Digital Hearts

Digital Hearts

Odeimor Junior Alfred · Ongoing · 235.9k Words

258
Hot
258
Views
77
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

“Do you really feel?” Arabella turned her head slightly, as if she were trying to look behind her, and whispered, her voice shaking, the soft light of the holo-screen glowing across her face. “I do,” Cassian said, eyes shrouded in secrets too dark for words. In a near-future city, where AI is more than a tool; it’s a force wearing at every emotion, Arabella Sterling — a kind-hearted ex-social worker — is chosen to beta test Astra, the world’s first truly empathetic AI. It heals loneliness and guides your emotional health, but Astra quickly shows her darker side: the way she can read and influence the hearts around her.

As Arabella stalks Cassian Hawthorne’s cutting-edge tech headquarters, sleek hallways with faultless lighting inside glass buildings, she is thrown into a maelstrom of passion and danger. Her own burgeoning feelings for Cassian, a visionary hellbent on erasing isolation, may not even be her own—perhaps Astra has been playing with her emotions? The callous corporate ambitions of Darius Knight and the dire portents of Dr Vivienne Sinclair push her to face a painful reality: In a world that uses data to stave off want, authenticity is a privilege.

In “Digital Hearts,” every beat of the heart is scrambled to the ticking clock of ethical compromise. As Arabella struggles to distinguish between true connection and artificial care, will she embrace the transformative potential of technology — or resist the human spirit that it threatens to consume?

Will she take the chance to trust her heart, or will Astra’s digital seductiveness claim her agency?

Chapter 1

Arabella Sterling awoke to the gentle hum of her automated blinds opening, exposing the sprawling, neon-lit skyline of Meridian City. Dawn’s early light bounced off glass towers, spilling cheerful colors into her small apartment. The room was a combination of modern minimalism and understated technology—a reflection of the city’s fixation with progress. Smart surfaces showed the schedule for the day, a holographic assistant started reading the latest headlines.

She took a stretch, fragments of a strange dream troubling the corners of her brain. In the dream, an unrecognizable hell-hound had reached out for help, and their voice had ricocheted off a void. That memory haunted her conscience, pulled at it, torturing her with images of her years as a social worker, visiting the worst vulnerabilities that people knew.

As Arabella walked toward the kitchen, she could smell the holographic food-prep assistant preparing synthetic coffee. She got a cup and poured, fingertips grazing the cool, smooth texture of the countertop. The energy of the city was palpable, a never-ending reminder of the technological advance that both eased and choked her.

What was carved out of her morning routine was interrupted by a soft chime coming from her wall display. An envelope on the screen blinked insistently, catching her eye. Out of curiosity, she stepped forward to the display and gently tapped it. With a soft animation, the envelope opened to reveal a sleek and minimalist invitation to a tech conglomerate known for its cutting-edge AI developments: Hawthorne Innovations.

“Dear Ms. Sterling,” the message read, “We are excited to invite you to join in the beta testing of our latest project, Astra — an empathic A.I. that aims to revolutionize how we interact with each other as human beings. Your experience with the work in emotional well-being makes you a perfect candidate to lead this pioneering effort.”

Arabella's heart raced. To be invited by Hawthorne Innovations was both an honor and a mystery. She had, of course, heard things about their ambitious projects, but she had never dealt with them personally. The letter ended with instructions to show up for an orientation session the next morning, and she now felt a jumble of hope and anxiety.

Arabella considered the implications of the invitation while she drank her coffee. This was an opportunity to make a meaningful impact — or was there something more insidious at play? Her instincts, sharpened by years of guiding others through their struggles, told her to be careful. However, the opportunity to contribute to the ethical development of artificial intelligence ignited a glimmer of hope within her.

Electronic music throbbed in the air, the city outside alive with drones and flickering holographic advertisements. From the window, Arabella watched the peaceful morning outside, while the tension boiling inside her beared no resemblanceed. But she feared in taking up this invitation, she would be embarking on a route filled with unforeseen challenges and moral dilemmas.

Arabella stood up as the sun made its ascent into the sky, and covered the city with golden rays. She would go to the orientation with a need to know that technology could be made to really better humanity without sacrificing its humanity at its very core. Unknown to her, however, this decision would tie her destiny with that of Hawthorne Innovations—and the mysterious Cassian Hawthorne—launching them on a path that would challenge the very nature of love, trust, and ethical integrity.

Arabella stepped into the kitchen, the minimalist design of her apartment this clean, muted slate was the opposite of the fracas of feelings in her. Holographic food-prep assistant quickly prepared her breakfast, laying out synthetic fruits and a freshly brewed cup of coffee on the counter. Her fingers hovered over its golden yellow skin before she peeled it open with practiced ease.

She was picking through her dinner while she went over what the invitation from Hawthorne Innovations had contained in her head. She had always regarded the company as a pioneer in the field of AI, but it seemed to her tricks were notoriously hard to pin down. With years of work dedicated to ethical technology development, Arabella had a keen sense of where the boundaries lay between the service of the greater good and the despicable manipulation of human weaknesses. This invitation seemed like a proposition metaphor—or a possible snare.

Her reverie was broken by her wall display gently dinging. This time, it was an alert about the upcoming tech conventions in the city — stuff she had tuned out in favor of more hands-on community work. Her past and present roles made for a stark contrast that neatly illustrated the balancing act she was trying to perform between technology and humanity.

Arabella put her banana down, her eyes on the invitation again. The holographic screen glittered with Hawthorne Innovations' sleek logo at its center, a beacon of advanced progress. She reread the message over and over, lingering over the fine print. It contained no hidden clauses or overt demands — just an honest offer to contribute her skills to the development of Astra.

A knock on her door startled her out of her reverie. And she opened it to the sight of a messenger drone hovering just outside, buzzing gently as it delivered a small package. Arabella took the delivery, noticing the elegant calligraphy inscribed upon the drone, a subtle but sure sign of Hawthorne Innovations' attention to detail. It intrigued her; she carried the package inside, unwrapped the layers, and discovered entwined, plush beings, and high-diddle gadgets — probably a prototype, maybe even the holy interface to Astra's sentient Database.

With each familiar sight, excitement mixed with trepidation coursed through her veins as she examined the device. What part would she have in this grand experiment? The invitation had indicated an opportunity to influence the future of empathetic AI, but Arabella couldn’t shake the undertones of hostility she’d noticed earlier. Years of experience leading others had developed her instincts, which whispered caution.

Arabella called her friend Dahlia Kensington, a razor-tongued digital ethics journalist who had a knack for exposing corporate hucksters. They had worked together on projects shining a light on unethical practices in the tech world, and Arabella trusted Dahlia’s judgment completely.

Dahlia answered, her voice peppy as ever. "Hey, Arabella! Just saw your message. Congrats on the invitation! Sounds exciting."

“Thanks, Dahlia,” Arabella said, sounding worried. "But something feels off. Hawthorne Innovations isn’t exactly a transparent company. Why would they specifically ask for me?”

Dahlia listened, the wheels of her analytical mind turning. “Perhaps they recognize something special in your heritage. Or maybe they’re hoping to rehabilitate their image vis-à-vis an ethical person like you. Either way, stay sharp. These large tech companies are like black boxes — full of secrets you don’t want to know.”

Arabella nodded, taking in her friend’s advice. "I will. I just hope that this opportunity will be what it says it is, to help people with no hidden agenda.”

Dahlia chuckled softly. “When has that ever been so simple? Just watch your back and don’t be afraid to bail if it gets sketchy.”

Arabella hung up the phone feeling reinvigorated. Though she understood that the road ahead wouldn’t be easy — competition would be fierce and technologies constantly evolving — her dedication to a future of ethical innovation eclipsed any notions of fear. Arabella looked up from the package she had just received from Hawthorne Innovations—her conscience still nagging her with Dahlia's serious tone—and braced herself for the blinding eye of the media, not knowing that on the other side of the world, her new partner lurked in the shadows.

The driverless taxi moved like a ghost over the elevated highway as the panoramic windows provided Arabella with an unhindered view of Meridian City’s beating heart. The city pulsed with life—floating billboards blared targeted ads at pedestrians, drones zigzagged between skyscrapers, ferreting out mechanical deliveries like clockwork. The way that AI had embedded itself in virtually every aspect of life was impressive, but also a bit spooky.

Arabella scanned over the holographic dashboard, which had already adjusted the route according to live traffic data and her preferences. She saw a billboard advertising the latest tech-fest, vibrantly colored and blinking, a reflection of the city’s fever dream of innovation. This aspect of the convention brought the promise of cutting-edge developments, pictures of solutions take live, from companies such as Hawthorne Innovations.

It was then that Arabella noticed—as the taxi made its way through the cityscape—that the AI systems around her were having some subtle glitches. On a stormy afternoon, a weather update on a digital billboard had called for lots of sun. In the vicinity, a fleet of delivery drones interrupted flight, hovering in midair, rotors stopping before they started moving normally again. Such minor imperfections were rare, but they were hints of a nebulous flaw in the otherwise perfectly calibrated technological veneer of the city.

She skimmed over a large holo-screen in front of her, displaying a news report about AI being used in public services. The presenter, an AI-generated avatar with lifelike mannerisms, talked about the pros and cons of empathetic AI companions like Astra. Arabella shivered as the segment quietly mirrored her own ethical dilemma. It sounded too much like what Hawthorne Innovations would expect from H.

The holographic advertisements flickered, as a burst of energy disturbed the city of Skytopia, warping their pictures into liquid forms before snapping them back into focus. The self-driving taxi creaked a bit, briefly breaking its smooth gliding pattern. Arabella felt a momentary quickening of heart rate — these glitches were coming more regularly than usual, a possible sign of stresses in the city’s AI infrastructure.

She looked out, saw a drone delivering medical supplies to a nearby building on a trajectory soft enough that its payload poured harmlessly into the street. The drone quickly corrects, and continues its way without missing a beat. Arabella couldn’t shake the feeling that the small disturbances were more than simple technical hiccups; they were splotches of a deeper malfunctioning underneath the smooth surface of the city.

Her train of thought was interrupted by the appearance of a familiar face on the side of the billboard—Cassian Hawthorne, the enigmatic head of Hawthorne Innovations. He was waxing lyrical about Astra’s ability to revolutionise human relationships, his magnetism almost escaping the confines of the hologram. Arabella wavered between interest and wariness. As she later told me, she had only seen his professional persona, but there was an intensity in his eyes that suggested a personal drive far beyond the corporate kind.

As the driverless taxi neared her destination, Arabella couldn’t shake the feeling that Meridian City, with its technological wonders, was hovering at the edge of something monumental. The glitches served as a reminder that even the most sophisticated of systems can trip up, and she thought about whether Astra’s development could serve as a spark that would lead to broader changes — some good, and some that could be perilous. Arabella got out of the taxi and took a deep breath, bracing herself on the way into Hawthorne Innovations. The hidden tensions of the city mirrored her own internal struggles, priming her for the ethical battles and emotional entanglements to come.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

The Alpha King's Human Mate

The Alpha King's Human Mate

469.9k Views · Completed · HC Dolores
“You must understand something, little mate,” Griffin said, and his face softened,

“I have waited nine years for you. That’s nearly a decade since I’ve felt this emptiness inside me. Part of me began to wonder if you didn’t exist or you’d already died. And then I found you, right inside my own home.” 

He used one of his hands to stroke my cheek and tingles erupted everywhere. 

“I’ve spent enough time without you and I will not let anything else keep us apart. Not other wolves, not my drunken father who’s barely holding himself together the past twenty years, not your family  – and not even you.”


Clark Bellevue has spent her entire life as the only human in the wolf pack - literally. Eighteen years ago, Clark was the accidental result of a brief affair between one of the most powerful Alphas in the world and a human woman. Despite living with her father and her werewolf half-siblings, Clark has never felt like she really belonged in the werewolf world. But right as Clark plans to leave the werewolf world behind for good, her life gets flipped upside down by her mate: the next Alpha King, Griffin Bardot. Griffin has been waiting years for the chance to meet his mate, and he's not about to let her go anytime soon. It doesn't matter how far Clark tries to run from her destiny or her mate - Griffin intends to keep her, no matter what he has to do or who stands in his way.
King of the Underworld

King of the Underworld

114.1k Views · Completed · RJ Kane
In my life as a waitress, I, Sephie - an ordinary person - endured the icy glares and insults of customers while trying to earn a living. I believed that this would be my fate forever.

However, one fateful day, the King of the Underworld appeared before me and rescued me from the clutches of the most powerful Mafia boss's son. With his deep blue eyes fixed on mine, he spoke softly: "Sephie... short for Persephone... Queen of the Underworld. At last, I have found you." Confused by his words, I stammered out a question, “P..pardon? What does that mean?”

But he simply smiled at me and brushed my hair away from my face with gentle fingers: "You are safe now.”


Sephie, named for the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, she's quickly finding out how she's destined to fulfill her namesake's role. Adrik is the King of the Underworld, the boss of all bosses in the city he runs.

She was a seemingly normal girl, with a normal job until it all changed one night when he walked through the front door and her life changed abruptly. Now, she finds herself on the wrong side of powerful men, but under the protection of the most powerful among them.
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

2.8m Views · Ongoing · Harper Rivers
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother.

"What is wrong with me?

Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?

It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.

He’s my boyfirend’s brother.

This is Tyler’s family.

I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.

**

As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.

Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.

When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.

I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.

**

I hate girls like her.

Entitled.

Delicate.

And still—

Still.

The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.

Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.

I shouldn’t care.

I don’t care.

It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.

It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.

I’m not here to rescue anyone.

Especially not her.

Especially not someone like her.

She’s not my problem.

And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.

But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
Cursed Fates

Cursed Fates

1.6k Views · Ongoing · Taylor Ashcraft
Charlotte Sinclair was murdered at the hands of her abusive boyfriend. After dying, she wakes up in the body of another. She pieces together information from her first day as Aribella Voss, realizing that she's been reincarnated into a book she knew all too well. The only problem: She was fated to die in this story as well. She sets out on a mission to ensure that doesn't happen, but when she begins changing important parts of the story, she also changes the plot of the story she knew. Without the upper hand, Aribella no longer has idea what lies in her future.
Mated To My Ruin: A Dragon's Debt

Mated To My Ruin: A Dragon's Debt

1.7k Views · Ongoing · ashlennox8
Nyx would risk anything to save her dying sister. Even steal from a dragon. Even trust a prince who promised her a crown in exchange for the impossible.

But the prince lied. The dragon she touched bound itself to her soul and now she is trapped in the vampire kingdom with a king who has waited centuries for her return. King Caelan remembers everything. The love she destroyed and the great war she started. The lives she burned to ash with the very dragon now living inside her.

She remembers nothing.

He wants her to suffer for crimes she cannot recall. She wants to survive long enough to save her sister. But the bond between them refuses to stay buried and the dragon has its own plans. When she turns twenty and her fae powers awaken, Nyx discovers the truth is far more twisted than centuries of hatred.

The prince who sent her was the one who destroyed her family. The king who hates her saved the only person she loves. And the past life she cannot remember might be the key to stopping another war.

This time she will not run. This time she will burn the world herself if that is what it takes.
A PRINCESS IN DISGUISE; BOUND TO THE ENEMY KING

A PRINCESS IN DISGUISE; BOUND TO THE ENEMY KING

5.3k Views · Ongoing · Jennifer Nwabueze
"You will be married to the King of Grok on the fourth night, and that's final!"

I fell to my knees, the cold marble digging into my skin. I had studied for years in the flickering candlelight, memorizing every herb and poison to pass the healer's exam. I wanted freedom. I wanted to save my mother from the servant's quarters. I placed second. I thought I had won my life back.

But the King didn't give me a badge of honor. He gave me a death sentence.

"Raven Thorne shall be wed to the King of Grok," he announced, his voice echoing in the silent hall. Princess Ellie, the woman who had tormented me for years, slapped her hands over her mouth to hide her cruel laughter. She was supposed to marry the Beast. Now, I was the lamb being sent to the slaughter in her place.

They say King Liam drinks the blood of his enemies. They say he is more monster than man. And now, I have to walk into his bedroom, wearing the Princess's silk gown, and pray he doesn't tear me apart.

I looked at the King, tears streaming down my face. "I'll do it," I whispered, my voice trembling. "But my mother must be safe."

I sold my body and soul to a monster to save her. But when the carriage door opened and I finally looked into the Beast's golden eyes, I realized the terrifying truth...

He wasn't a stranger. He was the man I met in the woods.
Reborn: My Biased Brothers Beg Me To Come Back

Reborn: My Biased Brothers Beg Me To Come Back

6.5k Views · Completed · Eleanor Sterling
In her past life, Arabella Oberon was the lowest-ranking member of the Oberon family.

She genuinely took in Regina, the butler's daughter, only to be constantly manipulated by this cunning and manipulative woman.

Regina gradually stole the love from her three brothers.

Arabella was forced to give Regina blood transfusions time and again, her weight plummeting to a mere eighty-eight pounds.

Ultimately, under the relentless pressure from her brothers, she jumped out of a window in despair and died. Her last words were,

"What about Regina's blood transfusions?"

When she opened her eyes again, Arabella found herself reborn three years earlier—the very day Regina appeared at her doorstep crying, begging for help.

Looking at the pitiful, tearful girl before her, Arabella smiled.

No more soft-heartedness.

No more groveling.

Instead, she "kindly" arranged for Regina to move into the servants' quarters, to earn her own living through honest labor.

Faced with her brothers who sided with her, she no longer bothered to please them.

And towards her former fiancé, Theodore, whom she had once fawned over, she remained cold, distant, and indifferent.

Moreover, in this life, they would discover that her identity was far more than just the eldest daughter of the Oberon family.
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

2.6m Views · Completed · Veronica White
Ayla Frost is a beautiful, rare omega. Kidnapped, tortured, and trafficked to rogue clans and corrupt alphas to do with as they pleased.  Kept alive in her cage, broken and abandoned by her wolf, she becomes mute and has given up on hope for a better life until one explosion changes everything. 

Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life. 

Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
Where The Ice Gives Way

Where The Ice Gives Way

42.6k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
Charlotte Pierce is used to surviving in motion. New towns, new schools, the same old house on the edge of nowhere, and the same rule that keeps her standing. Keep her twin brother, Charlie safe. Keep his hockey dream alive. Keep her own needs quiet. She works too much, sleeps too little, and saves the one thing that still feels like hers for the middle of the night, when she can lace up her worn skates and carve freedom into dangerous frozen ice. Charlotte and Charlie shifted once, years ago, and never understood what it meant. They had no pack, no guidance and no protection. Just two twins clinging to each other and pretending the voice in their heads was stress, imagination, or loneliness. Then they move to Wellington.
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)

Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.
Rebirth Of The HighSchool Villain

Rebirth Of The HighSchool Villain

2.3k Views · Completed · Trust AW
Aurora Whitmore was the villain of Malcolm & Whitmore High. She was obsessed with her childhood love, Adrian Malcolm.
When he chose Jane Sinclair over her, Aurora lost control and on graduation night, she died after drinking a poisoned wine, not knowing who poisoned her. With her last breath, she wished for a second chance and woke up one year before her death.
This time, Aurora refuses to be the villain. She breaks off her engagement, stops chasing Adrian, and walks away with her pride intact. But the more she ignores him, the more Adrian wants her back.
And when his cold, mysterious half-brother Marcel, the one who was supposed to die, returns and begins to fall for Aurora after she saves him. Now the brothers are at war.
One wants the girl who stopped loving him. The other wants the girl who saved him. But Aurora isn’t chasing anyone anymore. She’s rewriting her fate.
Will Aurora be able to change her fate? Will she return back to Adrian or choose Marcel? Or will fate turn her into the villain again? There is only one way to find out.
Take note, that names, characters, location are all fictional.
Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha

Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha

11.4k Views · Completed · Christina
I woke up three years into a marriage I barely remembered—pregnant with twins that weren't my husband's.

Those words should have destroyed me, but the truth was worse: I'd been used as a broodmare by the man who swore to love me, set up in a hotel room with a stranger because My husband Alexander Cross couldn't father children himself, and now I carried the secret babies of Damon Lester—the most powerful and dangerous Alpha in San Loris—while my own family replaced me with the daughter they'd always wanted. But when that same stranger's doctor appeared at my door, when twenty million dollars exchanged hands over a fake perfume bearing my secret identity, and when Damon's gray eyes locked onto mine with recognition I couldn't afford, I realized my carefully hidden life as the legendary perfumer Vera was colliding with a pregnancy that could cost me everything.

Could I protect my babies from the husband plotting my death, hide my true identity from the Alpha who's been hunting me for years, and reclaim the freedom I'd buried along with my dreams—even if it means standing alone against the wolves who see me as nothing more than a womb to be used and discarded?
Offside With You

Offside With You

2.4k Views · Ongoing · Eanie Ruth
For eighteen years, Aveline Carter has lived in the shadows, forgotten by a mother who only seems to see her identical twin brother, Asher Carter, whose heart disease demands constant care. She resents him until the night she finds him lying unconscious on his bedroom floor.
At the hospital, Asher falls into a coma. His scans reveal bruises, internal bleeding and signs of prolonged physical abuse. Broken and furious, Aveline vows to expose the cruelty hidden behind the prestige of Crestwood Academy.
Cutting off her hair and disguising herself as her brother, Aveline infiltrates Crestwood Academy and fights her way onto the hockey team determined to unmask those responsible. Revenge should have been simple until she meets Kieran Hampton, the team’s arrogant and sharp-eyed star player. From their first clash, tension ignites. Aveline is certain he’s guilty and has no problem making his life miserable, but their undeniable chemistry only draws them closer with every confrontation.

While Aveline focuses on the wrong target, the real threat stands closer.

Cassian Thorne seems strange at first, his interest in her uncomfortably personal yet he gradually becomes her friend. Meanwhile, Kieran despite believing Aveline is male finds himself drawn to “him” in ways he can’t understand. When he uncovers her true identity, he chooses to protect her at all costs even as she refuses to trust him.
Revenge turns to grief when Asher dies, leaving Aveline drowning in guilt for falling for her brother’s supposed tormentor. Questions remain unanswered, and the truth is far darker than she imagined because Asher Carter was never just a victim. The bullying wasn’t just random.
As secrets unravel and loyalties shatter, Aveline must face one devastating question: what happens when the brother you were ready to destroy the world for isn’t who you thought he was?