Amy straightened her blazer as she entered the sleek office building, heels clicking softly against the polished floor. She and Ethan had been together since high school—years of shared laughter, promises, and dreams—but now that love had grown sharp, like glass cutting into her chest.
Ethan, her boyfriend and now the CEO of the company she worked at, carried himself with effortless confidence. To outsiders, he was perfect: powerful, charming,respected. To Amy, he was controlling, demanding, and cold. Every glance he gave her reminded her of the six abortions he had forced her through, leaving her convinced she was broken and barren.
Love had become a prison, and she had nowhere to escape.
She walked to her desk, trying to mask the storm of anger and hurt swirling inside her. Ethan had passed by earlier, offering a polite nod, but she knew the power behind that smile—the silent claim he still had over her life, her choices, her very body.Her thoughts drifted to Mirable, her stepsister. On the surface, Mirable was sweet, charming, always ready with a comforting word or a laugh. But Amy had learned, slowly, that Mirable's kindness sometimes carried a subtle edge—tiny suggestions, quiet remarks, nudging her to question things she had once accepted.
"Are you sure they really care about you?" Mirable had whispered the night before, a hint of worry in her tone, though Amy couldn't tell if it was genuine. The comment lingered in Amy's mind, seeding doubtwhere none had existed. Mirable had always been close, always helpful, always present—but now her presence felt slightly… strategic, like she was guiding Amy's thoughts without her knowing.
Amy glanced out the window at the city below. Sunlight glinted off the skyscrapers, sharp and unyielding, much like her life. Somewhere deep inside, a spark of defiance flickered—a small, stubborn flame buried beneath years of control, pain, and disappointment. It trembled, fragile but real.She didn't know how long she could endure this love that had turned into a cage, nor did she realize the subtle forces quietly shaping her thoughts. Mirable's whispers, her careful manipulations, were already planting seeds of doubt about the people who raised her, about the very life she thought she knew.
For now, Amy would survive. She would work, endure, and smile. But beneath the surface, the cracks were forming, and the quiet schemes around her were just beginning to take hold.
The love she had trusted, the family she thought she knew, and the sister she believed she could trust—all were pieces in a game she didn't yet understand.