As if he were numb, the hand in which Holden was holding the phone slowly lowered from his ear, and he stared at the screen displaying the call had ended. He sat there for quite some time as a lingering daze enveloped him.

Despite the situation, Holden clung to a resolve. He firmly decided that he wouldn't completely cut ties with Ariana like this. He didn't want her to completely vanish from his life as if they never knew each other.

He couldn't even fathom what would happen if Ariana and he were complete strangers.

Holden sat there, caught in a daze, reminiscing about every Little detail related to Ariana. From their one-night stand to the time they shared up until now, he thought about everything concerning her.

Amidst his thoughts, Holden suddenly recalled the photo of Theodore and Ariana that Melon had shown him before. When he came to his senses, he already found himself looking at the photo on his phone, his fingers impulsively brushing against it.