Chapter 3

Marcus was still talking, outlining his plans, his future, a future where I was a footnote, a placeholder.

"No," I said, the word quiet but firm.

He stopped, blinked. It was rare for me to interrupt him.

"No?"

"I'm leaving, Marcus."

I sat up, the movement sending a fresh wave of pain through my abdomen, but I ignored it.

"I've fulfilled my purpose here. Leo is grown. Your AI product is about to launch. You don't need me anymore."

If he ever truly had.

His face, usually so controlled, tightened. A flicker of disbelief, then anger, crossed his features.

"Leaving?" He almost spat the word. "Now? Are you insane, Ava? After everything I've given you?"

His voice rose, the carefully constructed calm shattering.

"This is a critical time for me! For the company! You think you can just walk away and sabotage everything?"

Sabotage. As if my presence or absence could topple his empire.

I was an ant threatening a giant.

"I'm not trying to sabotage anything, Marcus. I just... can't do this anymore."

"Ungrateful," he hissed, his eyes cold. "After ten years of living in luxury, you suddenly can't 'do this anymore'? What is it you think you're owed? More?"

I remembered being plucked from my life.

No discussion, no real choice.

My mother's tearful pleas, her talk of "security" for our family.

Marcus' s quiet, intense promises of a good life for me, if only I would help him through his grief, help raise his motherless son.

He painted it as a rescue.

For me, from my working-class drudgery.

For Leo, from his sorrow.

He never mentioned I would be a living doll, a constant, painful reminder of his dead wife.

He never said my own identity would be slowly, methodically erased.

"I was a child, Marcus," I said, my voice trembling slightly. "You took a child and made her a replacement. My family sold me to you."

The words hung in the air, stark and ugly.

He recoiled as if struck.

"That's a vile accusation."

"Is it not true?" I challenged, finding a strength I didn't know I possessed. "You needed a face, a warm body to look like her. My mother needed your money. Leo needed a caregiver. No one asked what Ava needed."

His anger was a palpable force in the room now.

"You had everything! A life most people only dream of!"

"I had a cage, Marcus. A beautiful, expensive cage. And I'm done."

I swung my legs out of bed, ignoring the dizziness.

"I'm packing my things."