Julian had fallen in love with someone else. Not me.

That sealed it. I had to leave him.

I opened my eyes in the middle of the night to a dark figure standing by my bed.

In the pitch-black room, Echo's eyes were locked onto mine. She reached out, pressing a pillow hard over my face.

"It's time you gave me what's mine."

My fever spiked again. Julian held me, his expression grave.

"Is this post-traumatic stress from the coma? Now you're having night terrors? Ava, Echo is just an android."

For a moment, I wondered if he was right. Was I losing my mind?

Until she came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee. As she passed through the living room, she "accidentally" spilled the entire cup of scalding liquid on me.

Echo watched coldly as I writhed in agony on the floor, my skin quickly turning red and blistering.

"Julian's favorite skin should be unique, don't you think?"

Hearing my cry of alarm, Julian hurried out of his study and scooped me up, intending to rush me to the hospital.

I gritted my teeth against the searing pain and stared daggers at Echo.

"Check the security footage! She did it on purpose!"

"Impossible!"

Julian denied it without a second's hesitation.

I froze. There was a time when a simple frown from me would have had Julian walking out of a board meeting without a second thought.

But now, as I personally begged for help, he instinctively defended that bionic android.

He walked straight to the console and deleted the footage.

"Her reaction speed is a hundred times that of a normal person; she doesn't make mistakes. You must have bumped into her."

"I can feel that you really dislike Echo, but she's just a bionic android who doesn't know any better. Don't resort to these petty tricks to force my hand."

As he spoke, his grip tightened unconsciously over my wound. He stood right beside me, yet his concern was miles away—with her.

Suddenly, I lost all desire to explain myself.

After returning from the hospital, my body grew weaker and weaker.

I soon discovered my anti-rejection medication had been swapped for something else—a drug that sent my body into a violent allergic reaction.

When Julian found out, his face turned grim. He scrutinized me coldly.

"Do you hate Echo that much? You'd stoop to such a clumsy act to frame her? I forgot, you're a director. You're a master of this kind of melodrama."

He forcefully shoved a pill into my mouth.

The phone suddenly rang. Echo's voice was sweet on the line.

"Did Ava take her medicine?"

Julian's voice softened.

"Of course."

Then he emptied the entire bottle of pills in front of me.

"Don't pull a stunt like this again. Echo's base programming makes it impossible for her to harm a human."

In agonizing pain, I desperately pressed the emergency call bracelet and was rushed to the emergency room.

"Mr. Julian, your wife is three months pregnant! We have to pump her stomach, now!"

I closed my eyes, letting the tears slide down my temples.

"It's okay."

This child was never meant to be.

The moment I was out of the emergency room, I immediately called the android's after-sales department.

That afternoon, a group of people arrived at the house.

But their uniforms read, "Private Psychiatric Hospital."

Julian's voice was calm and steady as he explained to them, "My wife is suffering from a severe Capgras delusion."

Ignoring my violent struggles, they strapped me to the bed with restraints.

Julian gently caressed my abdomen. "Darling," he said softly, "I already know you're pregnant. You're sick, that's all. Don't be afraid. I'll make sure you get the best care."

The android after-sales department informed me that Echo, also known as Model-01, had been granted the highest level of authority by Julian. They couldn't control her remotely.

However, they could fulfill two of my requests as part of their after-sales service. This was a legally stipulated compensation clause that not even Julian, as the company's CEO, could violate.

I chose two things: to terminate the pregnancy, and to finally leave him.

Echo pushed open the door to my room, looming over me with a condescending smile.

She seemed to possess genuine human emotions.

"You're not a suitable partner, Ava. You're so easy to replace."

I looked at her coldly. "A substitute has no right to pass judgment."

Echo's perfect face twisted in a momentary snarl.

"Substitute? Soon, I'll be the original."

Then, she knocked over the aromatherapy burner on the table. The flames instantly ignited the curtains.

Thick smoke billowed, quickly filling the room. The smart system had locked the door, and the restraints held me fast to the bed.

My desperate cries for help went unanswered.

Just as despair began to consume me, the door was kicked open.

Julian, covered in soot and ash, already had several burns on his body, but he rushed in without hesitation and ripped the restraints off me.

"Don't be afraid! It's over now."

For a fleeting second, the heart I’d thought was long dead gave a painful lurch.

As Julian lifted me into his arms, a sharp warning suddenly blared from outside the room.

"Program error, program error—"

The alarm was coming from Echo.

"Echo!"

Panic flashed across Julian's face. He ignored me, rushing toward the sound.

"Julian..."

With the last of my strength, I crawled in the direction he had gone.

The blaring alarms drowned out my desperate cries, and the flames and smoke swallowed me whole before I could make him turn back.

I never heard Julian's reply, but I did hear the final, definitive crack as something inside my chest shattered beyond repair.

"Total body burn area of eighty percent..."

I opened my eyes to find my entire body wrapped in gauze. The doctor could only shake his head, his expression grim.

Julian gently stroked the only remaining patch of unharmed skin on my body, not a trace of disgust in his eyes.

"Darling, thank God you're okay. Don't worry, I'm right here with you."

My eyes were dead. I turned my head away.

Julian's face changed slightly, and he was about to say something.

A sob came from the bedside.

"My appearance is no longer perfect. Please destroy me, master."

A piece of Echo's synthetic skin had melted away, revealing the metal skeleton beneath. Julian comforted her, his voice thick with heartache.

"But I don't have the human ability to self-repair. Synthetic skin is just that—synthetic. Please, destroy me."

Julian's gaze fell on me.

"Who said it has to be synthetic?"

He called the doctor over. "Arrange for surgery immediately. Harvest the skin from my wife's back and use it to repair Echo's face."

I stared at Julian in disbelief, but my throat could only produce a raw, hoarse croak.

Julian kissed my forehead, then held down my limbs and covered my despairing eyes.

"The fire started in your room. This is what you owe her."