They Hated Me in My First Life, But Now I Have the Love System

Chapter 484: Move on!

"I don’t know. But one thing I do know is who I love. That hasn’t changed. Any other feeling... it doesn’t matter. It’ll fade. It has to."

Ava’s anger slowly dissolved as she listened. The cold defiance in her expression gave way to something softer, sadder. She didn’t speak for a while, unsure of how to say what was in her heart. But eventually, she found the words.

"Brother..." she said gently, "you have to come to terms with the fact that... that person might be gone forever."

As she expected, a flicker of resistance flashed across Arthur’s face, stubborn, pained, and unmistakably angry. He looked away, jaw clenched. But she didn’t stop.

"The whole world already sees that family as wiped out," she continued quietly. "If you keep holding out a candle for the dead... you’ll never live. You’ll be trapped in the dark, waiting for someone who may never return. You need to let go."

Arthur stood still, his silence louder than any protest. Ava’s words hung in the air between them, heavy, true, and impossible to ignore.

Arthur looked away, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"She’s not dead, Ava," he said, voice low but intense. "She can’t be dead. She promised she wouldn’t leave me... and I promised I would always find her. No matter what. We never broke our promises. Not once. I won’t start now. If I keep mine... maybe she’s out there keeping hers too."

Ava’s chest tightened at the pain she heard in his voice. She stepped forward, her tone firm but gentle. "Arthur... you have a shot at something good, something great, with Nnenna. Are you really going to throw that away for a memory from over a decade ago?"

Arthur flinched. For the briefest second, his calm cracked. His heart thudded like it had been caught doing something wrong. But then, his face returned to that unreadable stillness as he turned back to her.

"My heart belongs to that person," he said quietly. "It did in the past. It still does. And it always will."

He looked away, and then added under his breath, almost like a prayer, "That’s love, Ava... it’s love."

Ava’s lips tightened, her patience finally breaking. Her voice rose, not in volume, but in heat.

really loved you like you love her, she would want you to move on. She would want

was heavy, like something

if her words had gotten through... or

take his silence anymore so she repeated it, her voice louder this time, firmer, hoping the words

"Move on!"

snapped, his calm

almost never raised

the anger vanished. He took a deep breath, straightened up, and said in a

in his tone was

added without meeting her eyes.

cars, and drove off. No drama. No farewell. Just the

stood alone, stunned

was furious, furious that Arthur was throwing everything away. Not just a chance

was ruining it for himself... and for her. Her plans. Her hopes.

But now...

the pain behind his restraint... the fury faded. What replaced

Worry.

worry for her

waiting for the dead, of clinging to shadows, it could only lead to

Nowhere good.

weeks. Then weeks became

before Nnenna knew it, two whole

were almost done with everything under the Year Two curriculum, and yet... she