The Gilded Cage

SIENNA’S POV

The air in the guest room was still, save for the faint ticking of a clock somewhere in the distance. My phone’s screen lit up in the dim room: 5:30 a.m. The time stared back at me like a challenge. I sighed, dragging myself upright, the weight of everything that had happened pressing against my chest.

I rubbed my temples, trying to shake off the sleepiness and the ache in my heart. T