g by the door, a one-way ticket to a life without him tucked safely in my purse. I sat on the edge of my

orbell rang.

disapproval. I heard Liam's footsteps a

o, Ava,"

t a plea. There was no emotion

rry

s after the accident had been a reaction to shock, that he had finally realized what I meant to h

, my voice bar

ransaction. "You are suitable. Your family has a good n

future together, of children. He was offering me a position, not a partnership. The flicker of hope died, but my love for him, stubborn

aid

ife could never truly love me. But I didn't listen. I convinced myself that his love was just different, that a genius like Liam exp

was sickeningly clear. He didn't just need a wi

ried to kiss him. The staff said he had pushed her away so forcefully she fell, and then he fled the house, not returning for days. At the time, it was dismissed as a teenage girl's drunken crush. Now, I saw it a different way. It

e bedrooms, which he claimed was because of his late-night work schedule. I now realized it was so he could spend his nights with his doll without fear of disc

it to me. A robot, programmed to mimic passion, to go through the motions so he wouldn't have to. Did he watch? Did he stand in the shadows, observing the c

evidence, removing any trace of the mechanical surrogate from my body, ensuring his perfect crime remained undiscovered. For five years, I had been living a lie, not just a lie told to me by Liam, bu