“You,” she said softly, staring up at him, “will always be dear to me. For your kindness, for your loyalty—for your courage in the face of everyday cruelties. I wish you’d never suffered; I wish you a lifetime of ease. I wish for you to see your own strength—to see every difficult choice you made in order to forge your pain into an armor of resilience and compassion, when you could’ve used it instead to spiral into darkness. Should you ever want a place in my life, you will have it. But right now, in this moment, you must let me go. I will return to you, Omid. I swear it.” The boy looked at
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