His Younger Self’s AI Loved Me More Than He Did Chapter 04

His Younger Self’s AI Loved Me More Than He Did Chapter 04

Ethan had said Al’s data was taken from his eighteen-year-old self. When we were eighteen, I saw a few thugs extorting a girl.

I called the cops, but afterward they cornered me in a dead-end alley for revenge. Ethan came charging in and shielded me, gritting his teeth and taking five knife wounds.

That night, the alley was covered in dark bodily fluid stains.

I held Ethan and sobbed until my voice was shredded.

No matter how hard I pressed, I couldn’t stop the blood from his back. He just looked at me. “Zara, as long as you’re okay.”

Despair and the pain of those memories crashed over me all at once, nearly tearing me apart.

I could only murmur the same words over and over. “I’m taking you with me, Al…”

But my hands were shaking so badly, I couldn’t piece his shattered body back together.

Al’s voice crackled with static.

It sounded more and more human, like he was speaking his final words.

“The Ethan I was at eighteen thought Zara Davis was the greatest girl in the world.”

“But the man I became at twenty-eight didn’t know how to hold onto her.”

“Don’t ever forgive him.”

He looked at me as the blue light slowly dimmed.

“Promise me.”

“Don’t ever come back.”

With those last words, the eyes that had always gazed at me so tenderly lost all focus.

I watched him turn into a pile of scrap metal that would never answer me again.

Tears streamed down my face in silence.

These past six months, without Al, I wouldn’t have survived.

So many nights when I wanted to jump from the rooftop, he was there, holding me clumsily. Now, I held his cold, shattered body and sat in the dark for the entire night. In the morning, the doorbell rang.

That’s when I realized it was already light out. Outside stood a staff member from the AI company, wheeling a silver-white crate.

“Ms. Davis, your custom AI companion has arrived.”

I looked outside. Fairview was draped in a steady, gray drizzle. Today was Maya’s due date. The day Ethan came back. And the day I would leave for good.

Not long after, I picked up my luggage and walked out the door, leaving without looking back. Outside the airport, a fine rain was falling. The windows were coated with a damp fog. I sat in the departure lounge.

Maya had just posted another update. [Finally about to pop! He’s more nervous than I am. Palms are all sweaty.] The photo showed two hands laced together.

I calmly turned off my phone and walked toward the security checkpoint. The moment the plane broke through the clouds, I whispered in my heart, [I promised you, Al. I’m never looking back.]

And the final gift I’d left for Ethan was waiting for him quietly at home.