Chapter 1

The moment those words came out of my mouth, the man I had chosen immediately smiled.

"Honey, you picked the right one. I'm the real Cody. That's the android I built," the android Cody said.

I, Naomi Allen, didn't answer.

Instead, I looked at the real Cody standing quietly off to the side while he pretended to be the android.

"From now on, I'll leave Ophelia in your care. Stay by her side and take good care of her."

He looked up. The surprise in his eyes was very brief. In a deliberately mechanical voice, he replied, "Command received."

Without another glance at him, I turned around and left the laboratory with the android.

Back home, the way he removed his coat, tilted his head while pouring water, and chose the same spot on the couch all reminded me of Cody.

After spending fifty years together, I realized I could no longer tell the real one from the fake.

Or perhaps, I had never imagined that the one sleeping beside me all this time had been a heartless android all along.

Without looking at him any longer, I called my lawyer. Not long after that, I received a divorce agreement.

I slid it across the table toward the android and tapped the signature line.

"Sign it."

He frowned. Even his puzzled expression was identical to Cody's.

"Honey, we've been doing fine. Why do you want a divorce?"

"Just sign it."

My voice remained calm as my gaze settled on a nearly imperceptible mark at the back of his neck. It was the detail I had accidentally discovered beneath the rubble in my previous life.

He remained silent for a few seconds before finally picking up the pen and carefully writing Cody's name down.

Even his handwriting was indistinguishable from the original.

It looked like he wanted to say something else, but I reached out and pressed the concealed button on the back of his neck.

The instant my fingertip pushed it, the light disappeared from his eyes. After his body went limp, he collapsed onto the couch and remained completely motionless.

I stared at the signature on the divorce agreement. My fingertips grew cold.

No one knew that he was an android. Would a divorce agreement signed this way even be legally valid?

I picked up my phone to look up the law. The moment I unlocked the screen, a notification from Ophelia's Instagram account popped up.

She had posted a photo of a table filled with food. In the picture, Cody was carrying a bowl of soup out of the kitchen while smiling.

Staring at the meal, it felt like countless needles pierced through my chest.

Throughout our marriage, Cody had rarely cooked for me.

He always said he was too busy with research and too exhausted to cook. It turned out it wasn't that he couldn't. He simply didn't want to cook for me.

I tapped on the screen and liked the post.

Less than two seconds later, Ophelia messaged me.

[Naomi, this android's cooking is amazing! Bring Cody over and come eat with us!]