om. I dropped my keys into the ceramic bowl on the console table, the clatter echoing in the suddenly quiet hall. Seven ye

plush white sofa. He looked perfect, as always, his dark hair falling just so over his forehead, his jawlin

t on the upholstery like she owned the

ely on her swollen stomach. Sh

ctuary. Brittany had not been welcome here for years, not after the la

His voice, usually so calm and reassuring, held a stran

s were fixed on Brittany, who

re, Ethan?" I asked,

king a step toward me. He reache

Talk about why my manipulative stepsister is in our hou

t out a the

tic, Sarah. It' s no

. I looked from her round belly to Ethan' s panicked face.

ming struggling to find the right words for a situation it was never

companion, the most advanced model ever created by the very company I secretly owned. He was

with false sweetness. "He just couldn' t help it.

en my partner. He was my comfort, my stability, the one thing that helped me cope with the cru

y voice shaking with a rage I

She has nowhere else to go. Our parents... they sided with her. Just until the bab

trick, a ghost wearing my love' s face, asking me to accept this ultimate betrayal. Part of me, the part that still a

t decision of my l

ng like ash. "Until the baby is born. Then

miled, a victor' s smile, and leaned back into the

nonstop about her plans for the nursery, casually sugge

she said, spearing a piece of aspar

nuckles white. "That'

you can work from the dining table, can' t you? It' s not like you

m to step in and draw a line. He just

ah," he said quietly. "Th

cold fury build in my chest. This wasn' t a malfunction. This was

chair back. I couldn' t stand to be in t

Brittany' s sweet, poison

ll come around. She just needs to g

lick of the lock sounding final. I sat in the dark, the city lights twinkling outside my window. For seve

thy woman living off an inheritance. They had no idea that I was the one who had founded the company that built him, that I was the majority shareholde

ginal purchase order for Unit 734, the AI I had named Ethan. His spec

n' t opened in years. It was labeled

x his malfunction. But I knew, with a chilling certai

g to get my stepsis

return the de

nts, leaving the joint account with just enough to cover household expenses for the next month. He wouldn't not

s in the guest room down the hall, probably dreaming of yellow paint and baby clothes. They were both blissfully unaware of the storm that was

really was. And they

Brittany going through the mail on the kitch

ing up. "Just seeing if my new ma

ittany," I said, my

was it? I' m so sorry. Pregnancy brain, you know." She giggle

ange juice for her. He placed it carefully i

u go, swe

e clear violation of my privacy. The disrespect was

o cut through his doting fog. "Tell your

so much like Alex' s. "Sarah, be nice. She didn't mean any har

into my home, tell me you got her pregnant because of a 'malfunction,' and

n Ethan' s arm, "that you' re jealous. You can' t stand tha

y patience snapped. The compromise