Jessica walked into the laboratory in a wedding dress. "Kevin, retrieve the data on the batch of bionic people from three years ago within seven days and help me erase my identity. I’m leaving Jorwick in a week."
Her assistant, Kevin Aalders, was stunned. "Jessica, weren’t you getting married today? Weren’t you planning to go back to your family?"
Jessica clenched the “sorry ticket” in her hand, her knuckles white. "The wedding is off. I came back only to retrieve data on the mutant bionics."
She hadn’t expected this. After years of love, after everything they had been through, Liam Zelenka, the man who once said he couldn’t live without her, had fallen for her bionic replica, Jeje.
"Jessica, use a “make up ticket” whenever you’re angry. These 100 tickets are enough for a lifetime. I’ll never let you down," he had promised.
But after five years of love and devotion, those 100 tickets had been used up, 95 of them gone in just two months. Only five remained.
The first ticket: Jeje said, “I like roses.” So Liam tore up all the daffodil beds that Jessica had carefully tended for years and replaced them with roses overnight.
Ticket No. 52: on her birthday, the bionic version threw a tantrum about having her chip inspected. Liam ignored the trauma Jessica still carried from surviving a shipwreck and left her alone on the beach all night with a raging fever of 104.
Ticket No. 77: Jeje poured boiling stew over Jessica’s arm. Liam had simply said, “She didn’t mean it, she’s just a simple-minded bionic. Don’t be so petty.”
Ticket No. 95: he finally gave Jessica the wedding she had waited five years for, only to replace her at the last minute during the party with Jeje.
Jessica stared at the crumpled ticket in her hand before tearing it to pieces. ‘If five more are used, then it’ll truly be the end.’
——
Jessica returned to the villa, holding the freshly printed divorce agreement.
“Where could she possibly go after leaving me? Is she just pretending to run away to control me?” Liam muttered.
The wedding had just ended and Liam hadn’t even changed out of his tuxedo. When he saw Jessica walk in, he approached her, holding a rose in one hand and reaching for her with the other.
“Jessica, Jeje doesn’t even know what a wedding means, she just wanted to experience it. Haven’t we already gotten the marriage certificate? You should’ve been more generous and let her have that small wish,” he said.
Then, Jeje entered in elegant high heels, wearing a wedding dress even more exquisite and dazzling than Jessica’s.
It was the one Liam had spent five years designing. If not for the small, butterfly-shaped blue chip occasionally visible on her neck, most people wouldn’t have realized she was a bionic.
The chip was mostly hidden by a crystal necklace; the pink crystal Jessica had once wanted more than anything.
She still remembered Liam holding her back then, his tone full of guilt and affection. “I’m sorry, Jessica. I couldn’t afford that necklace for you. The company was just starting out. I didn’t have that kind of money. You understand, right?”
Now, looking at the necklace hanging from her replica’s neck, Jessica could only think how ridiculous it all was.
She looked up at him, eyes cold. “But she’s not even a person. She’s just a bionic, customized to look like the 18-year-old me.”
“So what if she’s a bionic? She has consciousness and emotions, she’s my Jeje!” Liam said, his tone unconsciously cold.
He added, “Jessica, I didn’t expect you to be so petty. Ever since you came back, you’ve been finding fault with Jeje in everything.
“Today’s wedding was just for show, just a formality. Yeah, I swapped the bride at the last minute, but was that really worth running away over?”
Jessica let out a self-mocking laugh. Once, Liam had been so tender to her.
When she survived the shipwreck, he had stayed by the seaside for two months without rest, waited five years for her, designed a wedding dress by hand and vowed to love only her for life, even in death.
And now, she came back… only to watch him give their wedding to someone else without hesitation.
“Well then, it really doesn’t matter anymore. I have no reason to stay. You can live with her,” she said.
As Jessica turned to leave, the fear Liam once felt when he thought he had lost her in the shipwreck surged up again. His heart softened.
He pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly and coaxed gently, “Jessica, just take it as me being in the wrong this time. Deduct a make-up ticket from me, okay?”
Jessica remained calm as she took two documents from her bag. “Sign these. If you do, I’ll use the make-up ticket.”
Liam was just about to open it to see what it was when, all of a sudden, some guests who didn’t know the truth stepped forward and shoved Jessica hard.
“Who are you, old hag? How dare you pretend to be our Jessica!”
“You think you can seduce Mr. Zelenka in a wedding dress? Don’t assume he’ll like you just because you look a little like Jessica!”
“Today is Mr. Zelenka’s wedding with Jessica. If you’re wise enough, get out!”
Jessica felt the blood rush to her head. So this wasn’t just a last-minute swap of the bride, Jeje was actually the real bride today.
“Jessica!” Liam quickly walked over to her, his voice filled with guilt. “I’m sorry, I didn’t inform everyone properly. The invitations were printed wrong and some guests still don’t know you’re back.”
“Didn’t you say you’d announce my return?” Jessica gripped her champagne glass tightly.
Liam hesitated for a moment, then quietly raised his phone and opened his social media story.
“Talking about this in front of everyone would just embarrass Jeje… but I did post it,” he said, showing her the screen.
Jessica stared at it in disbelief. The phone was so close, she could clearly see the small text below the post: “Visible to Jessica only.”
He didn’t even bother to pretend. Jessica couldn’t hold it in anymore, she threw the champagne in her hand. “What kind of announcement is this?!”
“Ah!” Jeje suddenly jumped forward, blocking the splash with her body to shield Liam.
“You’re not allowed to harm Liam! I just wanted to experience being a bride,” Jeje said in a soft voice. “But you are right, the rightful one has returned. My job as a substitute is done. I’ll leave now, I don’t want to make you upset.”
She used Jessica’s 18-year-old face with practiced skill, her expression full of emotion. Even the slight furrow of her brow made Liam anxious.
“You’re not a substitute. You’re your own person, you’re my Jeje and no one can take you away,” he said firmly.
‘Isn’t she my substitute?’ Jessica sneered inwardly. She was the one who had been Liam’s partner for years, who had loved him deeply, yet now, she looked like the outsider.
Liam’s eyes fell on the alcohol staining Jeje’s dress and his tone turned sharp with concern. “So what if I didn’t tell everyone you were back? Why take it out on Jeje? Apologize to her!”
Jessica slowly widened her eyes, stunned. “What did you just say? Liam, who is your wife here? Why should I be the one to apologize?!”
Liam froze for a moment, but then the coldness returned to his face. “From the beginning, you’ve been overreacting and disrupting Jeje’s wedding. Now you’ve thrown champagne at her. You’re being unreasonable. Why can’t you be as kind and simple as she is?”
Those words pierced her heart like the sharpest blade.
Even though Jessica had already made the decision to leave, Liam’s response still left her shattered with disappointment.
But that still wasn’t enough. Liam picked up a glass of wine and handed it to Jeje. “If she refuses to apologize, then throw it back. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”
Jeje hesitantly took the glass, then raised her hand and smashed the glass and liquor directly onto Jessica’s head.
Shards scattered with the splash and after a moment of dizziness, Jessica felt warm liquid trickling down her scalp.
Seeing her bleeding, Liam suddenly looked alarmed and took a step forward, ready to check on her.
But suddenly, clutching at his shirt before collapsing into his arms, Jeje murmured weakly, “Liam… my legs… I think I can’t move them.”
Liam immediately lifted her in a panic. “It must be a loose part blocking your energy flow. Come on, I’ll take you home.”
Before Jessica could react, Liam turned, holding Jeje and his shoulder struck hers hard in the process. A sharp pain shot through her, making her inhale sharply. “Wait a minute!”
“What now?” he snapped, his tone full of impatience, as if her pain were invisible to him.
“Sign it,” Jessica said firmly.
“What agreement is so urgent right now?” Liam muttered, clearly agitated. Without even glancing at the contents, he flipped to the last page and signed his name hastily.
“There. Satisfied?” he said, tossing the pen aside.
Jessica stared at the pen lying on the floor, then at Liam’s back as he carried Jeje away in a rush. Her mind drifted back to the day they first met, the image vivid in her memory.
“Jessica! I thought I’d never find you again.” He hugged her tightly, as if he had recovered a long-lost treasure.
Back then, she had foolishly believed that everything was just like it had been five years ago.
Now, in silence, Jessica tore off another make-up voucher; number 96 for Liam. Just four more and they would never see each other again.
Then, without hesitation, she took out her phone and booked a flight to Genistra for seven days later.
