Chapter 3 - the golden cage
The changes came slowly enough that Lena could explain each one.
Eric disliked her late shifts because he worried about her traveling home alone.
He suggested that she reduce her hours because his colleagues might judge a partner whose wife worked as a waitress.
He asked her not to wear certain dresses because wealthy customers stared at her.
He preferred that she avoid Maya because Maya was “too cynical about marriage.”
Every request arrived wrapped in concern.
When Lena objected, Eric looked wounded rather than angry.
“I’m trying to build a life with you,” he would say. “Why are you fighting me?”
Lena began apologizing for conflicts she had not created.
Within six months, she was working only two shifts a week. Eric deposited money into a shared account and gave Lena a card for household expenses. When she tried to buy a laptop so she could enroll in online classes, the transaction was declined.
Eric claimed it was a banking error.
The card worked again the next day.
A week later, he asked to see her course schedule.
“You should wait,” he said. “We’re still adjusting to married life.”
“I can study and be married.”
“Of course you can. I’m only asking why you’re in such a hurry.”
Lena did not have an answer that he would accept.
The first time Eric frightened her, there was no dramatic argument.
They were preparing for dinner with his business partners. Lena wore a dark green dress that had belonged to her mother.
Eric looked at her for several seconds.
“Change.”
“Why?”
“It’s too tight.”
“It fits the way it always has.”
“I said change.”
The sharpness in his voice stunned her.
Lena crossed her arms.
“I’m not one of your employees.”
Eric stepped closer.
For a moment, his expression became unfamiliar.
Then he smiled.
“You’re right. I’m stressed.”
He kissed her forehead and apologized.
Lena changed the dress.
At dinner, Eric’s hand rested on her knee whenever she spoke. At first, it appeared affectionate. When she disagreed with one of his colleagues, his fingers tightened.
Later, in the private elevator, he told her she had embarrassed him.
“I answered a question.”
“You corrected a client.”
“He was wrong.”
“That isn’t the point.”
“What is the point?”
Eric pressed the button for their floor and turned toward her.
“The point is that you do not understand the kind of room you were in.”
Lena thought about the Aurora Room and the evening when Vincent’s presence had silenced powerful men.
“I understand more than you think.”
The elevator doors opened.
Eric did not speak for the rest of the night.
The following morning, a jeweler delivered a diamond bracelet.
There was no apology attached.
Eric’s gifts became more expensive as his behavior became colder.
After every argument came a dress, a handbag or a weekend trip. When Lena tried to discuss what had happened, he accused her of refusing to move forward.
“You say you forgive me,” he said. “Then you punish me by bringing it up again.”
Lena began writing incidents in a notebook, not because she planned to show anyone but because Eric had started denying entire conversations.
The notebook disappeared from her bedside drawer.
When she asked about it, Eric laughed.
“You’ve been reading too many dramatic stories.”
“You took it.”
“Why would I want your diary?”
“It wasn’t a diary.”
“Then what was it?”
Lena realized she could not answer without revealing how afraid she had become.
She started keeping notes on an email account Eric did not know existed.
Maya noticed the changes.
During one of Lena’s remaining shifts, Maya cornered her in the service hallway.
“You’ve lost weight.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“You cancel every time we make plans.”
“Eric’s schedule is unpredictable.”
Maya lowered her voice.
“Does he check your phone?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Maya took Lena’s hand.
“You don’t have to protect him from me.”
“I’m not protecting anyone.”
“Then show me your messages.”
Lena pulled her hand away.
The action hurt Maya, and Lena saw it.
“I have to get back to work.”
As Lena turned, Maya spoke again.
“Your father came here last week.”
Lena stopped.
“What?”
“Vincent Moretti. He asked whether you were safe.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That you were married and barely working.”
Lena felt exposed.
“You had no right.”
“I told him you looked tired. That’s all.”
“You don’t know what kind of man he is.”
Maya’s eyes filled with frustration.
“I know what kind of man your husband is becoming.”
Lena left before the shift ended.
When she reached the apartment, Eric was waiting beside the windows.
In his hand was the second black business card.
“Maya called the restaurant after you left,” he said. “She was worried.”
Lena looked at the card.
“Where did you find that?”
“In your winter coat.”
“You searched my pockets?”
“I was looking for the dry-cleaning receipt.”
It was always an innocent explanation.
Eric walked toward her.
“You said you didn’t want contact with Vincent.”
“I don’t.”
“Then why keep this?”
“I don’t know.”
“I think you do.”
He placed the card in her palm and folded her fingers around it.
“You’re waiting for a reason to choose him over me.”
May you like
Lena looked into her husband’s eyes.
“No. I’m waiting to feel like I still have a choice.”
