Chapter Five: The Love He Repaired

When he woke, he grabbed her sleeve. “Reporter Su, I gave you the drive. You promised to protect me.” “I don’t know you.” The words devastated him more than his wound. Lin tried UNDO in Tomorrow Layers. The control was still active, but red text appeared beneath it: UNDO WILL DELETE THE RESTORED RELATIONSHIP AND CHARGE ONE ADDITIONAL EQUIVALENT COST. Su would lose the invented version of their two years together, and someone else would lose another relationship. NULL appeared. “Love is expensive, but you could afford it. One insignificant man in exchange for the way she looks at you—isn’t that fair?” Lin tore the restored photograph in half in front of Su. “No. I want nothing that makes someone else pay my bill.”