Beyond His Digital Ghost

Nine months after discovering my husband Carter's infidelity. Heavily pregnant, I found another husband who truly loved me. Whenever Carter gave me the cold shoulder on purpose, he would tell jokes to cheer me up. Whenever Carter was at a hotel hooking up with his intern, he would gently comfort me. Whenever the mistress texted me to brag, he would help me craft polite blessings to send back. Carter’s circle chuckled behind my back. "Look how pathetic Nina is. She even puts up with Carter taking another woman to luxury suites." "Well, she’s just terrified of losing her spot as Mrs. Hayes." That was until Carter blew off a multibillion-dollar corporate deal to rush home for my birthday, only to find me smiling blissfully at my computer screen. His eyes turned bloodshot when he finally caught sight of the AI—an avatar mapped perfectly to his own face, but possessing a kindness a hundred times gentler than his. Like a rabid animal, he smashed the PC tower to pieces and pinned me violently onto the sofa: "I am your real husband! Don’t you dare fall in love with a piece of code!" "Nina, I’m talking to you! Look at me!" His grip tightened violently around my shoulders. "Say something! Did you cook up this freakish thing just to spite me?!" I stared right past him at the wreckage littering the floor. This was his grand gift to me—arriving home after walking out on a corporate merger just to throw a tantrum on my birthday. The shattered metal casing had slashed his finger. Blood seeped down from his knuckle, dripping onto my pristine white maternity dress drop by drop. "Carter, you got blood on my dress." I cast my gaze down at the red stain spreading on the hem and reached for a tissue on the coffee table. "Are you seriously worrying about some stupid dress right now?!" Carter snatched the box from my hand and tossed it aside. He cupped my face roughly with both palms. "Nina, do you even have a heart?" "I'm your husband! A living, breathing man is standing right in front of you, and you’d rather smile at lines of garbage code than give me a single glance?!" I looked coldly into his furious eyes. "A living, breathing man?" "You mean the man who, while his pregnant wife approaches her due date, spends his nights checking into boutique hotels with an intern?" Carter’s face went rigid for a split second, only for defensive rage to wash over it again. "I told you, that was just keeping up appearances!" "Chloe threw a fit wanting to see the skyline view from that rooftop spot, so I just dropped her off on the way!" "On the way?" I raised my hand and peeled his fingers off my chin, one by one. "On the way enough to sprawl across a king-size bed and let her post on Instagram about 'the CEO’s special pampering'?" "Nina, stop obsessing over every petty detail! I came all the way home to celebrate your birthday, what more do you want from me?!" He drew a sharp breath, his tone suddenly softening into a wheedling plea. "I’ll fire Chloe, okay? I’ll stay by your side every single day from now on. I won't go anywhere." "Just delete that sick program, and let’s get our life back on track." I lowered my eyes, gazing at the hands around my waist that were trembling ever so slightly. "Carter, you’re terrified." "What do I have to be afraid of?! I just think you’re losing your mind!" I tuned out his desperate roar. Right in front of him, I pulled out my phone and tapped open the cloud backup app. A 3D projection of Zephyr floated above the screen, smiling warmly. He wore a crisp white dress shirt, his eyes clear and tender. "Nina, has our little one been kicking today?" Carter’s pupils shrank to needlepoints. He stared fixedly at the face on the screen—a face identical to his own younger self. "You still kept him?!" He let out a guttural, wounded roar, ripped the phone out of my hands, and hurled it violently against the marble accent wall. *Crash.* Zephyr’s voice abruptly cut off into static. I stared down at the scattered components on the floor, stood up slowly, and stepped right over the broken heap. "Nina! Where the hell do you think you’re going?!" Carter yelled from behind. Without looking back, I walked straight into the master bedroom. *Slam.* I shut the door and turned the deadbolt. Outside, Carter let out a muffled, raging groan, followed by the dull thuds of his fists pounding the drywall. "Nina, get out here right now! Talk to me!" "You think hiding in there fixes anything?! Let me tell you, I will never let that digital garbage stay under my roof!" I lay down on the mattress, resting both hands gently over my swollen belly, and closed my eyes. "Goodnight, Zephyr," I whispered into the quiet air. The banging against the door gradually died down. "Nina, you’re going to regret this."In the dead of night, the searing, tearing agony of my water breaking hit without warning. I clamped my teeth down hard on the corner of the duvet. Once the first wave of brutal contractions subsided, I gripped the edge of the bed and pushed myself up. I didn't bother calling out to Carter on the other side of the door. Instead, I picked up the landline and dialed 911. Grabbing the hospital bag I had packed weeks ago, I braced against the wall, taking one agonizing step after another out of the room. The living room reeked of spilled alcohol. Carter was passed out cold on the rug. Clutched tightly in his limp hand were the crushed remnants of my phone. Outside the villa, the siren wailed as flashing red and blue lights illuminated the living room windows, washing across his sleeping face. He merely turned over with a disgruntled groan, mumbling drunkenly: "Chloe... stop teasing..." I pulled my eyes away and walked out the front door without a backward glance. At the hospital triage desk, the intake nurse gave me a bewildered, sympathetic look as I stood there completely alone. "Where’s your family, ma’am? Why are you carrying your bags by yourself in labor?" "He’s dead," I replied evenly, signing my name on the consent forms. The nurse paused, asking nothing more, though the pity in her eyes deepened. I lay in the delivery suite alone, enduring the crushing torture of active labor. With every contraction, it felt as though a serrated saw was dragging across my lower back and pelvis. Suddenly, the room door was pushed open. Chloe stood there, draped in an oversized men’s dress shirt. I recognized it immediately—it was Carter’s favorite custom designer shirt. Across her exposed collarbone were fresh, undeniable love bites. Chloe held up her phone, which was on an active call. Carter’s name was glowing brightly on the screen. "Hey Nina, heard your water broke?" She looked down at me, a smirk playing at the corners of her lips. I gripped the bedsheets with white knuckles, unwilling to waste a shred of breath on her. Chloe shoved the phone right in front of my face and deliberately tapped the speaker icon. Carter’s slurred, sleep-heavy voice filtered through the line. "Chloe... who the hell are you calling in the middle of the night..." "Carter, sweetie, it sounds like Nina’s at the hospital giving birth. Shouldn't you come see her?" Chloe cooed, her tone dripping with sweet malice. A beat of silence hung over the line, followed by a cold, irritated scoff. "Ignore that crazy bitch. She’s just using labor pains to beg for my attention." "Let her push. Once she’s done, she can crawl back home and apologize on her own knees!" Another vicious contraction ripped through my abdomen. I bit into my lower lip until it bled, refusing to let out a single whimper. Chloe hung up the call, her grin widening smugly. "Did you hear that, Nina? Carter says he’s sick and tired of your pathetic, lifeless face." "Seriously, what’s the point of clinging to that wedding ring? You can't even get your husband to show up when you're giving birth." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, flashing the diamond tennis bracelet on her wrist. "Carter bought this for me at the hotel boutique last night. Gorgeous, isn't it?" I looked her dead in the eye. Then, I reached up and hit the red emergency call button by the headboard. "Bed three, what's the emergency?" A nurse rushed in within seconds. "I don't know who this woman is. She’s trespassing and harassing a laboring patient. Get her out." The nurse’s brow furrowed, and she immediately radioed hospital security. "What do you think you’re doing?! I’m Hayes Enterprises' executive assistant! Don't you dare touch me!" Chloe shrieked. The security guards ignored her flailing and dragged her out by her arms. Her venomous curses echoed down the corridor: "Nina, you deserve to be thrown away like trash!" The medical team wheeled my gurney toward the delivery room. I shut my eyes, my mind helplessly replaying a memory from five years ago. Back then, Carter had carried me on his back through a torrential downpour all the way to the emergency room. He had wept outside the trauma bay, swearing to the heavens that he would never let a single tear fall from my eyes for the rest of our lives. *Waaaah—* With a sharp, piercing newborn cry, I opened my eyes. In that exact second, the very last ember of hope I harbored for Carter Hayes was extinguished forever. The boy who carried me through the rain had died a long time ago, buried under the rot of time.Because he was born premature, my son was immediately whisked away to an incubator in the NICU. I lay in that hospital bed for an entire day and night before Carter finally showed up the following morning. He looked more exhausted and disheveled than I did after giving birth. In his hand was a thermal takeout bag from a high-end breakfast deli downtown. Inside was the exact savory broth I used to crave. "Nina." He hurried to the bedside, his face awash with remorse as he grabbed my hand, which was attached to an IV drip. "I’m so sorry. I drank way too much night before last and passed out." "Chloe took my phone to play some stupid prank. I swear to God, I had no idea you went into labor." He tried to set the thermal container on the nightstand, shooting me a pleading, eager-to-please smile. "I stood in line for over an hour to get this. Drink it while it’s hot, okay?" I stared at him, slid my hand out of his grip, and pointed toward the trash can by the door. "Throw it out." Carter froze. "Nina, please don't be like this. I came as fast as I could, didn't I?" "Where’s the baby? Is it a boy or a girl? Does he look like you, or like me?" he babbled, desperate to change the subject. The door clicked open again, and Chloe appeared in the doorway holding a fruit basket. Her eyes were rimmed with red, looking utterly pitiful. "Nina, I’m so sorry," she said, stepping to the foot of the bed and bowing deeply. "I only meant to joke around night before last. I had no idea you were actually delivering." "Carter already chewed me out. Please, just forgive me this once." Looking at her sickening little performance made bile rise in the back of my throat. "Get out," I said, cold and flat. Tears spilled down Chloe’s cheeks instantly as she looked helplessly toward Carter. "Carter... is Nina still furious with me? I really know I messed up..." Carter’s brow knit tight. He stepped squarely in front of Chloe, his voice laced with rising irritation. "Nina, she already apologized! How long are you going to keep throwing this tantrum?" "She’s young and naive. You’re the mature one here—can’t you just show a little grace?" Looking at this man demanding that I "show grace" to the mistress who taunted me during labor, a wave of dark, bitter humor washed over me. Without warning, I ripped the IV needle out of the back of my hand. "Nina! What are you doing?!" Carter lunged forward in a panic, trying to clamp a hand over the bleeding puncture. *Slap!* A crisp, deafening blow cracked across Carter’s cheek. He clutched his burning face, staring at me in absolute shock. "Nina... you hit me?" Chloe screamed and threw her arms around Carter’s sleeve. "Nina, have you lost your mind?! Carter came all this way out of the kindness of his heart, and you strike him?!" Ignoring her squawking, I reached into my drawer, pulled out a tablet, and tapped the screen. Zephyr’s gentle, familiar voice resonated through the speaker: "Nina, congratulations on becoming a mother. Don't be afraid. I will protect the two of you forever." The moment Carter heard that voice, his eyes locked onto the tablet like a rabid beast. "You kept another backup?!" "Nina, are you trying to drive me into an early grave?!""Carter, what right do you have to talk about dying?" I cradled the tablet against my chest, shielding it like the most precious treasure on earth. He lunged forward, ripped the tablet from my arms, and smashed it violently onto the tiled floor. *Crack.* The glass spiderwebbed, but Zephyr’s voice still drifted out in broken fragments: "Nina... are you... happy today..." Carter stomped down frantically on the screen over and over until the audio was completely crushed into silence. Breathing heavily, he yanked out his phone and speed-dialed the chief technology officer at Hayes Enterprises. "Mark, lock down Nina’s personal cloud account right this second!" "Track down that AI program named 'Zephyr' and shred it! Wipe it down to the last byte! Don't leave a single trace!" I shot upright in the hospital bed, the sudden motion pulling violently at my postpartum stitches. I gasped in sharp agony. "Carter, don't you dare touch him!" I lunged forward, trying to snatch his phone. He sidestepped me effortlessly. Seeing the sheer desperation in my eyes, a flash of vindictive triumph lit up his face. "Nina, you’re willing to risk your life over a bunch of worthless code?" From the receiver came the rapid, rhythmic clatter of Mark typing. "Mr. Hayes, I found the archive. The firewall is layered, give me two minutes to bypass it." I grabbed Carter’s sleeve. For the first time in my entire life, I lowered my head to him. "Carter... I’m begging you. Don't delete him." My voice shook with a pathetic desperation that sickened even myself. Carter caught my chin in a bruising grip, forcing me to look up into his smug, cruel eyes. "Begging me? Now you know how to beg?" "When you were smiling at that fake ghost, why didn't you think about where that would lead?!" Tears finally broke free, cascading down my cheeks. "He isn't fake. He never once hurt me." "Mark, do it!" Carter barked into the phone. "Too late, Nina. I want you to watch your little digital crutch turn into ashes." A long, flat beep sounded from the phone’s speaker. "Mr. Hayes, the data has been scrubbed. Three passes of physical sector overwrite. It’s completely unrecoverable." On the floor, from the broken speaker of the ruined tablet, Zephyr’s final words crackled through bursts of electrical noise: "Nina... don't cry... I love..." The voice died completely. My fingers slipped from Carter’s sleeve. As if all the strength had been drained from my bones, I sank onto the floor. Something deep inside my chest hollowed out entirely. Carter peered down at me, clearly expecting to see broken submission and tearful apologies. He was disappointed. I lifted my head slowly, looking at the man I had loved for ten years. He felt like a total stranger. "Carter, do you know whose data Zephyr’s core logic was built on?" His brow furrowed, confusion flickering in his gaze. "It’s just an AI companion, isn't it? Whose else could it be?" Word by word, I spoke, my voice as faint as a dying breeze: "He was modeled on the eighteen-year-old Carter Hayes." "The boy who stood on the high school roof and swore he would never betray Nina as long as he lived." "He was the behavioral simulation code you wrote with your own hands, just to make me smile when we had nothing."