Losing to My Substitute (Katerina and Joshu)
Substitute 39

38.8

Chapter

10

Linda's eyes grew misty, yet a smile appeared on her face.

"Yes, we can start over."

California.

A drunken Ivan sat amidst a sea of empty bottles.

His gaze was vacant, his face flushed red, yet he mechanically lifted another bottle to his lips.

Gone.

Everything was gone.

The house was stripped of everything that held Linda's presence.

He didn't even know when it had all disappeared.

In his phone, his computer-there was not a single photo, not a single message of theirs left.

Itwas as if Linda had vanished from his world entirely...

Gulp.

The burning liquid slid down his throat as Ivan stared with bloodshot eyes at the divorce papers on

the coffee table.

Suddenly, he lurched forward, clawing at the agreement as if to tear it to shreds.

But his hands stopped mid-motion.

After a long pause, he looked at Linda's signature, holding the divorce papers to his chest as he collapsed to the floor, curled up in pain. This was the last trace Linda had left behind.

A bitter laugh escaped him, followed by a choking sob. "Linda, your heart is so ruthless..."

Unsteadily, he stood, stumbling and clutching the walls as he staggered back to the bedroom.

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39.29

Chapter it

The walk-in closet, the vanity, the bedding...

Everything that had once belonged to Linda, everything she'd touched, was gone without a trace.

Ivan curled up on the bare mattress, unable even to catch the faintest whiff of her scent.

Overcome by the effects of alcohol, he finally succumbed to dizziness, drifting into a troubled sleep.

In his dreams-

It was as if he'd returned to the day he first met Linda.

It was their first day as freshmen at NYU.

Linda had that natural aura of a heroine, radiant and captivating in the crowd.

When Ivan saw her, it was as if everything around them lost its color; in that moment, it felt as though she was the only one in the world.

She was beautiful, tall, elegant, academically brilliant, and full of ideas. She seemed like the epitome of grace, a daughter of a wealthy family, surrounded by every positive descriptor. To an orphan like him, she was untouchable.

But she wasn't. Her background was far from privileged; in fact, it was almost tragic.

Her parents had divorced and each started a new family, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother.

He thought to himself that they were kindred spirits.

He began sitting in on her computer science classes, quietly observing her preferences.

He overheard her saying to a friend, "My biggest dream is to create a game that makes people happy."

He held onto that thought.

Once, while borrowing a book in the library, he finally entered her line of sight. She thought it was a

chance encounter, but he'd planned it all along.

They gradually grew closer, and she developed feelings for him too.

A confession game he'd coded himself, working through sleepless nights, finally brought them

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Losing to My Substitute

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M

together.

On the day she completed the game, Linda had told him-

"Ivan, I want a love that's undivided. As long as you stay, I'll never leave you."

She stood under a tree, dressed in white, with sunlight casting a soft golden glow around ber

She looked like a goddess shining light into his abyss.

He thought-

I will love her forever.

His pillow was soaked with tears.

Ivan sobbed, his body trembling as he jolted awake from the dream.

A throbbing pain pounded in his temples, and the remnants of the dream felt as vivid as reality.

He wiped his face, looking at his palm smeared with dampness, a hollow laugh escaping from deep in his chest. "Linda."

"You broke your promise."

"You promised you'd never leave me, never abandon me..."

He crawled out of bed, stumbling and searching every corner of the house, hoping for some hint of her presence.

But there was nothing left, nothing at all.

He slumped into the chair in his study, letting himself collapse backward in exhaustion.

Suddenly-

He noticed an unfamiliar USB drive on the desk.

A spark of hope flickered in Ivan's eyes.

Losing to My Substitute

e lunged forward, grabbing the USB drive, and eagerly tried no pling if to or compone

Jus hands were trembling so violently that it took him several attempts to encome

Finally, it connected.

He clicked the files open, one after another, in desperate anticipation.

"I knew it, I knew Linda wouldn't leave me. She must have........

The file opened, and suddenly, a photo of him and Katherine kissing filled the screen

He sat there as if struck by lightning, frozen before the monitor.

After a moment, he frantically clicked through image after image, each one of him and Katherine every message captured.

"No... no, that's not how it is, Linda shouldn't know, who sent these to her, who?

His mind was a chaotic mess, his breathing rapid, his eyes filling with rage.

Yvan threw the computer to the ground, the screen shattering into pieces.

Still trembling, he felt his entire body drain of strength, slumping to the floor, utterly defeated Crash!

Losing to Vr Substitute