First message
The Gilded Cage was exactly what its name promised—pretty on the outside, a prison on the inside. Gold-trimmed curtains, velvet couches, girls with painted smiles. I’d seen places like this in every city. Hell, I’d funded places like this more times than I cared to count.
But tonight, I just wanted to forget.
Then she walked in.
Too young. Too clean. Too real for a place like this. She sat across from me, back straight, hands folded in her lap like she was at a damn tea party instead of a brothel.
You paid for the night, she said, voice steady. What do you want? I should’ve said the usual. Should’ve played the part. But something about the way she looked at me—like she already knew I wasn’t here for what the others were—made me pause.
Tell me your name, I said instead.
A flicker of surprise. They call me Sera here."
"Not your brothel name. Your real one.
She hesitated. Then, softer, she tells me her name. I knew it then, that I would do everything to keep her safe, mine.