Chapter 1

The heavy steel gate groaned open, a sound that echoed the three years of my life it had just swallowed. I stepped out, and the California sun felt foreign, too bright on my face. The air was fresh, a stark contrast to the recycled, sterile air of the prison. The clothes they gave me back felt strange, a ghost of a woman I no longer was.

Three years ago, I was Ava, a rising star in AI research. My work was about to change the world, and I was about to marry the man I loved, Mark. He was my partner, my fiancé, my legal advisor. We were a power couple. But my research, the very thing that was supposed to build our empire, became the weapon used against me.

A rival company framed me for corporate espionage, and Mark, the man who knew my innocence better than anyone, stood in a courtroom and testified against me. His words, calm and convincing, sealed my fate. His sister, Clara, had whispered poison in his ear, "Ava's too ambitious, a little setback will make her appreciate you more when you marry her." It wasn't a setback, it was a destruction.

A sleek black car, so shiny it hurt my eyes, pulled up to the curb. The door opened, and Mark stepped out. He looked the same, but different. More powerful. His suit was tailored perfectly, his hair styled without a single strand out of place. He was a Silicon Valley titan now, built on the ashes of my life and the foundation of my stolen research.

"Ava," he said, his voice a smooth, practiced melody of concern.

I stood still, my hands clenched into fists in the pockets of my ill-fitting jacket. I didn't want to see him. I didn't want to hear his voice. I just wanted to disappear.

He took a step closer, his expensive cologne reaching me, a scent I once associated with love and now only with betrayal. "I'm here to take you home."

"I don't have a home," I said, my voice rough from disuse.

"Of course you do," he said, trying for a gentle smile. "Our home." He reached for my arm, a casual gesture of possession he had performed a thousand times before.

I flinched away, my body reacting before my mind could. The sudden movement, his hand reaching for me, it threw me back into the darkness. The touch felt like a threat, like the hands of guards pushing me into a cell, the sound of a locking door, the claustrophobic panic closing in on my throat. My breath hitched, and the bright sunlight suddenly seemed to dim.