Despite running a billion-dollar tech company, Charles Smith had never been particularly modern himself. He knew the essentials—emails, spreadsheets, how to put together a sleek presentation—but that was about it. His phone? Mostly used to message his wife and check his calendar.

Social media had always seemed like a waste of time to him… until one idle afternoon, curiosity got the better of him. He downloaded Instagram, fumbling through the setup with the same confusion most people reserve for taxes.

The first thing he did? Search for his wife's profile, naturally. And what he found genuinely surprised him—photos of restaurants he’d taken her to, close-up shots of her latest baking adventures, a few selfies he remembered taking for her because "the lighting was perfect, darling." One video had thousands of views: her homemade peach pie—the one he always said was good enough to ruin him for any other dessert.

"Sweetheart," he called out as she walked past his study, squinting at his phone. "How exactly did you film this? And what are all these… comments?"

There he was—Charles Smith. Billionaire. Powerful. In control. And completely at the mercy of the algorithm.