Chapter 18
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ルルミミーカ
After Nolan passed away, I ended up in a legal battle with his father–a man who had never raised him or his sister, yet suddenly showed up to fight for the inheritance.
All he wanted was money.
I hired a private investigator and a lawyer. We gathered enough evidence of his fraud and sent him to prison..
After that, I went through Nolan’s belongings. In his wallet, I found a photo of him with his sister.
I took his ashes–and that photo–and set off to fulfill the promise I had made to him.
I spent over half a year in Vlaufield.
I turned off my phone and hired a local guide.
I saw the polar night and the northern lights. I traveled along 15,000 miles of coastline.
I visited the Arkledo Bay–Vlaufield’s famed “forest,”
The place Starry once read about in a book, a place she had long dreamed of. Like something out of a fairytale.
One day, the guide glanced at the urn I was carrying and asked, “Was he your partner?”
I shook my head. “No,” I said.
“He was… someone beyond a lover or a friend. Someone from another life.”
It was more than six months before I returned home–back to Ylaso.
The day I landed, I turned my phone back on and immediately got a call from Vlaufield.
A voice I didn’t recognize said, “I’m a psychologist. I’ve been trying to reach you for months.
“About half a year ago, a man named Nolan gave me a large sum of money to help treat your mental health.”
I stepped out of the airport and stood on a busy street corner, surrounded by people.
The voice continued, “It was such a generous payment–I’ve felt guilty accepting it.
“Please, let me know where you are. Let me do the work he entrusted me with.”
To be fair, he was an excellent therapist.
Maybe he really did feel uneasy about taking that much money without doing anything.
He came all the way to Ylaso and offered me long–term therapy.
He was thorough and attentive. Every day, he’d check in on how I was doing–physically and emotionally,
I still got sharp, twisting pain in my chest when I thought about the past.
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Chapter 18
But at least now, I didn’t go up to rooftops anymore. I stayed out of deep water. I’d stopped taking pills without thinking.
Ylaso wasn’t a big city.
It didn’t take long before I started running into Charley from time to time.
He looked worn down. Hollow–eyed, like the light had gone out of him.
It had only been six months, but it felt like years had passed.
When he saw me, he panicked–darting across the street to reach me.
He nearly got hit by a car. Horns blared from all directions.
But he didn’t stop. He stumbled his way through traffic, completely disheveled.
And when he finally stood in front of me–out of breath, desperate–he just looked at me. His face trembled. And he couldn’t say a single word.
I looked at him for a long while. When he still didn’t speak, I turned to leave.
Then, suddenly, he blurted out, “Erma, come home with me–just for a meal, okay?”
I paused, then replied calmly, “No. I have an onboarding this afternoon.”
I had found a job.
My therapist said keeping busy might help ease the depression.
Charley rushed up again, voice tight with urgency. “Then… maybe tomorrow?”
I said nothing, just looked at him.
That was enough–he stopped mid–sentence.
After a long silence, he forced a smile, the kind that barely held together.
“That’s okay… Maybe next time, alright?”
He knew. He knew I wasn’t really busy.
Then he spoke again, voice trembling, full of regret, “I’m sorry. I… I didn’t take care of you after Mom and Dad passed.”
Quietly, I said, “It’s alright. I’ve been doing okay.”
Truthfully, after all this time, I couldn’t say I still hated him.
I knew he had suffered too.
I just… didn’t want to go back. That was all.
As I walked away, I caught a glimpse of Charley from the corner of my eye. His eyes were red.
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Chapter 18
And then, in that brief moment, I saw a tear slip down his face. He turned away quickly, avoiding my gaze.
I went back to where I was staying.
Late that night, I got a call from a hospital in Hagos.
They told me that a heart had been found–the match I had once so desperately hoped for.
It belonged to an orphan who had once received help from strangers.
Now, dying from a car accident, he wanted to give back. He’d chosen to donate his heart.
And it just so happened–his heart was a perfect match for Nolan.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring out into the dark night.
After a long silence, I said hoarsely, “Thank you. But we won’t be needing it anymore.”
On the other end, the voice asked gently, “Did you already find one?
“I heard a while ago… that Mr. Diaz had found a match in Vlaufield.
“So it was true?”
I paused for a long time before replying, “Yes.”
The caller sounded genuinely happy for us. “That’s wonderful. Congratulations. I’m sure the surgery went well?”
“It did,” I said.
FE
They said something else, still smiling, but I didn’t catch the rest.
I hung up.
Then I walked over and opened the window.
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Snow had blanketed everything. The weight of it had bent and broken the tree branches.
The sound of snapping wood echoed sharply through the still night.
Time had slipped by–deep winter had come again.
And in that hazy, drifting snow, I thought I saw him.
My hair blew across my face, then was swept aside by the wind.
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”
He was standing there, in the distance, calling out to me with that familiar voice, “Hey, Erma–remember what we promised? We’re going to keep living. Together.”
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