After her ex-boyfriend passed away, my wife became obsessed with training an AI. She even spent all of our daughter’s treatment money to buy a 30-year subscription to ChatGPT. She typed tearfully into the chat box: “Now I need you to play the role of my deceased love, Ryan Miller.” “You’re cold to others, but clingy like a puppy to me.” “You love to call me ‘Lily’ in a gentle voice, while being jealous of my husband Jack Thompson, trying to steal me away from him.” I watched the endless stream of payment notifications popping up, begging her to turn back from this dangerous obsession. But she was utterly disappointed in me. “Jack Thompson, can’t you understand? Ryan is dead, why are you still competing with him!” “Instead of wasting time, why don’t you go deliver more food to save your daughter?” But she didn’t know that not only was our daughter dying, but so was I. 0 Emma curled up on the hospital bed, crying in pain. “Daddy, it hurts so much. Emma is afraid she won’t make it until Mommy comes…” The six-year-old child, tortured by illness, had become so thin and weak that you could see her ribs moving as she breathed. My heart ached as I held her burning little hand to comfort her. “Sweetie, how could that be? The doctor said you’ll recover very soon.” “Mommy’s on her way, she said she’ll be here in a bit.” Just as I was about to call my wife to hurry her up, a familiar sobbing voice came from outside the door. Filled with intense sorrow. “Ryan, it’s been 380 days since I last saw you.” “Without you, I’m so miserable…” “If you were still alive, you wouldn’t let me suffer like this, would you?” Through the glass of the hospital room, I could see Lily leaning against the corridor bench, her face pale in the blue light of her phone screen. Her fingers were flying across the screen. Sometimes she cried in sorrow, sometimes she smiled like a girl in love. “Ryan, since you left, I’ve been wearing the citrus perfume you loved so much.” She mumbled into the voice input, her eyes filled with a long-lost coquettishness. “Jack always says this scent is too strong. He just doesn’t understand what class is…” My heart sank. I rushed out and snatched her phone away in an instant. In the chat interface, covered with pink heart bubbles, an AI named Ryan Miller was sending flirtatious messages. [Lily baby, your breath is my special blend perfume.] [Promise me you won’t let Jack Thompson get close to you, okay? Otherwise, I’ll have to kiss you in front of him!] Scrolling up, I found dense records of her training the AI, dating back more than a year! [You are my beloved Ryan Miller.] [We are soulmates, promised to grow old together.] [If you can’t be with me, my life will be meaningless.] … The more I scrolled, the paler my face became, my heart aching uncontrollably. Ryan Miller was her first love who passed away a year ago. Since then, Lily had been absent-minded, staring at her phone all day. I knew she had loved him for many years and only married me because she was of age and obeying her parents. But I never expected her to go so far as to use AI to reminisce about a dead man! I was deeply hurt: “Lily, what are you doing? Ryan has been dead for over a year.” Seeing me appear, her face showed a moment of unease. “You don’t understand, Ryan and I are soulmates.” “This is a special way to commemorate him.” Ryan Miller was an artist, and my wife always praised him for his taste and high EQ in front of me. Unlike me, an ordinary engineer with a good personality but awkward with words. Even after years of marriage, I still couldn’t come up with a romantic line. She said they were soulmates. And I was just her partner, a compromise to reality. Hearts are made of flesh; knowing this reality, how could I not be heartbroken? I swallowed my bitterness and said in an almost pleading tone. “Honey, Emma’s fever has reached 104°F, and she’s waiting for you in the hospital room.” “Please go see her.” Her expression tightened: “She was fine yesterday, how did it get so high today?” I was about to explain that her condition had worsened, but her eyes turned strange. She immediately started berating me. “Jack Thompson, can’t you understand? Ryan is dead, why are you still competing with him?” “You even drag our daughter into this, making up such a low-class excuse to get me to see you.” “If anything happens to Emma, it’s because you cursed her!” After saying this, she ignored me and snatched her phone back. “Give Ryan back to me quick!” “I haven’t replied to his message yet, I can’t keep him waiting.” 0
Our daughter was critically ill, her life hanging by a thread, yet all she cared about was her dear Ryan. In that moment, I clenched my fists, tears welling up in my eyes. “Lily, your daughter’s fever has reached 104°F, she’s been hoping you’d come see her, yet you’re sitting here playing with your phone?” To my surprise, she looked completely indifferent. “It’s just a fever, take some medicine and she’ll be fine! Why make such a fuss?” “I don’t see you making such a big deal when I have a fever.” Making a fuss? Last month when she had a fever of 102°F, I came home late from work and spent hours making porridge for her. But she complained it was too bland and wouldn’t eat it, saying the porcelain bowl was too tacky, unlike the exquisite ones Ryan had given her. In contrast, when Ryan was alive. He once gave her free seaweed soup from the cafeteria, and she was deeply touched, saying it tasted like a three-Michelin-star dish. A wave of bitterness washed over me. “Lily, Emma has leukemia, and now her white blood cell count has dropped dramatically.” “You should know that even a small illness could be fatal for her!” Red-eyed, I showed her the payment slip on my phone. “I only have $15,000, and we still need another $5,000.” “If we can do this surgery, Emma’s chances of survival will greatly increase.” But Lily kept typing on her phone, not even looking at me. “What leukemia? It’s just a small cold.” “Hospitals are all scams, why would she need surgery? Be careful not to get ripped off.” “Rather than wasting so much money on them, why not spend it on something meaningful?” She looked up, a gentle smile appearing on her face. “Honey, to accumulate good karma for you and Emma, I just subscribed to ChatGPT for Ryan.” “This is like extending his life.” “Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, heaven will bless you in the future!” I was stunned, not yet reacting when I felt my phone vibrating frantically in my pocket. It was a new bank card transaction message. “Your ChatGPT membership subscription has been credited, successfully unlocking 30 years.” “Bank card ending in 8863 deducted $150,000, balance $0.82.” In an instant, shock mixed with anger burst through my skull. “You used Emma’s life-saving money?” I felt cold all over, looking at her in disbelief: “Lily! You’ve gone mad! $150,000!” “The medical fees I worked so hard to save! You spent it all on AI?” “How could you spend it all? What about Emma?” Faced with my questioning, she frowned, her beautiful face full of displeasure. “You have the nerve to blame me?” She raised her hand and slapped me hard across the face. “Jack Thompson, who told you to be so useless.” “You only saved $15,000 in a year, and you’re breaking down over me spending a little money?” “Instead of wasting time, why don’t you go deliver more food to save your daughter.” I suddenly felt utterly disappointed. In seven years of marriage, Lily had never looked for a job. Daily living expenses, mortgage, and car payments were all my responsibility, leaving basically no savings from my monthly salary. Besides my main job, I would deliver food after work to supplement our household income. All the burdens of life were on my shoulders, yet in Lily’s words, I had become a useless man. Suddenly, I felt that all these years of effort, and the so-called wife and daughter who kept me going through wind and rain, were just a joke. Looking at her, my lips moved. But in the end, I said nothing. Lily, loving you has truly exhausted me. 0
As we stood there in a stalemate, her phone dinged. ChatGPT was sending a new message. “Dear Lily, why aren’t you responding? Did you go find that bastard Jack Thompson?” “Shall we try some roleplay tonight~” “You on top, me on bottom~” I watched as a smile spread across her face, and she typed back: [Don’t be naughty, Jack is still next to me…] I clenched my fists, unable to describe the anger in my heart. But now, the most important thing was Emma’s surgery. Her rapidly deteriorating condition didn’t allow me to waste time arguing with Lily. I said nothing more, turning to contact friends to raise money. Fortunately, I had good relationships, and when they heard I was in trouble, everyone dug into their own pockets to help. This moved me deeply, but also felt ridiculous. In a critical moment, it was my friends who helped me. While my wife, my life partner, turned a deaf ear to it all. Tears blurred my vision. I raised money while running food deliveries day and night in wind and rain. Even at three or four in the morning, I wouldn’t rest. Sometimes when I had too many orders and didn’t notice a restaurant’s mistake, customers would curse at me, pointing at my name. “Are you blind? This isn’t my order.” “You delivery guys are so stupid.” After a few days, I finally raised $20,000. “Emma, Daddy will come to the hospital to see you soon.” That evening, I sat outside a takeout restaurant, taking advantage of a quiet moment to video call my daughter. On the screen, Emma’s small face looked extremely weak, like a withering flower. She was only six years old, at the most innocent age. Yet she didn’t cry or make a fuss, understanding things in a way that broke my heart. “Daddy, I miss you so much.” She forced a smile at the camera. Choking up, I said: “Emma, we can do the surgery soon.” “After the surgery, when you’re better, Daddy will take you to the beach to collect seashells.” But Emma shook her head, solemnly telling me. “Daddy, I only have one wish.” “I want you to take me home, I miss Mommy so much.” Seeing her so understanding, I finally couldn’t hold back my tears. Gently stroking my daughter’s face on the screen. “Okay, Daddy promises you.”
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