All Chapters of Contract Over: You're Free to Go: Chapter 131 - Chapter 140

In the end, Teresa deleted the text again.From her current standing, sending Silas an overly concerned message would only be seen as pitiful charity or intrusive prying.After typing and deleting more than a dozen times, only four dry, cautious words remained on the screen."How are you doing?"She hit send.The moment the text went through, Teresa felt as if a hand had clamped tight around her heart. She stared at the screen without blinking, and her breath slowed to a standstill.She was afraid he wouldn't reply, yet equally terrified that he would respond with cold, cutting words.A minute passed… then two minutes…To Teresa, these brief two minutes felt ten thousand times longer than waiting for a rival to reveal their final offer across a negotiating table.Just then, her phone vibrated in her hand. The screen lit up as a new text popped up.Teresa practically bolted upright in her bed, her fingers trembling slightly as she tapped to open the message.It was from Silas

In the working-class neighborhood of Brickstone Alley, Silas sat at his secondhand desk, holding half a piece of cold plain bread in one hand. He was miserably moving his mouse in the other hand, editing the storefront blueprint for Fat Joe's Crab and Fish House.The text Teresa had sent before he fell asleep last night barely stirred anything in him. He had replied with just, "I'm fine", before tossing his phone aside and turning off the lights to sleep. There was no tossing and turning or gut-wrenching headache.After all, he had to wake up at 6:00 am to grab the discounted produce at the local market and finish designing Joe Hardy's "street-blinding, neon-glowing giant crab" before noon.For a newly divorced man with a three-digit bank balance and next month's grocery money up in the air, dwelling and drowning in sentimental grief was a luxury he couldn't afford.Just then, a chime rang out, and a bright red notification popped up in the bottom right corner of Silas' laptop scre

By the time Silas finished refining the three conceptual designs, adding brief materials notes and light-and-shadow logic analyses, the sky beyond his window had begun to brighten with the first light of dawn.At 6:30 am, he took off his headphones and rubbed his red eyes. Though his body was exhausted to the limit, staring at the pieces on his screen—full of texture and warmth—filled his heart with a deep fulfillment.This was what he truly wanted to work on.He logged into PrimePrint and skillfully bypassed the chaotic task boards to click on his personal profile page. He had completely forgotten about the scammer who had texted him earlier, pretending to be the "Director of Operations".Calmly, he clicked the "Upload Work" button and posted the three conceptual designs from his Urban Memories series. He didn't bother using eye-catching hashtags or dramatic captions. Instead, he typed out a few simple words."Urban Memories. The warmth we overlooked. - SL."Then, he hit the "Po

"Alice, what are you doing?" Teresa frowned."What am I doing? I'm stopping you from making a total fool of yourself!"Alice didn't bother holding back as she rolled her eyes and pointed at the papers. "Teresa, have you gotten so used to being the overbearing CEO that you can't break out of your muscle memory?"Teresa froze. She looked helpless and confused for once."I was just trying to help Silas. He needs money, and his stomach isn't in great shape, so he can't go on pulling all-nighters just to take on these odd jobs that only pay a few hundred dollars. What's wrong with me introducing him to high-quality clients so he doesn't have to work so hard?""Everything about it is wrong," Alice said, reaching for her coffee cup. Her tone turned grave and solemn."Just calm down and think for a second, Teresa. Why do you think he wanted to walk away with nothing and leave your 3,000-square-foot apartment, just to cram himself into a 300-square-foot space?"Teresa bit her lip and sai

Silas doubtfully copied the name and title from the last page of the proposal and opened his search engine."Avery Parker. Director of Operations at PrimePrint Chavinia."The moment he hit the "Enter" key, the first result that popped up was Avery's official encyclopedia entry, followed by several exclusive interview features from well-known industry publications.The woman in the photos had a sharp, shoulder-length bob, wore a tailored dark suit, and had a sharp gaze.Her resume was clearly listed beneath the photo. She was formerly employed at top-tier international design firms. After returning to Chavinia, she led a few successful commercial space development projects and was widely known in the local commercial design circle as the "Golden Touch".Silas compared the photo on the webpage with the verified profile picture from the chatbox. They were identical.The tiny apartment descended into a dead silence for a full 30 seconds.Leaning back into his chair, Silas raised his