Mabel Quinn didn't push Atlas Shaw away, nor did she lean back. She just kept that calm expression and said, "No. Even if there really is any feeling, it's only gratitude. And Atlas, the one you love actually isn't me. It's just that my desire to stay alive made you curious. Because life, to you, doesn't seem like something very interesting, so you long to understand the reason for living. But I can't give you that reason. Sooner or later, you'll meet someone who can. That person is the one who will truly matter to you, the one you should spend the rest of your time in this life with."
Atlas Shaw fixed his gaze on the woman in front of him. She was the first woman he'd ever met whom he found interesting, and it was the first time he'd ever wanted so much to get to know someone—to understand that yearning she had to go on living, to grasp the meaning of survival through her.
If it weren't her, would he ever meet another woman who could make him feel this way in the future?
