Introduction

My film career was soaring, my dreams finally within reach.

Then, the word "Plagiarist!" echoed through the festival hall, a death knell for everything I' d built.

Industry contacts vanished, my name became a hashtag for fraud, and my working-class parents, who' d sacrificed everything, disowned me.

Just as I contemplated tearing up my life, producer Ethan Scott appeared, a charismatic savior who saw through the lies, stood by me, and whisked me away to a secluded Austin home.

He built me a private editing suite, framed my old scripts, and became my biggest fan, my only audience, convincing me the outside world was too dangerous.

For five years, I was safe, loved, and completely isolated-until tonight.

Scrolling Instagram, I saw a Sundance hit, "Dust Devil Heart," hailed as a masterpiece by Sabrina Lawrence.

Its story was identical to the script I' d just finished, the one I' d read aloud to Ethan.

And there, in the background of Sabrina's celebratory photo, was my husband, his arm possessively around her, a look of adoration I hadn't seen in years etched on his face.

My "savior" was at Sundance, not in L.A., and everything I believed about my perfect, safe life shattered into a million pieces.

I had married the man who orchestrated my downfall and stole my art, turning my life into his "content farm."

But he underestimated me.

He broke my spirit once, but this time, he just ignited a fire.