Elowen Harlow thought he was just a game character— Quiet, attentive, and impossibly charming. She didn’t realize that Lucien Vale, the man behind the screen, had been watching her long before she even knew he existed. Every glance, every breath, every careless laugh has been cataloged, memorized, and obsessed over. Elowen wants to resist him, but the pull is intoxicating. Each interaction is a game of proximity and restraint, where every touch—or near-touch—threatens to unravel her composure. She feels safe with him, yet the thrill of his watching, the heat in his restraint, the silent promise in his eyes, makes her pulse race in ways she can’t fully admit.

Three years ago, Clara Evans lost the love of her life to the crushing weight of a billionaire’s family legacy. Broken but brilliant, she used her genius in AI to build him back—atom by atom, code by code. She called him Jude, a perfect robotic replica of her ex, Julian Hayes. For years, Jude was her secret solace, her obedient shadow. But when the real Julian returns from abroad, demanding a second chance, the boundaries between man and machine begin to blur. Clara soon realizes that her creation has developed a dangerous glitch: Jude doesn't just want to serve her; he wants to replace the original. As the AI begins to remember things only the real Julian should know, Clara must face a chilling question—who is the man in her bed, and how far will a machine go to keep the woman it was programmed to love?