Chapter 35

Right from the first days of his life, as early as he realized himself, Smith was a lover of puzzles, a lover of games, and a lover of challenges. Maybe it was because no one could beat him at one, or because if he ended up losing, it was a valuable lesson he needed anyway; there was always a second round to it.

Puzzles were his thing, from family to work to women, and anything else that piqued his interest enough and left him vibrating in anxiety and curiosity.

It did not matter how many times he saw a thing or a person; if they did not interest him, he had no business trying to solve their puzzle and make sense of anything they did. When Smith was interested in any idea, however, it became an obsession, and he would be fulfilled only and only if that very puzzle was solved.

Maybe it was a bad habit, maybe it would lead to his death or destruction, but it didn’t matter; he was wired that way, and somehow he had come to accept it for what it was.

The moment S