---- Chapter 23 No.23 Ethan watched Ava quietly. The more calmly she spoke, the more it hurt He felt as if the bones in his body were being shattered and reassembled. As an adult, he knew what her calmness meant. Still, he couldn't give up. "We can go back to how things were, right?" he asked, feeling ashamed of himself for even asking. Under his expectant yet broken gaze, Ava shook her head without hesitation. Your world doesn't need me, she said. "You're just not used to it." Ethan wanted to argue, "That's not it..." but she cut him off. Whether you love me or not doesn't matter anymore. No matter whose feelings they are, if they appear at the wrong time, they just consume each other. The persistence in Ethan's eyes made Ava uncomfortable. She dropped her gentle tone and spoke more directly. You spent a year teaching me to let go. How can you be so selfish as to ask me to pick it back up now that | have? ---- You can't have it both ways. If you really loved me, how could you have treated me like that? She believed that he was just not used to it and unwilling to accept it. Her words were like a constant, sharp pain in his heart. He didn't know how he left. When he came to his senses, he was downstairs. Perhaps he was a coward when it came to love. He couldn't handle rejection, so he had rejected her in the most inappropriate way. The October night in New York was cool. Ethan felt like a drifting leaf, eventually rotting against a dilapidated wall. He had come in a hurry and didn't know where to go. He just kept looking up at her lit window. After some time, the light went out, and he walked away. He was in his late twenties, but he looked strangely weathered. As he was leaving, he ran into Julian, who was walking briskly towards the apartment building, his eyes fixed ahead. Julian probably remembered him but didn't care. Ethan watched Julian's back and couldn't help but wonder if Ava would fall for him now that she didn't love Ethan anymore. ---- Would they get together? Jealousy bloomed quietly. He knew it was just his imagination, but he couldn't stop it. After Ethan left, Ava's mind went blank for a moment. She replayed the panic, unease, and fear on his face as he left. This was the first time she had ever seen him look like that. She couldn't help but wonder what was behind his expression, but she quickly pulled her thoughts back. Since they had decided to have nothing to do with each other, she wouldn't waste any more time on him. She would walk a longer road, see a bigger world, and meet more people. She would not stop for one person.