“This necklace?” Tiffany sneered, her voice full of venom. “You really think Avery would still want it? Just like you, someone I’ve used,
she’s done with it.”
Right then, Thomas barged in, breathless, clutching a file. Kevin snatched it, eyes scanning the pages like they were on fire. Then his face twisted in rage. He slammed the folder down and slapped Tiffany hard across the face.
The sound cracked through the room.
Blood welled at the corner of her mouth, but she didn’t flinch.
Instead, she met his stare, cold and unblinking, and laughed. A low, bitter laugh that made my skin crawl even from a distance.
“Hah! Kevin,” she said, her voice splintering with venom. “You really are pathetic. In the end, what do you have? The baby’s not even yours. Avery? You used her up and bled her dry just to save my kid. And now?”
She leaned forward with a sneer. “You’ve got no child. No woman. Nothing.”
I watched Kevin stumble out of the hospital like a man who’d had the life sucked right out of him. He looked dazed, hollow. A stranger bumped into him, and he lost his footing, falling to the pavement hard.”
His phone slipped from his hand and landed screen–up on the sidewalk.
And that’s when I saw it happen.
My messages. My call history. One by one, they began disappearing right in front of him. Like they’d never existed. Gone.
Kevin scrambled for the phone, panic clawing its way into his voice. “What the hell? No, no, stop! Stop deleting! Don’t do this!“}
He was shaking.}
Kevin was on his knees on the sidewalk, frantically swiping and tapping, doing anything to make it stop.
Around him, strangers slowed, eyeing him nervously before stepping around him, whispering under their breath like he’d completely lost it.0
Kevin sat on the sidewalk, searching through his phone like a madman, desperately trying to find even the slightest trace of me.§
There was nothing.
I was gone. For real this time.
And that was when I knew I had accomplished what I needed to do. I finally changed the ending. Kevin could still have a real life, a future that didn’t end with tragedy.}
This time, he could truly live well.
…D
When I fully woke up from the coma, I was back in the lab. The moment I regained consciousness, I reached for my data, for anything related to Kevin.}
All of it was gone.}
Everything I’d saved about him, including photos, documents, and even voice notes, was erased. I searched online for news about what had happened in my absence and to check on Kevin’s current life.}
He was already thirty–five years old, but in his latest photos, streaks of gray ran through his hair.
And in the headline feed, one article caught my eye: a former starlet had died in a car accident after a long public downfall.”
I looked closer.
Tiffany Leighton.0
So that’s how it ended.
That’s when I realized that no matter how much Kevin hated Tiffany for deceiving him, the feelings he invested were real. He truly had loved her.
Yet Kevin’s parents, despite losing their beloved son, didn’t hate me. They acknowledged his statement: the world continued to exist without me.0
Now, Kevin’s career was flourishing. Soon, someone out there would love him for exactly who he was.
That thought brought a soft smile to my lips.
This was for the best and exactly the outcome I wanted when I came back this time.
Once my health had stabilized, I applied to continue my research abroad. This time, I’d be staying overseas for at least a decade. But before I left, I toured the country with Professor Aldridge, presenting the results of our artificial constellation project to universities, finally closing that chapter.}]
Then, I came home one last time.
I passed Kevin’s old place. The lights were off, and the house looked abandoned. It was quiet, hollow, like it hadn’t been lived in for a long time.
figured he’d moved out years ago.
We weren’t supposed to cross paths again.
After This Life, We’ll Never Meet Again
12 72.2%
9:38 PM
0
I passed Kevin’s old place. The lights were off, and the house looked abandoned. It was quiet, hollow, like it hadn’t been lived in for a long
time.
I figured he’d moved out years ago.
We weren’t supposed to cross paths again.”
But then, I saw him.
Kevin was standing there on the other side of the street, his eyes rimmed in red, tears already slipping down his face the moment he saw
- me.
I froze, stunned. His face was raw and full of emotion, something I hadn’t seen since the beginning.
Was it joy or relief?
I didn’t understand. Even though Tiffany had shattered his heart, he should have moved on long ago. After all, Kevin was never short of admirers.
Yet now, here he was, crying tears while looking at me. I never dared to imagine those were tears of happiness because he saw me. Before, I wouldn’t dare. Now, I simply wouldn’t believe it.
Kevin crossed the street and pulled me into a hug, holding me so tightly that I felt the tears soaking through my shirt, spreading across my shoulder.
That old ache in my chest came rushing back, squeezing the breath right out of me.
gently pushed him away and gave him a soft smile.§
“Kevin,” I said, “long time no see.”>
He laughed through his tears, his voice shaking.
“Avery… is this your way of punishing me? Ten years apart–ten years of me going insane trying to find you. If you’d just told me the truth about Tiffany back then, I wouldn’t have made so many stupid mistakes. I wouldn’t have hurt you like that.”
Then his tone suddenly snapped, sharp and angry. “Why didn’t you say anything? Have you lost your voice?!“}] The sudden outburst caught me off guard.
I blinked at him, then asked quietly, “Kevin… if I had said something back then, would you have believed me?“>
