Chapter 6

Having said that, Quentin spat out a mouthful of blood.

Terese panicked. She abandoned me without a second thought after being faced with a choice between us.

"Your injuries need attention right away! I'll take you to the hospital first. Aaron is tough, so nothing will happen to him, Quentin."

She turned to look at me before leaving, saying, "I'm sorry, but Quentin means too much to me. I'll come back for you in a bit, Aaron."

There were times when no amount of explaining mattered as much as one word from the person you loved.

I didn't care to find out whether Teresa truly believed Quentin's lies, nor did I want to defend myself anymore. "Teresa, this is the last time. I think it's time for me to let go."

Teresa looked at my pale lips, feeling a sudden emptiness in her heart as an inexplicable sorrow washed over her. She wanted to say something more, but Quentin's sharp coughing broke the silence.

She brushed aside those strange feelings, supported Quentin, and walked away.

That day, I waited at the abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city for a very long time, but Teresa never came back for me.

It was some passing construction workers who found me and brought me to the hospital, but by then, I'd already missed the window for treatment—my right hand was completely ruined.

Later on, I saw a video my friend had posted of Quentin injured and Teresa staying by his side. Her entire focus was on Quentin. She had completely forgotten about me.

I finally made up my mind and posted a statement declaring that I was leaving the architecture industry.

"I, Aaron Lister, am permanently leaving the architecture industry."

There was no sympathy for my decision online. If anything, those online users were celebrating it, saying that the architecture industry was better off with someone like me gone.

I sent over every design I had made for Quentin, along with the original sketches, and used all the money Teresa had given me over the years to pay the hefty breach-of-contract fee.

Harrison eventually got back in touch with me. He had been subjected to severe online harassment, with his personal information being doxxed. He was still in hiding at that moment.

He sighed from the other side of the screen once he read my statement and asked, "What now? What are your plans, Aaron?"

"I guess I'll just go wherever life takes me," I replied with a faint smile, thinking that anywhere would do, as long as I got away from here.

I headed back to the apartment and packed up my belongings. I then used my left hand to write on the final page of the sketchbook. "It's the 99th request, and I'm finally letting you go. I wish you all the best, Teresa."

I left it in a corner of the bedroom once I was done and turned to leave. "I hope we never cross paths again, Teresa…"

…

Third-Person's POV

While Aaron was flying to some corner of the world, Teresa was looking everywhere for him.

"Are you there, Aaron?"

She knocked on the door for a long time, but no one answered. She finally pushed the door open and found the room empty and orderly, with no trace that anyone had lived there. She felt a little anxious when she noticed the sketchbook at the edge of the desk.

She had just opened it when a notification popped up on her phone. "Aaron has announced his departure from the architecture industry. His hand is permanently ruined, so he'll never be able to work as an architect again. Is this what you wanted, Teresa?"

She was so startled by the message that she dropped the sketchbook, sending pages fluttering to the floor. She noticed that the pages were densely filled with drawings, each marked with numbers from one to 99.

She then fixed her gaze on the final line on the 99th page.