There’s no shame in loving someone with all your heart, Elena, but that love must be mutual. If you end up giving more of yourself than you get back, you’ll end up a shell of yourself, depleted, like I was. Had I walked out sooner, I might have had a different life. Who knows? I might have actually found true love.” I stare at her, my thoughts whirling. “Even after everything that happened, you still seem to believe in love.” Mom nods. “It’s not love that did this to me, honey. It’s the absence of love.”
