Chapter 9

I gave absolutely no answer to Victor's question.

He stood by the bed. He waited for me to reply. I just stared silently at the blank ceiling.

Victor's phone rang. It shattered the suffocating silence.

"Victor, my hand hurts so much..." Chloe's fragile, sobbing voice came through the speaker. I could hear it clearly from the bed.

Victor's expression instantly softened.

"I'll be right there." He hung up. He glanced back at me. "Reflect on what you've done."

Then he left. Just like he always did. Abandoning me for Chloe.

The room fell silent again. I was all alone.

About an hour later, the door creaked open.

Chloe walked in. Her right hand was wrapped in thick bandages. Her face was full of victorious smugness.

"Serena, how are you feeling?" she asked with fake concern.

I turned to look at her. My eyes flat and hollow.

Chloe pulled up a chair and sat down. She wore a sweet but toxic smile. "Honey, I want to tell you a story."

"I don't want to hear it."

"But this story is about you," Chloe's eyes gleamed. "It's about why Victor agreed to your father's request and took it upon himself to discipline you."

My grip on the thin bedsheets suddenly tightened.

"In high school, Victor and I were dating," Chloe began. Her voice full of nostalgia. "We were so in love. He was so good to me. He remembered everything I liked. He even said he would marry me after graduation. But then, something terrible happened..."

She paused to gauge my reaction.

"Years ago, we were in a tech lab. A massive server rack collapsed. I shoved him out of the way. It crushed my leg." Chloe pointed at her left leg. "My ballet career was destroyed. I almost died."

"Since then, Victor was filled with guilt. He said he would protect me. He would spend his whole life making it up to me."

I stayed silent. My heart started beating wildly and painfully in my chest.

"I went to Europe to recover. Victor promised to marry me the second I got back," Chloe leaned in closer. Her voice turned venomous. "We never lost touch. So I told him how my poor mother married into the Vance family. How cruelly you treated her. I told him how much it broke my heart."

"Victor said he would avenge my mother. That's why he went to your father and offered the billion-dollar acquisition deal just to keep you by his side." Chloe's smile was radiant. "Did you think Richard forced him? You're wrong, Serena. Victor asked for the job."

The blood in my veins turned to ice. "What did you say?"

"Oh, there's a better part," Chloe pulled out her phone. "Did you know that every single time you two were together, it was recorded?"

"What?"

"Victor installed hidden cameras in the penthouse. He tracked your biometric data. Your heart rate. Your climaxes. He used your total surrender to train his AI companion," Chloe's smile grew more twisted. More malicious.

My world started spinning.

"Are you shocked, Serena?" Chloe stood up. Gloating. "Victor never loved you. He was just taking revenge for me. Finishing a corporate acquisition. Using you as an AI data test. Now the mission is over. He's going to marry me."

She walked to the door. She looked back at me one last time.

"By the way, I made copies of those videos. If you ever dare cross me again, I'll send them to the tabloids. I'll let the whole world see what a cheap fake the top supermodel really is."

After Chloe left, I sat motionless on the bed for a long, long time.

Her words echoed in my mind like a torturous endless loop.

Victor asked to discipline me.

To avenge Chloe. To complete a corporate acquisition.

He didn't just record it. He used my feelings as an AI data test.

I suddenly threw off the covers. I ripped the IV out of my arm. I bolted out of the hospital room.

Nurses yelled behind me. I couldn't hear anything.

I ran out of the hospital. I hailed a cab.

"Upper East Side, as fast as you can!"

I had to go to Victor's penthouse. I had to see for myself if Chloe was telling the truth.

Twenty minutes later, the cab screeched to a halt in front of the mansion.

I used my spare key. I walked in. I ran straight to Victor's study.

There was a hidden security server room behind the bookshelf. I knew the code.

I punched in the numbers. A section of the wall slid open. It revealed the server center inside.

Multiple computers. Countless surveillance screens. All kinds of high-tech recording equipment.

I sat at the main terminal. I browsed the directory.

Inside a folder labeled "S", I found an encrypted subfolder.

The folder name was: Project_Angel_Data.

My hands were shaking uncontrollably. I clicked it open anyway.

The screen filled with data analysis and video logs. All neatly sorted by date.

I opened the first one.

The screen showed me and Victor. Tangled in the sheets. Next to the video was a live data panel: my heart rate, my body temperature, my estimated dopamine release curve at climax.

It included me, curled up in his arms, whispering passionately, "I love you."

It included every vulnerable moment. My trust. My complete and total surrender.

He wasn't just recording.

He was exploiting my total devotion. Exploiting every passionate moment to collect data and train that virtual AI companion he gifted to Chloe!

At the very bottom of the document was an evaluation report. Personally signed by Victor:

"Subject: Serena. Emotional dependency: Peak. AI empathy module training: Complete. Proceed to Phase 2: Abandonment Test."

My legs gave out. I collapsed onto the cold marble floor.

It was all true. Chloe told the truth.

Victor really recorded everything.

I started laughing. Laughing at how stupid I was. How hopelessly naive I was.

But my tears just wouldn't stop falling.