Chapter 22 Gentle Imprisonment

Alicia's POV

The first time Lucas brought me to his estate, I choked on the irony.

If my residence could be called a mansion, then Lucas’s home was nothing short of a palace—an opulent fortress designed to create a fantasy that would swallow anyone whole. To never see beyond the gold.

The sheer scale of it was staggering. The ceilings stretched impossibly high, disappearing into the distance like the vault of a cathedral, supported by towering columns that lined the hallways in faultless symmetry. The floors were like black glass beneath my steps, buffed to such perfection that they reflected my hesitant reflection. The passages were lit with the golden glow of the chandeliers hanging above, each one dripping with shimmering crystals and a sense of shameless decadence.