom for a golden cage, and the clock kept ticking.
In her mind, flashbacks of the past year danced like scenes from an elegant horror film. The casual meeting at the hipster coffee shop where she worked, Michael striding in wearing his impeccable ten-thousand-dollar Italian suit, ordering a simple americano. The charming smile that melted her teenage heart, the deep conversations about art and life, the ambitious plans to open her own gallery. Everything seemed like a modern fairy tale — until she met the Reynolds.
Three hours earlier, she had accidentally discovered the emails exchanged between Michael and…
