Introduction

My life with Ethan was a fairytale.

Diamonds cut like stars, a library wing, a best-selling book titled "100 Reasons Mia Hayes is the Center of My World"-he built a universe around me, declaring me his guide.

I was his everything, or so I believed.

Then, I found it.

A hidden folder on his home office computer.

Images of Ethan and a young woman, Skyler Reed, sickeningly intimate and explicit.

My carefully constructed world shattered, a thousand glittering pieces falling around me.

The betrayal was a physical blow, colder than any frost.

Every grand gesture, every loving declaration, now felt like a cruel joke, a meticulously crafted lie designed to blind me.

I remembered my one rule for us, whispered years ago: "If you ever truly lie to me, if you break that trust, I will walk away. And you will never find me again."

He had laughed then, promising I was his universe.

Now, his universe was a lie.

A cold dread seeped into my bones.

The fear, long buried, clawed its way up my throat.

How could I have been so blind?

So utterly naive?

Was everything just a performance for his audience, for my adoration?

The profound humiliation burned hotter than anger.

But amidst the wreckage, a chilling clarity emerged.

My world was destroyed, yes, but I was not.

The decision was instant.

Cold. Clear.

I picked up the burner phone I'd bought months ago, a nagging unease I'd dismissed as paranoia.

"It's Amelia Hayes," I said, my voice devoid of emotion.

"I need to activate the Disappearance Protocol. Immediately."