All Chapters of 2,600 Hours of Us: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

11 Chapters

Chapter 1 The 2,600 Hours She Hid

I tightened my grip on the phone, but kept my expression perfectly calm. I immediately closed the glaring pop-up running in the background and opened her sample music library instead."I would never. It's for my cousin. Lisa wanted to hear some of the new songs your company plans to release next year. She said she wanted to admire the work of the big boss herself, so I was looking for them. The interface has changed, and I can barely figure out how to use it anymore."Just like how she had changed into a completely different person, and I had not even noticed.Something in my throat burned more bitterly with every word.The tension in Regina's eyes vanished instantly."You should've said so." She took the phone from me and handed it generously to my cousin. "Go ahead and listen. I happen to have a batch of AI-composed demos here. You young people should like them."My cousin took the phone as though she had just struck gold, then looped her arm around Regina's and wheedled, "Regi

Chapter 2 The Promise She Kept

At the time, she said, "There's a certain drive in that kid. He reminds me of you when you were young."So, that was what those more than 2,600 hours had been. For the entire past year, she had been sharing the world inside her earphones with someone else. Not me."Honey? Earth to Chase Foster! It's getting late. We should head home." Regina's voice reached me, slightly slurred from the alcohol, yet still carrying that familiar tenderness.I put away her phone, closed the music app, and looked up, smiling. "Coming."My stiff smile lasted until Regina fell asleep leaning against the passenger seat.The heater filled the car with warmth. The only sounds were her steady breathing and the occasional crackle of fireworks outside the window.As I watched the black road illuminated by the headlights, my thoughts slipped uncontrollably back more than a decade.…Back then, we had spent nights traveling along roads like this too. The difference was that we did not have a million-dollar

Chapter 3 The Foundation Beneath Her Feet

The light turned red, and the car slowed to a stop.I turned to look at Regina, who was still asleep. Her features remained strikingly beautiful, though the years had left faint traces around her eyes.Over the past year, she had still come home fairly often, but she had become increasingly quiet. Sometimes I would tell her about little things happening at home. She would listen absentmindedly before frowning and saying, "Chase, when did you become so boring? You used to be pretty funny."She was not wrong.I had once been a cheerful young man. But after more than a decade of struggling through life, I had changed.To protect Regina's dream, I drank with clients until I vomited blood. To negotiate contracts for her, I endured being treated like a servant at drinking tables, swallowing my pride and smiling through it all. To save every penny for the equipment she needed, I had learned to pinch every cent, become shrewd and calculating, and fight for every last bit of profit.I had

Chapter 4 The End of Us

With trembling hands, I captured the tenderness burning in her eyes, as if the tears she had shed that year had burned straight into my heart, hot and searing. Regina's tears trailed down my neck, leaving thin red marks like brands.It was time to end this relationship with dignity.I took a deep breath and said goodbye to Regina in my heart, over and over again.Finally, on the seventh day of the Christmas-New Year's holiday, the night before we returned to work, Regina seemed to be in a particularly good mood. She cooked an entire tableful of dishes herself and even opened a bottle of red wine."Have some more, honey." She smiled as she placed a piece of fish on my plate. I could not help wondering if she was this happy because she was about to see Alex."Oh, there's something I wanted to talk to you about," Regina continued.I suppressed the chill in my heart and looked at her calmly. "What is it?""Why don't we… have a baby this year?""Why bring this up all of a sudden?"

Chapter 5 The Innocent One

"Chase, you… you have to let me explain!" Regina sprang to her feet in panic, knocking over her wineglass. The chair legs screeched against the floor. "You think I cheated on you? It's not what you think… You misunderstood. There's absolutely nothing between us! I swear to God, I'm telling the truth!""You didn't cheat? After all that, you still expect me to believe that?""It really isn't what you think! There is honestly nothing between us! We haven't even held hands!" She hurriedly snatched up her phone, opened the music app in front of me, and began fumbling with it, her fingers trembling as she tried to uninstall it. "It was all a misunderstanding! The last time, I connected to this 'listen together' feature so he could listen to a demo track and it would be easier for us to make revisions. Then… then everyone got busy, and I forgot all about it. It just stayed running in the background. If it bothers you, I'll delete it right now! I'll delete it immediately!"Watching Regina

Chapter 6 The Ghost of Who I Used to Be

When the young receptionist saw me, she was so startled that she nearly spilled her coffee. She hurriedly reached for the phone to call Regina, but I raised a hand and stopped her. "Don't bother her. I was just passing by and thought I'd take a look."With that, I headed straight for the recording studio.Through the enormous one-way glass window, I could see everything inside. Regina was wearing headphones, pointing at the sheet music as she spoke to the young man beside her. He was dressed simply in a hoodie and jeans, nodding along repeatedly, his expression focused yet full of youthful energy.The tenderness in Regina's expression, the way she watched him, was something I had not seen from her in years.At home, she was always sprawled on the couch scrolling through her phone. She barely paid attention to anything I said or any idea I brought up. Even when I asked what she wanted to eat, her answers were always, "Whatever," or "Anything's fine." The most she ever asked of me wa

Chapter 7 A Trip Down Memory Lane

Alex, on the other hand, was completely at ease. The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up. He jogged over and bowed deeply. "Mr. Foster! I'm Alex Reed! Ms. Lockwood is always telling me about you. She says you're the backbone of the company and that you're incredibly capable. If you hadn't gone out and negotiated that contract by yourself back then, the company would've gone under! I've always wanted a chance to learn from you. I finally got to meet you in person today!"I did not feel the disgust I had expected. The boy's eyes were clear and open, without a trace of guile. His entire heart was devoted to music. He saw Regina as a mentor and me as an idol.If anything, Regina stiffened the instant she saw me. Almost instinctively, she took half a step forward, subtly positioning herself between Alex and me."Since you're already here, why don't we have dinner together?" she suggested, quickly composing herself.I assumed she would take us to a nearby upscale restaurant. She cared a gr

Chapter 8 The Shadow of the Past

"You were innocent, technically, because the person you loved was me—the man who would sacrifice everything for you. Even the person you cheated on me with was just a shadow of the man I used to be. You were looking for something to hold on to in Alex. You didn't sleep with him, and you didn't give him money. You simply gave him all the patience and tenderness you used to give me."Regina, I don't understand you. If you wanted to relive your youth, why did you have to drag some young kid into it? I'm right here. Why are you trying to find the shadow of an 18-year-old me in him, as if you could somehow bring back the past by finding a piece of me in someone else?"Regina was left speechless. Her eyes darted away from mine.Her silence was the cruelest answer of all.The air in the living room seemed to freeze.As Regina stared into my resolute eyes, she finally realized that this time, what she had done would not be so easily brushed aside. Panic began to set in."Chase, I know I

Chapter 9 The Life We Left Behind

Regina froze. She looked at me as though I had just said something completely absurd, her eyes widening in disbelief. "Divorce? Over something this small?""It wasn't just because of this."When I thought back to those days when I lived like my life did not matter, I felt some kind of divine intervention must have been watching over me. Back then, I would often wake in the middle of the night in unbearable pain, already hovering dangerously close to death.The thing Regina did most often was hold me in the middle of the night and cry. Then, before dawn, she would get up with red-rimmed eyes to brew tonic and make food that was easy on my stomach, taking me everywhere in search of doctors and treatments. Fortunately, we had been lucky enough to survive it all. My condition did not worsen. Then, our opportunity came. The company took off, and we finally turned our lives around. Once things settled down, however, my body had already been worn down, and my heart had grown quiet al

Chapter 10 Back to Where We Began

She had been trying to escape the marriage that required real effort after 30, to escape the slow erosion caused by the trivialities of everyday life. So she had built a monument to the past, forgetting that the only things that never changed were the dead.Regret came crashing over her like a tide. Regina began calling and texting me relentlessly, but I did not answer any of them—until a rainy night a month later, when she finally caught me outside my apartment building.She had lost a considerable amount of weight, and there were faint dark circles beneath her eyes. In one hand, she held the black umbrella we had used for years. In the other, she clutched her car keys, her eyes filled with the desperate pleading of someone making one final gamble."Chase, just one last time." Her voice was hoarse, as though she had not spoken in a long time. "I know you've made up your mind. I won't force you. But… Could you give me one more day? Just so we can part on good terms. Let me say goodb

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