As Silas activated the obedience protocol at the hearing, expecting me to crawl, the system broadcast an icy voice: "Permission denied." I trembled from the neural torture I endured to protect my penniless boyfriend, Kael. Yet there he stood, wielding the old-era Prime Mandate. The fragile boy I sold my sanity to save was the missing billionaire heir of the Thorne family. His deception fueled his perfect revenge, but the illegal chip Silas forced upon me has permanently fused with my brain. Extraction means instant death. I must choose whether to flee alone or stay beside this unfamiliar tycoon, forever burdened by an incurable cybernetic trauma. As he kneels offering the physical key to my neural hunger, a chilling question remains. Can I ever trust the ruthless emperor who kept me in the dark?