Chapter 1

On the day I went into labor, Ethan Knight was out on a sweet romantic getaway with his intern at a hotel.

I casually liked the post, then turned and sent a message to my AI husband "Ace":

"Ace, our child is going to be born today."

While Ethan deliberately ignored me, I listened to Ace tell me jokes through my earbuds.

Even when the intern sent me a taunting text,

I simply had Ace generate a blessing message to send back.

Ethan's friends gossiped behind my back: "Look how pathetic Quinn is, even tolerating Ethan taking another woman to a hotel."

"She's just afraid of losing her position as Mrs. Knight."

Until Ethan turned down a billion-dollar project and rushed home for my birthday, only to find me smiling blissfully at my computer screen.

He finally saw the AI—with a face that perfectly replicated his own, yet a hundred times more gentle—and his eyes turned red.

He smashed the computer in a frenzy, pinning me down on the sofa:

"I'm a living, breathing person. Please don't fall in love with a piece of code, okay?"

1

"Quinn, I'm talking to you. Look at me!"

He suddenly increased the pressure in his grip.

"Say something! Do you think creating this virtual knockoff is going to disgust me?"

My gaze traveled past his shoulder to the wreckage scattered across the floor.

This was the "gift" he gave me after rushing home for my birthday, having turned down a billion-dollar project.

The computer components had cut his finger.

Blood dripped from his fingertip, falling drop by drop onto my pure white maternity dress.

"Ethan, you've stained my dress."

I looked down at the red marks on the hem, reaching for tissues on the coffee table.

"You're worried about that dress!" Ethan snatched the tissues from my hand.

He cupped my face with both hands.

"Quinn, do you even have a heart? I'm your husband, a living person right in front of you, and you'd rather smile at some broken code than look at me?"

I looked at his furious face.

"A living person? You mean the one who accompanied his intern on a sweet hotel tryst during my delivery date?"

Ethan's expression froze for a moment, but was quickly covered by rage.

"I told you, that was just going through the motions! It was Lily who insisted on going to that trendy hotel to see the night view. I just gave her a ride!"

"A ride?" I reached up, prying his fingers off my chin one by one.

"A ride that ended up on a hotel bed, posting on Instagram with the caption 'Older Man's Favorite'?"

"Quinn, stop fixating on such a small thing! I rushed back to spend your birthday with you. What more do you want?" He took a deep breath, his tone softening. "I fired Lily, okay? I'll be with you every day from now on. I won't go anywhere. Just delete that knockoff, and we'll live a good life together."

I looked down at the slightly trembling hands around my waist.

"Ethan, you're scared."

"Scared of what! I just think you're being completely unreasonable!"

I ignored his roar. Right in front of him, I opened the cloud backup app.

Ace's smiling 3D hologram appeared on the screen. He wore a white shirt, his eyes clear and bright.

"Quinn, has the baby been good today?"

Ethan's pupils constricted sharply, staring fixedly at the screen showing that face identical to his own.

"You kept him!" He let out a beast-like growl, snatched my phone, and hurled it viciously at the opposite marble wall.

"Bang!"—a loud crash.

Ace's voice cut off abruptly.

I looked at the shattered pieces on the floor, slowly stood up, and stepped over the pile of wreckage.

"Quinn! Where are you going!" Ethan roared behind me.

I didn't look back, walking straight toward the bedroom.

"Bang!"—I closed the bedroom door and locked it.

From outside came Ethan's suppressed roar, followed by the dull thud of fists pounding the wall.

"Quinn, come out here! Explain yourself! You think hiding in there will solve anything? I'm telling you, I absolutely won't let that broken program stay in this house!"

I lay on the bed, hands resting on my swollen belly, and closed my eyes.

"Goodnight, Ace," I whispered to the empty air.

The pounding on the door grew weaker.

"Quinn, you're going to regret this."

2

The excruciating pain of my water breaking struck without warning in the middle of the night.

I bit down hard on the corner of my blanket.

After the tearing contraction passed, I pushed myself up against the edge of the bed.

Without calling for Ethan outside, I picked up the landline and dialed 91