Gilded Cage: A Dark Romance Retelling of Rumpelstiltskin: A Twisted Tales Novel

  GILDED CAGE

  A TWISTED TALES NOVEL

  C. LYMARI

  Gilded Cage © 2021 by C. Lymari. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  www.clymaribooks.com

  Editors: Heart Full of Reads Editing

  Cover Design: Pretty In ink Creations

  Proofreading: Jennifer Mirabella, Becca

  Created with Vellum

  CONTENTS

  Also by C. Lymari

  Authors Note

  Once Upon A Time

  Part I

  Part II

  Mason

  1. Aspen

  2. Mason

  3. Mason

  4. Aspen

  5. Mason

  6. Aspen

  7. Mason

  8. Aspen

  9. Aspen

  10. Mason

  11. Aspen

  12. Mason

  Part III

  Aspen

  13. Mason

  14. Aspen

  15. Mason

  16. Aspen

  17. Mason

  And They Lived Happily Ever After

  Thank you

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  ALSO BY C. LYMARI

  HOMECOMING SERIES

  It’s Not Home Without You- Hoco #1

  (Second Chance/ Forbidden)

  The Way Back Home – Hoco#2

  (Friends-to-Lovers)

  You Were Always Home -Hoco#3

  (Enemies-to-Lovers/ Second Chances)

  HOCO#4- Coming Soon!

  (Quincy’s & Jessa’s story)

  Sekten Series

  Savage Kingdom

  Cruel Crown

  (Extremely dark & full of triggers)

  Standalones

  For Three Seconds

  (Forbidden/ Sports Romance)

  In The Midst Of Chaos

  (MC dark romance)

  Falcon’s Prey

  (Dark bodyguard romance)

  Swan Song

  (Dark age gap/daddy romance)

  Gilded Cage-

  (Dark Fairytale Retelling)

  Boneyard Kings Series (with Becca Steele)

  Merciless Kings

  Vicious Queen- Preorder

  (Reverse Harem)

  Never be afraid to break somebody’s heart if it means setting yours free.

  AUTHORS NOTE

  Hi guys! If you’ve read my books before. You know the deal. If you are new to me, this is a dark romance that deals with triggering content.

  I ask you to be patient with these two characters and their stories since they are broken in different ways.

  Now allow me to tell you a fucked up fairytale.

  there was a girl with hair like gold. She was subjected to the cruel of this world.

  For she was no princess, but a mere pawn, her beauty something others sought.

  In this world she didn’t know who to trust, because to the cruel prince she didn’t want to belong.

  This made her callous and cold. The once nice girl turned into a monster on her own.

  So she struck a deal with an unsuspecting knight—but they spoke in riddles, deceit and lies.

  Because not everything that glitters is gold sometimes it’s something much worse...

  Innocence

  We were just children wrapped in ignorance.

  Who were abused and lost their innocence.

  We tried so hard to hold on, but the makeshift world we had collapsed.

  Sooner or later, we all ended up on our knees. Whether it be to beg God for mercy or to suck the devil's dick.

  My devil was as handsome as he was cruel. He was the king of the underworld, and I had been running from him since I was nineteen. I used to have it all. I was the queen of the Upper East Side. The one everyone wanted to follow.

  Maybe being up so high in the sky made me forget where I came from. When I was a little girl, my family used to work for the Stiltskins. My parents were bound to them by a contract that spanned over centuries. This was modern slavery at its finest. There was an elite group of families that called themselves Orden Infinite. Or Infinite Order. It started as an elite group of wealthy families that followed what the monarch said back in the day. When they traveled to America, they rebelled against their king and became their own rulers.

  They had power that spanned generations—their reach went from coast to coast—across all seven continents. You couldn’t run from them. I was born to one of the working families. My fate had been decided the moment I had been born, but the families of the order did not count on the cunning ways of my parents.

  They were tired of being oppressed, so they turned their daughter into gold.

  I was alone in my golden castle.

  A queen to an unwanted throne.

  I was nothing but a liar.

  A cheater.

  A traitor.

  A lying bitch.

  And a cunt.

  You got a more degrading word to call me? Say it; I've been called all that and more. My skin was forged into impenetrable steel. The words that used to cut me deep don’t even scratch the surface anymore.

  I once fell in love with a boy and married his enemy. I can’t complain about my life; I’m simply lying on the bed I made for myself. A bed of lies and deception with my own misery keeping me company. But is a lie even a lie when you’ve said it for so long that you start to believe it?

  The thing about lies is that they always unravel, and it’s always at the last moment. You could run from anything but the truth. Sooner or later, it was bound to catch up with you.

  I looked up at my reflection, and it was the first time in a while I recognized myself. One should not cast their pearls before swine.

  Hair like gold.

  His voice mocked me. I could feel the rough timbre in my ears, causing my body to break out in hives. The media had compared my gold hair to strands of gold. Now, after being on the run for a few days, it was all greasy and dull.

  Eyes like whiskey.

  Even in the worst moments of my life, he followed me. My eyes were red from lack of sleep and the tears I refused to shed. I was not going to feel sorry for myself because I had only myself to blame for being where I was today.

  My cheeks were starting to hollow; my face lacked the glow I was supposed to have, and every time I closed my eyes, I saw those stupid pink lines saying I was pregnant.

  The only problem? The baby didn’t belong to the man I married but to his sworn enemy.

  Mason Stiltskin was going to cash out on the favor I owed him.

  “I’ll do this for you, Aspen.” He looked at me with a mix of love and regret, and I didn’t dare break under his stare because I was tired of living like the other half. I was tired of eating people’s shit. His cold fingers grasped my chin, and he forced me to look up at him. “In return, you’ll give me the thing you love the most.”

  Back then, I didn’t think much about my promise because I came from nothing, and there was nothing Mason Stiltskin could take from me.

  Except he did.

  He took it from me on what was supposed to be the day of my wedding. He tai
nted what should have been the happiest day of my life.

  I was now pregnant with his child, and before he came to collect me, I ran.

  I came from nothing, and it was time that nothing I became.

  Sixteen years old

  My parents were arguing again. It wasn’t something out of the ordinary, though. We were birds stuck in cages set by our forefathers. I ignored them and continued to study my history book.

  I always found history so funny. How people blindly believed words that were printed on a piece of paper. Words that had been sugar-coated to hide the truth about the world we lived in. No one talked about modern-day slavery—how we became chained to credit bureaus and capitalism. I mean, those people were lucky they at least had a chance to succeed.

  My family would never have an opportunity like that because our forefathers signed a contract in blood, ensuring our survival. Stupid fools thinking that their lineage was more important than our freedom.

  “What do you want me to do, Lisa?” my father shouted at my mother. “It’s not like I can say no when she calls me over.”

  My mother huffed in annoyance.

  My father’s face was grim. He was not as tall as the master of the house, but he hovered over my mother. His hair was a shade darker than mine, and his eyes were light brown. All in all, his features were considered symmetrical.

  Now, my mother was slim, and it made her look taller. Her hair was a yellowish blonde, and her eyes dark. She could have been beautiful if it wasn’t for her constant frowning. She was tired of the way we lived, knowing there was a world out there that we would never get to see.

  Maybe I was foolish to ignore the said world and instead chose to be content with what I had. What was the point of wishing for something that could never be yours?

  I picked up my textbooks and made my way outside our living quarters toward the back yard. It was late enough that no one would be outside, and I wouldn’t cause discomfort to our masters if they saw me.

  The gardens in the Stiltskin house were gorgeous. Twinkling lights all around, with high bushes that cocooned the back yard, flowers that spanned from wall to wall, and a beautiful golden fountain.

  It was a shame no one ever used them unless they had parties, but they have not hosted one in a long time. The fresh Vermont air hit me as soon as I stepped foot outside, and I hurried to the small round table. I could work in peace here. I was a slave to this house; a change of scenery was nice.

  As soon as the table came into view, I halted. Sitting down was the young master of the house. Mason “Mase” Stiltskin. His face turned around to look at me the moment he heard me coming.

  I swallowed even though my mouth had run dry.

  Mr. Stiltskin was a kind man, or so he seemed. He wasn’t like some of the other founding family members. He spoke to us with respect. His wife, on the other hand, was a little haughty. She screamed high class and oozed sexiness. As for their only child—well, what could I say about him?

  For being born to genetically blessed parents, he wasn’t much to look at. He was short, about three inches shorter than me. His hair was cropped so close to his head he might as well be bald. Maybe if he smiled, he would look better, but there was always an angry scowl on his face. Still, there was something thrilling about seeing him. Maybe because he was the only other person of my age in this place.

  “I’m so sorry, Master Stiltskin,” I said in a rush as I bowed to him, hoping that this incident didn’t have ramifications on my parents. I didn’t need to add to their troubles. They managed that all on their own.

  “I’m not my father,” he said in a cool tone. He was already a sophomore in high school while I was a freshman.

  Not like it mattered since we didn’t go to the same school. He went to the fancy private school, while I had to be homeschooled since the nearest public school was too far for the bus to pick me up, and there was no way my parents could take me. They didn’t know how to drive. Only the chauffeurs of the family learned how to do so, and we had no need for that.

  “Sorry...” I said again, taking a step back.

  “Sit,” he commanded at the same time.

  I instantly stopped. Fraternizing with him was strictly forbidden.

  “I said sit down,” he repeated, annoyed.

  Slowly I made my way to the table. I hesitantly put my book down, aware that his eyes were on me. As soon as I sat down, he got up, and I started to panic. If anyone saw this, it would be bad.

  The lights behind us turned on, and that didn’t ease my worries. At least in the darkness, we were obscured from view.

  Mason Stiltskin pulled out the chair and took a seat once more.

  “What are you waiting for?” He tapped the table. “Study.”

  I took a deep breath and opened my book, although it was hard to concentrate since I felt him staring at me.

  “What grade are you in now?”

  “I’m a freshman,” I replied, without looking up from the book.

  “Do you like your school?”

  I stopped pretending like I was getting any work done. I was a lonely girl deprived of friends, and he was the first person around my age I’d ever talked to.

  With the new age, less and less servants had kids. It was a silent fuck you to the Orden Infinite for keeping them oppressed.

  “My mother is in charge of my homeschooling,” I told him while I shyly cast my eyes his way.

  His hand was on the table, his fingers furiously tapping against the tiles. That’s when I noticed there was blood on his hand.

  When he saw that I was looking at it, he put it under the table.

  “Do you hate me?” He turned his profile my way, and it was hard not to notice the magnitude of his presence.

  My head shook furiously.

  “If I were you, I’d hate my family, the damn Order,” he went on.

  It was at that moment that something inside me broke. Something that was already broken, but I repeatedly put it back together with hopes that it would just mend on its own.

  Time didn’t heal all wounds. Some things were beyond scarred and it was better to replace them.

  “It's not your fault. You were born into this just as we were. With the only difference that you were born on the right side of the Order. You were blessed with a good last name."

  He snorted.

  "Would it be easier if those textbooks explained this? This lifestyle we all breathe and sleep." He leaned closer, and my gaze got caught on his jade ones. He had the prettiest eyes I had ever seen. Or maybe I was saying that because I had never been so close to anyone like him.

  "You know why you can't leave?"

  I didn't say a word, so he continued.

  "You're oppressed by the same laws that keep the rest of us in power. Orden Infinite is something that is not talked about. That's why we can't just hire any simpletons off a newspaper ad. We risk too much exposure, and even if the press buys it or not, it doesn't matter. What does matter is the questions it would bring. It would cast doubt on all we do. We would go from socialites to terrorists in a second in the public’s eyes."

  I was holding my breath hearing him speak so idly of the Order. He didn’t care if he was blasphemous; he kept going.

  "Instead, we have all of you who know about us, our laws, and what we stand for, but don't have a dime to your name to do a thing about it. For generations, we have raised you like helpless children to make sure that you will never betray us."

  And there staring right back at me was the reason why my parents were so bitter. Why they hated that we had colonized in America because the American dream would never be for us. We had been forced to live a life our ancestors wanted.

  For a chance to flee the old country, they doomed us all.

  "If it makes you feel any better, no one can escape their positions in this cursed Ferris wheel. Feel free to come here whenever you want.”

  With those parting words, Mason Stiltskin left. No matter how much I spied on the grounds
to catch a glimpse of him, I didn't see him again.

  I was too scared to ask my parents or the maids, but luck came when I heard the lady of the house talking about it as I got her bath ready.

  He had gone abroad and wouldn't be returning for a year.

  It was silly of me to be disappointed about it because Mason Stiltskin wasn't anyone to me. There was no reason to feel like I had lost something, so I just went on with my life like I always did.

  Like it didn't matter that I was a slave to this society.

  One Year Later

  My eyes followed the movement of my parents’ lips, but I wasn't comprehending what they were saying.

  I was going to throw up.

  "You should be grateful, Aspen. I would have killed for this opportunity at your age," my mom said in a snide tone that was full of jealousy.

  "Why?” My brain was starting to hurt from all the overthinking I was doing.

  Why, after all of this time, was I being let out of the manor? Why were the Stiltskin going to let me go to school?

  Nothing made sense.

  "How did this happen?" I tipped my face to look at both of my parents. The thought of leaving terrified me, but I was thrilled. I couldn't breathe. To breathe air that didn't come from this place was a dream; I never had dared to dream.

  Unlike my parents, I didn’t like to torment myself with the what-ifs and could-bes if I wasn’t chained to my masters.

  "What about school? We have no money."