Chapter 41

Ethan Hernandez - May, 2014

As I embarked on my journey around the world, I thought of Sofia every day.

We kept sporadic contact through messages, just checking in on each other. Every time I receive a message from her, my heart fills with joy. She seemed to be doing well, having landed a job as a primary school teacher near her home, and most importantly, she was sober.

While traveling, I meet incredible people, visit fascinating places, and delve deeper into my career as an architect. But in every new location, there's an emptiness, a void that only Sofia's presence can fill.

Two years quickly pass by.

I look at my latest project nearing completion. A beachfront vacation home in Lanikai.

This was the last house I would work on in the renovation of the friends Mr. Miller referred me to.

After that, a position as a university professor awaited me in Chicago, my hometown, where my family lived.

I was eager to live near my mother and sisters again, but I'd be lying if I said that the ca