Beyond His Gilded Cage

bulbs wer

avy weight on the small of my back, his fingers digging into the fabric of my dress, holding me in place. To th

ne in Silicon Valle

ice a low command meant only for me.

t just over the photographers' heads. My face felt like a mask, tight and unnatural. I was Ava Reed, a

Sterling! Is it true Sterling Innova

public smile brilliant and cold. "We're always looking for new oppo

he narrative, just like he controlled ev

er to wait. I stood perfectly still, a doll on a shelf. People' s eyes slid over me, some with pity, some with contempt, most with the

eadable. He didn' t say a word, just took a glass of

it,"

, but I took a si

smile playing on his lips. "I

tle faster. His tas

e crowd. "Roderick Vance. He' s the last holdout on the OmniCorp b

is gaze locked onto a gray

ngs." His voice dropped, becoming thick with disdain. "I need you to keep him occ

d in my stomach. It w

with dark amusement, "when I walk by with his wife, I want y

nk with shock. This was a ne

"Is that too difficult for you? I pay you eno

und my art for a lifetime. A sum that was mean

said, my voice a

s eyes on me, a physical pressure. Roderick Vance was exactly as Leo described. He pree

rner of my eye, a woman with a stra

umbled, just as planned, and the cold liquid splashed

rned to stare. The humiliation was a hot fire crawling up my neck. I could hear Leo'

e with rage. "You clumsy

nsults, the stares, the judgment. T

for me, I finally let the mask drop. I leaned against the cold glass of the floor-to-c

t mean anyt

ere was only one picture there. A man with kind eyes and a gentle smile, lying i

. My

re. The reason I en

my phone' s screen. It was a simple progress bar, fil

onment Va

Leo St

00% disillusionment to

ce of my soul that Leo tried to crush, it all serv

ine of Ethan' s f

ered to the empty room. "I pro

' t crying from sadness. I was crying from a deep, burning resolve.