Chapter 1

I spent seven years trying to save Adrian Roth, the volatile heir to a Manhattan technology empire. Then his adopted sister, Iris, hacked my car's braking system for the second time.

The car flew through the guardrail of a bridge. I woke in the hospital, broken and barely conscious. Adrian signed the consent forms, then announced, "When you get out, we're filing for divorce. Iris is terrified I'll belong to someone else. Once you're not my wife, she'll leave you alone."

His assistant whispered that Iris couldn't sleep after seeing my injuries. Adrian dropped the pen and rushed out to comfort her. He hadn't even checked what he'd signed. A catastrophic error on my treatment authorization was caught far too late.

The voice in my head spoke: *Rescue mission failed. You have seventy-two hours before your return to the real world. Choose how this story ends.*

I had entered this fictional world with one purpose: save Adrian from himself. I had failed. Now I was being offered a way out, though it meant the death of my character here.

When Adrian finally returned, smelling of a nightclub, Iris clung to his sleeve. She apologized for "testing a little code" on my brakes.

"It was only a few scratches," he snapped at me. "Stop trying to frighten her."

"What if I really die, Adrian?"

"You say that every time she makes a mistake."

As he walked away with Iris, I closed my eyes. *System, turn down the pain.*

*Confirmed,* it answered. *We are preparing your journey home.*