Jessica walked into the laboratory in a wedding dress. "Kevin, retrieve the data on the batch of bionic people from three years ago within seven days and help me erase my identity. I’m leaving Jorwick in a week."

Her assistant, Kevin Aalders, was stunned. "Jessica, weren’t you getting married today? Weren’t you planning to go back to your family?"

Jessica clenched the “sorry ticket” in her hand, her knuckles white. "The wedding is off. I came back only to retrieve data on the mutant bionics."

She hadn’t expected this. After years of love, after everything they had been through, Liam Zelenka, the man who once said he couldn’t live without her, had fallen for her bionic replica, Jeje.

"Jessica, use a “make up ticket” whenever you’re angry. These 100 tickets are enough for a lifetime. I’ll never let you down," he had promised.

But after five years of love and devotion, those 100 tickets had been used up, 95 of them gone in just two months. Only five remained.

The first ticket: Jeje said, “I like roses.” So Liam tore up all the daffodil beds that Jessica had carefully tended for years and replaced them with roses overnight.

Ticket No. 52: on her birthday, the bionic version threw a tantrum about having her chip inspected. Liam ignored the trauma Jessica still carried from surviving a shipwreck and left her alone on the beach all night with a raging fever of 104.

Ticket No. 77: Jeje poured boiling stew over Jessica’s arm. Liam had simply said, “She didn’t mean it, she’s just a simple-minded bionic. Don’t be so petty.”

Ticket No. 95: he finally gave Jessica the wedding she had waited five years for, only to replace her at the last minute during the party with Jeje.

Jessica stared at the crumpled ticket in her hand before tearing it to pieces. ‘If five more are used, then it’ll truly be the end.’

——

Jessica returned to the villa, holding the freshly printed divorce agreement.

“Where could she possibly go after leaving me? Is she just pretending to run away to control me?” Liam muttered.

The wedding had just ended and Liam hadn’t even changed out of his tuxedo. When he saw Jessica walk in, he approached her, holding a rose in one hand and reaching for her with the other.

“Jessica, Jeje doesn’t even know what a wedding means, she just wanted to experience it. Haven’t we already gotten the marriage certificate? You should’ve been more generous and let her have that small wish,” he said.

Then, Jeje entered in elegant high heels, wearing a wedding dress even more exquisite and dazzling than Jessica’s.

It was the one Liam had spent five years designing. If not for the small, butterfly-shaped blue chip occasionally visible on her neck, most people wouldn’t have realized she was a bionic.

The chip was mostly hidden by a crystal necklace; the pink crystal Jessica had once wanted more than anything.

She still remembered Liam holding her back then, his tone full of guilt and affection. “I’m sorry, Jessica. I couldn’t afford that necklace for you. The company was just starting out. I didn’t have that kind of money. You understand, right?”

Now, looking at the necklace hanging from her replica’s neck, Jessica could only think how ridiculous it all was.

She looked up at him, eyes cold. “But she’s not even a person. She’s just a bionic, customized to look like the 18-year-old me.”

“So what if she’s a bionic? She has consciousness and emotions, she’s my Jeje!” Liam said, his tone unconsciously cold.

He added, “Jessica, I didn’t expect you to be so petty. Ever since you came back, you’ve been finding fault with Jeje in everything.

“Today’s wedding was just for show, just a formality. Yeah, I swapped the bride at the last minute, but was that really worth running away over?”

Jessica let out a self-mocking laugh. Once, Liam had been so tender to her.

When she survived the shipwreck, he had stayed by the seaside for two months without rest, waited five years for her, designed a wedding dress by hand and vowed to love only her for life, even in death.

And now, she came back… only to watch him give their wedding to someone else without hesitation.

“Well then, it really doesn’t matter anymore. I have no reason to stay. You can live with her,” she said.

As Jessica turned to leave, the fear Liam once felt when he thought he had lost her in the shipwreck surged up again. His heart softened.

He pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly and coaxed gently, “Jessica, just take it as me being in the wrong this time. Deduct a make-up ticket from me, okay?”

Jessica remained calm as she took two documents from her bag. “Sign these. If you do, I’ll use the make-up ticket.”

Liam was just about to open it to see what it was when, all of a sudden, some guests who didn’t know the truth stepped forward and shoved Jessica hard.

“Who are you, old hag? How dare you pretend to be our Jessica!”

“You think you can seduce Mr. Zelenka in a wedding dress? Don’t assume he’ll like you just because you look a little like Jessica!”

“Today is Mr. Zelenka’s wedding with Jessica. If you’re wise enough, get out!”

Jessica felt the blood rush to her head. So this wasn’t just a last-minute swap of the bride, Jeje was actually the real bride today.

“Jessica!” Liam quickly walked over to her, his voice filled with guilt. “I’m sorry, I didn’t inform everyone properly. The invitations were printed wrong and some guests still don’t know you’re back.”

“Didn’t you say you’d announce my return?” Jessica gripped her champagne glass tightly.

Liam hesitated for a moment, then quietly raised his phone and opened his social media story.

“Talking about this in front of everyone would just embarrass Jeje… but I did post it,” he said, showing her the screen.

Jessica stared at it in disbelief. The phone was so close, she could clearly see the small text below the post: “Visible to Jessica only.”

He didn’t even bother to pretend. Jessica couldn’t hold it in anymore, she threw the champagne in her hand. “What kind of announcement is this?!”

“Ah!” Jeje suddenly jumped forward, blocking the splash with her body to shield Liam.

“You’re not allowed to harm Liam! I just wanted to experience being a bride,” Jeje said in a soft voice. “But you are right, the rightful one has returned. My job as a substitute is done. I’ll leave now, I don’t want to make you upset.”

She used Jessica’s 18-year-old face with practiced skill, her expression full of emotion. Even the slight furrow of her brow made Liam anxious.

“You’re not a substitute. You’re your own person, you’re my Jeje and no one can take you away,” he said firmly.

‘Isn’t she my substitute?’ Jessica sneered inwardly. She was the one who had been Liam’s partner for years, who had loved him deeply, yet now, she looked like the outsider.

Liam’s eyes fell on the alcohol staining Jeje’s dress and his tone turned sharp with concern. “So what if I didn’t tell everyone you were back? Why take it out on Jeje? Apologize to her!”

Jessica slowly widened her eyes, stunned. “What did you just say? Liam, who is your wife here? Why should I be the one to apologize?!”

Liam froze for a moment, but then the coldness returned to his face. “From the beginning, you’ve been overreacting and disrupting Jeje’s wedding. Now you’ve thrown champagne at her. You’re being unreasonable. Why can’t you be as kind and simple as she is?”

Those words pierced her heart like the sharpest blade.

Even though Jessica had already made the decision to leave, Liam’s response still left her shattered with disappointment.

But that still wasn’t enough. Liam picked up a glass of wine and handed it to Jeje. “If she refuses to apologize, then throw it back. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

Jeje hesitantly took the glass, then raised her hand and smashed the glass and liquor directly onto Jessica’s head.

Shards scattered with the splash and after a moment of dizziness, Jessica felt warm liquid trickling down her scalp.

Seeing her bleeding, Liam suddenly looked alarmed and took a step forward, ready to check on her.

But suddenly, clutching at his shirt before collapsing into his arms, Jeje murmured weakly, “Liam… my legs… I think I can’t move them.”

Liam immediately lifted her in a panic. “It must be a loose part blocking your energy flow. Come on, I’ll take you home.”

Before Jessica could react, Liam turned, holding Jeje and his shoulder struck hers hard in the process. A sharp pain shot through her, making her inhale sharply. “Wait a minute!”

“What now?” he snapped, his tone full of impatience, as if her pain were invisible to him.

“Sign it,” Jessica said firmly.

“What agreement is so urgent right now?” Liam muttered, clearly agitated. Without even glancing at the contents, he flipped to the last page and signed his name hastily.

“There. Satisfied?” he said, tossing the pen aside.

Jessica stared at the pen lying on the floor, then at Liam’s back as he carried Jeje away in a rush. Her mind drifted back to the day they first met, the image vivid in her memory.

“Jessica! I thought I’d never find you again.” He hugged her tightly, as if he had recovered a long-lost treasure.

Back then, she had foolishly believed that everything was just like it had been five years ago.

Now, in silence, Jessica tore off another make-up voucher; number 96 for Liam. Just four more and they would never see each other again.

Then, without hesitation, she took out her phone and booked a flight to Genistra for seven days later.

Jessica opened her eyes and saw Liam sitting at her bedside, wearing an apologetic smile.

“Jessica! You’re finally awake,” he said, sounding both relieved and awkward.

He held out a bowl of soup, trying to sound gentle. “Jeje made this for you. She spent hours on it. Want to try a little? She said she was sorry, she didn’t mean it, she was just a little out of it. I’m apologizing on her behalf.”

“Liam,” Jessica said, sitting up and pushing his hand away. “What gives you the right to apologize for her?”

“I just thought, maybe I could use a make up voucher,” he said, eyes pretending guilt. “Let’s not fight, okay? Just this once.”

Jessica let out a bitter laugh. “Sure. Then call her over here and smash a wine glass over her head. That’s what an apology looks like.”

Liam's voice softened. “Jessica, don’t talk like that. I didn’t expect her to actually hit you. It wasn’t intentional. I’ve already punished her, she is confined to her room today.”

Jessica stared at him in disbelief, then threw the soup to the ground, her voice rising. “Get out!”

Liam let out a sigh, stood up and walked toward the door. “Jessica, you were never like this before. I’ve used the make up coupon again this time, so I won’t argue with you. Just calm down.”

Closing the door behind her, Jessica rubbed her temples and sent a message to Kevin, urging him to speed up the progress. She really couldn’t stay here any longer.

That evening, she dragged her tired body back to the Zelenka family’s house to pack up what little she had left. There wasn’t much, just a few essential documents and barely anything else.

As soon as she stepped inside, a soft, breathy gasp slipped through the crack of a door.

In the bedroom that hadn’t been fully closed, two bodies were tightly entangled. Jessica froze at the sight, her whole body turning cold. ‘Is this why he refused to send Jeje away?’

Jeje’s face was flushed like a real human’s. Her delicate, boneless hands clung to Liam’s sculpted frame, her moans broken up by the rhythm of their movements.

Through their shared link, Jeje suddenly sensed something; a thin thread of emotion connecting them.

Her eyes turned misty, her voice soft and fragile. “Liam, will you send me away?”

He drove into her harder, his voice rough with emotion. “No matter how many times you ask, my answer will always be no. She is her. You are you. You’re not anyone else.”

Jessica’s tears spilled without warning. She clamped a hand over her mouth, desperate to keep from sobbing aloud.

Liam had once said those exact words to her, back when she was still uncertain, still living in someone else’s shadow, before she had ever believed she was enough.

It was Liam who had led her out of the shadows, bit by bit. He broke the world’s shackles on her, gave her the courage to pursue her passion and helped her become the world’s leading expert in bionics today.

That one sentence had carried her through countless struggles, pushing her forward step by step. It was also what made her forgive Liam’s betrayals again and again.

But now, she realized… that sentence hadn’t been meant for her alone.

Inside the room, Jeje suddenly looked up and met Jessica’s eyes through the crack in the door. She smiled; an eerily human smile.

“Then… what should we do with Jessica?” she asked sweetly.

Liam let out a low scoff. “It doesn’t matter. With all those ridiculous, childish make-up coupons and so many second chances… she’ll forgive me no matter what I say.”

‘Really?’ Jessica turned away. Her face was blank, but her breaths came sharp and heavy.

She walked over to the fireplace, reached into her pocket and wordlessly tossed a make up coupon into the flames. Only three remained.

Still thinking about the look in Jeje’s eyes, she pulled out her phone and typed a message, [Check the chip core code of the bionic batch from back then.]

Just then, Liam stepped out and spotted her by the fire. “Jessica? What are you burning? Why are your eyes red?”

She turned to him, her expression calm. “Nothing. Just burning some trash.”

Liam was already dressed. On his left hand, he wore the ring Jessica had once bought him.

He slowly crouched in front of her, looking up, his warm palm gently pressing against the back of her hand, pretending nothing had happened.

Just half an hour ago, Liam, who once claimed she was the only one in his eyes, had been making love to another woman in the study.

Jessica calmly pulled her hand away and met his concerned gaze. “Nothing,” she said softly. “I just thought of something.”

Liam assumed she was still upset about the earlier incident, so he softened his tone, trying to coax her. “Jessica, I was wrong about the wedding. Don’t be mad, okay?”

“Liam,” she asked suddenly, “when are you going to send that bionic woman away?”

The abrupt question made panic flash across his face, but he quickly composed himself. “I’ll find time to handle it. But the company that built Jeje is a world leader in bionic tech. I’m a researcher in that field too and I need Jeje for experimental studies. Can we delay it a little longer?

“During this time, I know it might be inconvenient for you. But once I finish developing the core tech, everything will go back to the way it was, okay?”

Jessica simply hummed in response, her expression unreadable. Liam couldn’t see the look in her eyes.

Seeing her still so cold, he tried to shift the mood. “By the way, I prepared a surprise to celebrate your return. Jessica… do you know how much I missed you in those five years you were gone?”

He lowered his head and gently kissed her forehead.

Jessica sneered inwardly. ‘You missed me, huh? Missed me so much you ordered a stand-in… then fell in love with her behind my back and even handed over my status as your wife to that imitation.’

Before Liam could say anything, a phone call pulled him away. Jessica turned to continue packing her things, but at the corner of the hallway, she came face-to-face with Jeje.

She looked exactly like Jessica at eighteen, except for the ice-blue eyes that shimmered with a metallic, unsettling glow.

“Great, isn’t it?” Jeje smirked. “You were watching from the hallway earlier, looked like you were enjoying the view.”

A chill crept down Jessica’s back. No matter how she tried to make sense of it, she still couldn’t believe a bionic being could develop autonomous thought and emotion.

She wondered how Kevin’s investigation was going. Out of all the bionic units that went rogue three years ago, Jeje was the only one with signs of mutation. If they could decode her anomaly, it could change everything in their research.

“You shouldn’t have come back,” Jeje said, her tone flat, her eyes like frozen glass. “He belongs to me.”

Jessica didn’t cry, didn’t yell. She just looked at her bionic replica and replied quietly, “He will be, soon enough.”

After that, Jessica turned and went up to the attic where many of her belongings had been thrown by Jeje.

She brushed away the choking dust, uncovering the remnants of a love that once felt eternal.

Their wedding photos. The shared mouthwash cup. Graduation pictures taken side by side. And a thick love diary Liam had given her, meticulously recording their sweetest memories.

But those beautiful days… were gone, never to return.

Jessica didn’t open the diary. She simply stared at it for a long moment, then quietly lit a fire and burned it all; memories, keepsakes and another make-up ticket.

In the past, she had refused to believe time could change everything. Now, she finally understood.

She pulled out her phone, intending to upload her data report, only to find there was no signal in the attic.

She turned to leave, but paused. The door had been shut behind her. A sinking feeling gripped her.

Jessica rushed over and knocked on the door. “Hello? Is anyone out there? Let me out!”

She pounded harder, calling again and again, but there was no answer. Panic began to rise. She took out her phone and dialed Liam, but he didn’t pick up even after more than ten attempts.

Her heart sank, piece by piece. Just when she was about to give up, the line finally connected.

“Jessica,” Liam’s voice came through, calm and unbothered, “don’t make a fuss. I’m in the middle of an experiment, this part is critical.”

Then he hung up. Before Jessica could call again, her phone died, completely out of power.

At that moment, a gust of wind rushed through the window that hadn’t been properly closed. Thunder rumbled in the distance. A storm was approaching.

On the other end of the line, Jeje was curled up in Liam’s arms.

“She’s still angry,” Jeje murmured, her voice soft and sweet. “She probably wants you to go back and comfort her.”

She wore sheer lace pajamas, the outline of her chest vaguely visible beneath the fabric.

“What does Jessica take me for?” Liam muttered impatiently. “I have my limits too.”

A loud clap of thunder suddenly rolled across the sky.

“Ah!!” Jeje cried out, burying herself deeper into Liam’s arms, her pretty face streaked with feigned tears. “Liam, I’m scared.”

Liam knew she was afraid of thunderstorms. He gently patted her back, his tone soothing. “Don’t be scared, Jeje. I’m here.”

“Aren’t you going to check on Jessica? It’s going to pour,” Jeje asked softly, her wide, tearful eyes blinking up at him. That look made Liam’s heart skip a beat. Suddenly, Jessica’s situation didn’t seem quite so important.

“Don’t worry about her. She’ll come crawling back after she cools off, won’t she?” he replied.

His hand slid beneath Jeje’s pajama top and the lingering kiss between them deepened until her soft resistance melted away.

Liam deftly activated the empathy link between them.

Outside, the sound of pouring rain gradually drowned out their heavy breathing and muffled moans.

Upstairs, in stark contrast to the heated entanglement below, Jessica struggled to close the rattling window. The wind howled through the attic, cold rain slapping against her exposed skin. She hadn’t planned to stay long and hadn’t dressed for the storm.

Her thin coat had long been soaked through. She wiped the cold rain from her face and tried to curl into herself, but it was useless. The dampness seeped into her bones.

A blinding flash lit up the sky, followed by a deafening thunderclap directly overhead. Jessica flinched, her face turning pale with fear. She could only hug herself tightly, trembling from head to toe.

She had always been afraid of thunder since childhood.

Back when Liam was still by her side, he knew this. No matter where he was or how important his business, he would drop everything to be with her the moment a storm rolled in, wrapping her in the warmest embrace.

“Don’t be afraid of the thunder, I’ll always be here, okay?” he used to whisper.

On stormy nights, his gentle voice had been her only refuge, his comfort the most powerful cure. But now… that embrace no longer belonged to her.

Her wounds hadn't fully healed and being soaked in the cold rain caused them to worsen. Fever overtook her, burning through her body. Jessica collapsed on the cold floor, her consciousness fading with each passing minute.

Eventually, the rain stopped and she fainted completely. In the final moment before blacking out, she seemed to see the attic door being kicked open.

Then, silence.

When she finally woke up, the first thing she heard was Liam’s scolding voice. “What were you doing in the attic for no reason? Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”

Jeje suddenly burst into tears and knelt beside the bed. “I’m sorry, Jessica!”

Tears clung to her delicate face, making her look heartbreakingly pitiful. “I didn’t know you were in there… I’m really sorry.”

Jessica stared at the familiar 18-year-old face and for the first time, felt utterly repulsed.

"Alright, alright, don’t cry. It’s not entirely your fault,” Liam said softly, gently wiping Jeje’s tears with a look full of tenderness. “If anyone’s to blame, it’s her for storming off in anger. She brought this on herself.”

Jessica sat in silence, watching them. She had to admit: the technology behind this bionic woman was truly something. Jeje wasn’t human, yet she could cry like one.

There were only two make-up coupons left. Jessica wondered if the lab had received the data she had sent back.