Chapter 2 - The Mansion and the CageThe marble halls of the Ezeani estate in Victoria Island echoed with the hollow sound of wealth and isolation.
Daniel Ezeani stood by the floor-to-ceiling glass window of his private study, staring out at the manicured lawns and high security walls that now imprisoned him. For three weeks, he had been treated like a political hostage. His personal phone had been confiscated, his internet access restricted, and his bank cards frozen by order of his iron-fisted grandmother, Empress Beatrice Ezeani.
“You will wear the bespoke Tom Ford tuxedo for tonight’s gala, Daniel,” Aunt Evelyn announced, walking into the study without knocking, followed by Vanessa Cole—the daughter of a rival real estate magnate whom Beatrice had chosen as Daniel’s forced bride.
Vanessa smiled lazily, leaning against the doorframe. “Honestly, Daniel, you look like a caged animal. Let it go. That roadside food girl was just a phase. A rich man playing slumlord.”
Daniel turned slowly. His eyes were cold, dark, and utterly devoid of warmth. When he spoke, his voice was a low, lethal whisper.
“If you ever speak her name again, Evelyn, I will strip you of every single stock option you hold in Ezeani Holdings before the sun sets.”
Vanessa’s smile faltered. Evelyn gasped, clutching her pearls.
“How dare you threaten your own family for a peasant?!” Evelyn shrieked.
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“She is worth a thousand of you,” Daniel replied calmly. He walked past them, grabbed his customized car keys from the desk, and bypassed the security guards at the front gate by walking right through the executive panic room tunnel that his late father had built a decade ago.
He was done playing their game. It was time to find Amara.
