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chapter 23

Author: Karma_Dreams
last update Last Updated: 2024-11-29 20:13:27

ANA

I drag myself out of the car, my feet heavy as lead as I make my way to the graveyard behind the gated fence. Every step feels like I’m wading through thick mud, weighed down by the endless tears I’ve cried and the hollow ache in my chest. I don’t even know how I made it here, but somehow, I keep moving.

I push open the gate with trembling fingers and let my legs carry me to the headstone. The graveyard is quiet, almost untouched, the few bodies buried here belonging to people connected to my family. It’s a private place, away from the world.

It’s where my father buried my mother. Every year since I was two, he brought me here to visit her.

“Mamochka.” I fall to my knees, letting my body crumble in front of her grave. The tears spill freely now, rolling down my cheeks as my shaking hands brush the dirt off the headstone.

Maria Petrov. Mother and Wife. Gone, but never forgotten.

I trace the letters with my fingertips, as if touching her name might somehow bring her closer to me.

“M
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