Chapter 99: Nothing Worth Keeping

Archer looked just as shocked as she was, if not more so. He had probably never expected to find a room in such terrible condition, especially one that Summer had once called home.

Still, he glanced around the room as if hoping to find something worth keeping. "But don’t you have anything important in here?" he asked. "We can probably save a few things, can’t we?"

Before Summer could say another word, Archer had already opened a portal and stepped through it. A few seconds later, he returned to the motel with a pair of gloves and a mask.

"Here, we can use these," he said, handing them to Summer. Then, he pulled out a pair of tongs and held them up. "And we’ll need these, too."

Summer stared at him in disbelief.

She had already given up on the idea of going through the mess inside the room. Honestly, she would rather throw everything away than spend another minute in that stuffy room.

Yet Archer had gone out of his way to get all these things just so she could sort through her old belongings more comfortably.

Oh, wait. Just so she could?

Summer blinked, suddenly feeling a little strange. Could it be that he actually wanted to know more about her past?

Technically, it wasn’t her real past, but that didn’t change the fact that his thoughtfulness was rather sweet.

"Well, then, I think we can go inside now," Summer said.

She finally stepped into the room, with Archer following closely behind her.

As she looked around, she took in the state of the place, from the dusty furniture to the old belongings scattered across the room.

The room itself wasn’t very big, with just enough space for a bed, a small wardrobe, a desk, and a few other pieces of furniture.

The walls were stained, and the curtains had faded from years of use. Even the thin mattress looked as though it had seen better days.

It was hard to believe that someone had once lived here, but this had been the original owner’s home for quite some time.

After putting on her gloves and mask, Summer began checking the belongings one by one. She opened the wardrobe, looked through the drawers, and even checked the boxes tucked beneath the bed.

At first, she didn’t find anything interesting.

Most of the things were just old clothes, worn-out shoes, and a few books that had been damaged by moisture.

There were no precious keepsakes, no hidden treasures, and certainly nothing that could explain what kind of life the original owner had lived.

But the more she searched, the more something slowly dawned on her.

Perhaps this was the saddest part of all.

There was nothing interesting to find because the original owner had never really possessed anything worth keeping in the first place.

Summer let out a sigh before speaking softly. "Let’s just go."

Archer, who had been staring at a box of old underwear, immediately lifted his head. "What’s wrong? If the things you want to keep have grown moldy, we can try to save them."

Summer shook her head. She had already spent enough time digging through the dusty room, and honestly, she was getting tired of looking at things that held no real meaning to her.

"It’s fine. I’m tired of dealing with all this stuff, so I don’t want to take any of it with me anymore," she replied.

Before Archer could say anything else, Summer turned around and walked straight out of the room.

Once she was back in the hallway, she took off her mask and gloves before tossing them into the trash.

She then took a deep breath, trying to shake off the strange feeling that had settled in her chest.

"It’s just the past anyway," she murmured.

After that, Summer didn’t say another word about the room. Archer seemed to understand that she didn’t want to discuss it any further, so he simply followed her downstairs.

When they reached the first floor, Mr. Alfred immediately looked up from the front desk.

"Are you two finished packing?" he asked curiously.

Summer nodded. "Yes, but there’s no need to keep any of my belongings. You can let the other residents take whatever they want, or just throw everything away if nobody wants it."

Mr. Alfred blinked in surprise. "Are you sure? There might still be some useful things in there."

"I’m sure. I don’t need any of them anymore."

Seeing how determined she was, Mr. Alfred didn’t try to persuade her further. However, before leaving, Summer clicked on her terminal and transferred $7,000 to his account.

[Remaining Bank Balance: $980,723]

Mr. Alfred stared at the notification on his terminal, and his eyes immediately widening as he checked the amount.

"Miss Beaumont, what’s this for?"

"Just a little something for you," Summer replied with a smile. "You’ve looked after this place for a long time, so consider it a thank-you gift. You can use it to start a new life somewhere else."

Mr. Alfred stared at her for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words. He had never expected the young woman who used to struggle just to get by to suddenly give him such a generous amount of money.

"Miss Beaumont, this is too much!" he protested.

Summer merely smiled and waved her hand. "Don’t worry about it. I can afford it now, can’t I?"

Mr. Alfred stood there in disbelief, still staring at the transfer notification on his terminal as if he were afraid the money might disappear if he looked away.

Meanwhile, Summer had already turned around and started walking toward the exit with Archer.

She didn’t wait for him to say anything else, but she could still hear his hurried footsteps as he followed them out of the motel.

"Miss Beaumont!" Mr. Alfred called out from behind them.

Summer glanced over her shoulder and saw him standing at the entrance, waving his hands excitedly.

"I’ll try to open a restaurant!" he shouted, his face breaking into a wide smile. "Miss Beaumont, please come and visit me someday!"