Chapter 3

The next morning, Julian brought breakfast to my bed, looking incredibly eager to please.

"Babe, it really was a system bug. I called the dealership first thing this morning."

"They said the latest software update has messed up some user data, especially the voice profiles. They told me to bring it in for a factory reset when I have time."

"I’ve already deleted Tiffany’s temporary profile. You can rest easy now, okay?"

His eyes were filled with nothing but sincerity.

I stared at him, unable to say a word.

If I hadn't heard that "Identity unrecognized" prompt with my own ears last night, I probably would have believed him.

For the next few days, he treated me like we were back in the honeymoon phase.

He came home straight after work and spent the weekend taking me out to movies and shopping.

He even suggested we finally go on that luxury trip to Hawaii we had delayed for years.

His sudden wave of tenderness began to slowly wear down my defenses.

I almost let myself fall back into his beautiful illusion.

On Wednesday, I took Julian’s car to the grocery store.

I casually said to the console, "Play some music."

The system paused for a few seconds.

"Sure. Playing Tiffany’s Favorite Playlist."

A cold shiver ran down my spine, and my blood froze instantly.

I began tapping the screen frantically like a madwoman, trying to turn it off.

But no matter what I pressed, the words "Tiffany’s Favorite Playlist" remained locked in the center of the screen.

I pulled over to the curb, my heart hammering against my ribs.

Didn't he say he deleted her?

Why was this still here?

When Julian came home that night, I confronted him immediately.

"What is 'Tiffany’s Favorite Playlist' doing in your car?"

He gasped, then quickly put on a look of sheer frustration.

"This piece of junk! I told you the system is completely messed up!"

He pulled out his phone, put it on speaker, and called the dealership representative right in front of me.

"What is wrong with my car? Didn't you guys say it was reset? Why is another user's playlist still popping up when my wife drives it?"

The representative on the phone apologized profusely, claiming it might be a cloud cache issue and asking him to bring it in again.

Julian hung up and pinched the bridge of his nose, looking exhausted.

"Babe, please don't overthink this. It’s genuinely just a technical glitch."

"I’ll take a day off tomorrow to get this sorted out once and for all."

He took my hand and kissed it gently.

"And to give you peace of mind, I’ve already transferred Tiffany to another department. Is that enough?"

I looked into his eyes. "Really?"

"Really. Have I ever lied to you?"

His gaze was steady, without a hint of guilt.

The heavy stone in my heart finally felt a little lighter.

But the next day, while doing the laundry, I found a crumpled piece of paper in his suit pocket.

It was a billing receipt from an elite private maternity clinic.

The date on the receipt was the exact day he had sworn to me that he had deleted her profile.

Under the patient name, it read:

"Fiona Miller."

That was my name.