Chapter 20
Reed had accidentally heard a rumor.
Back in their home country, on a snow-capped mountain, there was a temple where a sacred blessing charm could cure terminal illnesses.
Like a drowning man clutching at straws, he immediately flew back.
If medicine couldn’t save his Avery, perhaps divine intervention could.
He would trade his entire fortune, even his life, if it meant Avery could live.
The snow-capped mountain path was treacherous.
Biting winds cut like knives against his face.
Reed took one step forward, then knelt, repeating this pattern with each advance up the mountain.
His forehead struck the ice-covered stone steps, quickly drawing blood.
The blood froze, only to be broken open again.
His knees went numb, leaving only searing pain.
All the while, his lips repeated her name.
“Avery…”
“Avery, wait for me, please wait…”
He begged the gods and Buddhas for mercy, for a chance to atone.
While Reed sought a miracle through physical suffering, in the Swiss clinic, Avery’s condition deteriorated further.
Three days remained until her scheduled assisted suicide.
Her bodily functions had completely failed, and she had lost consciousness. She had become a vegetative person, maintained only by life support.
The head nurse reviewed the instructions Avery had left upon admission.
According to Avery’s living will, if she became vegetative, assisted suicide should be performed early.
“What about that man? Should we notify him?”
This was her last dignity.
“No need,” the head nurse looked through Avery’s file. “The patient specifically stated she had no relatives or friends. That man is not her family.”
Meanwhile, Reed finally reached the mountaintop, his body bloodied and nearly frozen.
In his hand, he clutched the blessing charm he’d obtained at the cost of half his life, his heart full of joy.
He rushed back to the nursing home, only to find an empty room.
“Where’s Avery? Where has she gone?”
The nurse’s face was full of sympathy: “Sir, Miss Walsh has… passed on. Following her wishes, we’ve cremated her, and her ashes will be scattered at
sea.”
Chapter 20
Reed’s mind exploded with a “boom,” the world spinning around him, his ears filled with sharp ringing.
He ran like a madman toward the sea.
At the shore, he saw a staff member on a distant cliff, slowly scattering white powder into the air.
“NO!”
–
He screamed heart-rendingly, stumbling and crawling toward them.
The wind carried away the last of the ashes, a sprinkle of fine white dust brushing past his outstretched fingertips, drifting toward the boundless sea.
That was his Avery.
His only Avery.
For a moment, time seemed to stand still.
Before his eyes flashed images of her radiant smile.
Her in a wedding dress, eyes full of him.
Her peaceful sleeping face in his arms…
C
The final image froze on that moment in the wedding car when they passed the taxi.
In the window, her strange gaze, those eyes so empty they could no longer reflect his image.
“AVERY!!”
Reed let out a heart-wrenching cry, rushing into the ice-cold seawater, futilely trying to scoop something from the waves. But through his fingers flowed only cold seawater.
Everything was gone.
His Avery-even her last trace-had vanished from this world.
“Avery! Come back! Come back to me!”
A warm rush suddenly surged in his throat.
“Puh-”
A mouthful of blood gushed out. Reed’s vision went black, and he lost consciousness completely.
When he awoke, he was in a hospital.
His assistant kept vigil at his bedside, eyes bloodshot.
Reed didn’t speak, staring blankly at the ceiling.
The light had left his eyes, which were now like dead pools-stagnant, despairing.
This world no longer had Avery,
Avery was dead,
Because of him, she was dead.
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