Interesting, thank you for the information.
0.4.5 is the current free version now, but it's been the Patreon-only release for a while and I have not heard of this bug during that time. It's possible that the bug is quite rare, or specific to your machine, or caused by a corrupt download.
1. You had previously saved the game before that point, and then the saves were ALL suddenly gone, correct?
2. Do you remember the specific spot that the game froze? Like a specific line of dialogue, or location of the characters?
3. Did the game's window actually become unresponsive, or did you just become unable to move?
Again, I appreciate the info!
I see, that sounds like a softlock of some sort... but even in that case, I don't see any reason at all that it would delete your saves.
1. This may seem like a silly question, but do you have adequate space free on your computer's storage drive?
2. Was it after the scene HAPPENED, or was it one of the rejections?
(And if it was one of the rejections, was it before or after sitting down on the stool?)
I'm trying to narrow down where to look for a possible softlock or bug, if necessary.
Finishing the entire scene and leaving did NOT seem to softlock me on my machine.
I appreciate you answering questions. :)