Sorry Daddy, I'm Not Spare Parts for Her! - Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Ethan, who'd lived nearly three decades, had never felt his pride crushed so completely.
I kept sketching, Nathan kept cooking, while Ethan just stood there like a lost puppy.
After he left, the doorbell chimed again.
This time it was Luna.
She wore a snow-white dress, her long hair dancing in the breeze, glowing with health under the moonlight—so different from the fragile beauty in the comic world.
"Sorry to drop by unannounced," she said, "but I had to see you before my flight."
"I wanted to thank you in person."
"Thank you for not hating me. Thank you for saving me, for inspiring me to keep dreaming. In any world, you're truly a wonderful, kind person."
With a gentle smile, Luna bowed, waved goodbye, and disappeared into the night.
Sleep wouldn't come that night.
If Ethan knew about the comic world, and Luna knew too... did Nathan?
To Ethan, that world was just fiction—a place where I couldn't really die, where he could make up for his debts and regrets to Luna.
But what about me?
As the night grew darker, the stars outside burned brighter.
I dreamed of my future self—ten years older, wasting away on a prison deathbed, refusing to go quietly.
In one final act, I'd sought out Ethan and ripped our shared sketchbook to shreds before his eyes.
I'd prayed for a second chance, vowing to tear apart this gilded nightmare with my bare hands.
That future version of me had become some shadowy figure, whispering to Ethan that he controlled the comic world—deciding who lived, who died.
And true to form, Ethan never chose me. Not in any reality.
I'd watched Luna with the orphanage kids—her kindness undeniable. She deserved to live.
So yes, I was selfish. Even in a fake world, I wanted her to survive.
Salvation had to come from within.
My future self stood over my sleeping form, watching me sketch with bittersweet longing.
"Ava," she whispered, "the road ahead is yours now."
A breeze fluttered the sketchbook's pages, carrying away the last traces of bitterness.