---- Chapter 29 No.29 The dream was so beautiful that Ethan didn't want to wake up. But no matter how much he wished, he had to face reality. The white wedding dress and the solemn church turned into the stark white of a hospital room. What if he hadn't rejected her then? What if he hadn't been so foolish? But there were no "what ifs" in the world. In mathematics, "if" is a lonely word. One wrong step leads to another. In math, you can correct your mistakes. In reality, a wrong answer is not easily changed. Perhaps he shouldn't persist anymore. To Ava now, he was just a nuisance. She would never forgive him. He thought for a long time before finally opening the new number he had managed to get for Ava. He had had this number for a long time but had never dared to call. This was his last hope. Even if she didn't want to see him, he could at least call her or ---- send her a message one last time. He thought for a long time, typing out his words one by one. I'm sorry. This will be the last message | send you. I've been thinking a lot lately about how we got to this point. I've blamed myself, and I've blamed you. | always thought that many things weren't that serious, that they could be forgiven. It was only after being rejected time and time again that | realized how much | had hurt you. | couldn't even handle being rejected a few times. | can't imagine how you held on to your love for me through all those days and nights of rejection. | really want to say | love you, but | realize I'm the least qualified to say it. So | can only wish you happiness. As long as you're happy, nothing else matters. | won't bother you anymore, but if you ever need me, I'll always be there. He typed and retyped the message several times, feeling that it wasn't sincere enough, that it was either too short or too long. He wrote it several times, but it was never perfect. ---- It wasn't until the sun had set that he finally sent the message. At dawn, he left the hospital and walked to Ava's apartment building He stared blankly at the dark window. Ava, this is the last time. Ava, | love you. Goodbye. Snow began to fall, landing on his head, but he didn't notice. He just kept walking. His footprints were left in the white snow, but the continuous snowfall soon covered them up. No one knew that someone had walked a long way just to see someone they would never see again. No one knew when they left. Ava was busy with her studies all day. She didn't see Ethan's message until that evening, when she was having pizza with some international students from her club. Someone reminded her that she had a message, so she took a moment to look at her phone. She opened it, guessed it was from Ethan, read a few lines, and then closed her phone. As long as he didn't bother her, it was fine. She didn't care how ---- he left or how much he regretted it. She didn't want to deal with his emotions anymore.