Introduction

My life with Ethan was a predictable loop: his phone calls about Olivia, his "friend" who always needed him, my forgotten anniversaries, and our shared savings mysteriously funneling into her latest drama.

It was exhausting, yet I' d become numb to it, a quiet resignation my constant companion.

Then, a stark notification flashed on my sleek, Agency-issued device: "Covenant Term Conclusion: Operative Maya.

Extraction Protocol initiated.

T-minus seven days." Five years of this life, defined by his neglect and her endless demands, were about to end. Just like that.

A profound, almost liberating indifference washed over me.

Later, true to form, Ethan called, cancelling our anniversary dinner again because Olivia was having a crisis.

He expected my usual quiet frustration, but all I felt was nothing. Every chipped-away piece of me over the years had finally left me utterly empty.

He couldn't comprehend my calm "Okay," only that it wasn't the reaction he was used to. He' d barely noticed how deeply I' d funded his dreams, how I' d been the only one holding onto "our" life.

What did it all even mean, this existence where I was merely an afterthought, an ATM?

But that notification wasn't just an end; it was a beginning.

A countdown to an 'extraction protocol' only I understood.

The taste of freedom was intoxicating, and I knew, with utter certainty, that the real assignment was just beginning. And this time, it was for me.