Beyond His Gilded Cage

The blinding flashbulbs popped as Leo Sterling' s hand dug into my back. To the world, we were a power couple-the tech mogul and his beautiful, indispensable assistant.

It was a lie everyone in Silicon Valley knew and repeated.

"Smile, Ava," he murmured, his voice a low command meant only for me.

I was Ava Reed, a talented artist, but here, I was just Leo' s property, a commodity.

Then came the new task: publicly humiliate a board member by spilling a drink on him. This was a new level of degradation.

"I pay you enough to handle these simple things, don't I?" he sneered, naming an obscene sum.

I did it, tears burning as he smiled, then left me to face the fury of a powerful man. This agonizing charade, every bit of my suffering, was currency.

Back in my gilded cage, a digital counter glowed on my phone: "Disillusionment Value: 23%."

"Target: Leo Sterling. Objective: Accumulate 100% disillusionment to trigger return protocol."

Each humiliation, every piece of my soul he tried to crush, was fuel. It was my way back home, a grim bargain to save Ethan, the man I loved, sleeping in a hospital bed in another world.

This wasn't just a job; it was a mission of survival.