file_get_contents(C:\Users\dell\Documents\accounts\gna\public/storage/img/RsNR7dEIisWrF30dhrys.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory

I'm new to the Laravel framework. I wrote this code following what I saw in a tutorial. I've tried to change the image upload path and executed the php artisan storage:link command but still end up with the same result. How can I solve this problem, please?

    #Get auth user
    $user = auth()->user();

    $avatar = $this->avatar->store('img'); #Save avatar image
    
    $path = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']."/storage/$avatar"; #Take the avatar's path
    $type = pathinfo($path, PATHINFO_EXTENSION); #Get avatar image type
    $image = file_get_contents($path); #Get the avatar image
    $avatarBase64 = "data:image/$type;base64,".base64_encode($image); #Convert avatar image to base64
    Storage::delete($avatar); #Delete the avatar image from the server as it is no longer needed

    $user->avatar = $avatarBase64;
    $user->save();

    session()->flash('success', 'Avatar successfully changed!');
    return redirect()->route('settings');
}