Chapter 3

The Deactivation Center informed me that Echo, Bionic Unit 01, had gone completely rogue, and due to the buyer's strong wishes, they couldn't retrieve her. They could only grant me two requests as after-sales service.

I got what I wanted. The child in my womb was gone, and I got my chance to leave Liam.

Echo pushed open the bedroom door, looking down at me with a twisted smile.

She actually seemed to be experiencing human emotion.

"Evelyn, you're not a suitable partner. Replacing you was easy."

I looked at her coldly. "A replacement has no right to judge me."

Echo's perfect face distorted for a moment.

"A replacement? I'll soon be one of a kind."

Then, she threw a lit torch into my room.

Thick smoke quickly rose. The door was locked, and I was trapped on the bed by the restraints.

My desperate cries for help went unanswered.

Just as despair consumed me, the bedroom door was kicked open.

Liam was covered in soot, with several burns on his body, but he didn't hesitate to strip off his wet clothes and wrap me in them.

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

In that moment, my heart, which I thought had hardened, began to beat again.

As Liam lifted me, a loud warning blared from outside the room.

"Program error, program error—"

"Echo!"

Liam's expression shifted dramatically. He disregarded me and rushed towards the sound.

"Liam…"

I used every last ounce of strength, crawling towards the direction he had disappeared.

But my voice was drowned out by the warning sirens, unable to make Liam turn back, as the raging fire and thick smoke engulfed me.

I didn't hear Liam's reply, but I heard something in my heart shatter completely.

"Eighty percent of her body is severely burned…"

I opened my eyes to find my entire body wrapped in bandages. The doctor shook his head at me.

Liam gently stroked the only intact patch of my skin, his eyes devoid of any disgust.

"My love, thank goodness you're okay. Don't worry, I'll be right here with you."

My eyes hollow with despair, I turned my head away.

Liam's expression faltered, and he was about to say something.

A soft sob came from beside us.

"I'm no longer perfect. Please deactivate me, Master."

Echo had only a single bandage wrapped around her arm, yet Liam comforted her, his heart aching.

"But I don't have the ability for human self-repair. This prosthetic skin is just that – prosthetic. Please deactivate me."

Liam's gaze fell on me.

"Who says it has to be prosthetic?"

He called the doctor. "Arrange the surgery immediately. Take my wife's skin and graft it onto Echo."

I stared at Liam in disbelief, but only a hoarse sound escaped my throat.

Liam kissed my forehead, then held down my limbs, covering my desperate eyes.

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

The only intact skin on my face was brutally cut away, leaving an ugly scar.