Ache
Alara’s POV The sky mourned with us. Dark clouds loomed over the cemetery, casting a somber shadow over the sea of black that gathered to say goodbye. It wasn’t raining—but it felt like it should have been. The world seemed to hold its breath, as though it, too, was grieving the woman I’d loved my whole life. My mother. Gone. I stood in front of the casket, numb and hollow. The scent of lilies was thick in the air, almost suffocating. My heels sank into the soft earth beneath me, but I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Maya stood beside me, her small hand gripped tightly in mine, her tiny shoulders shaking from silent sobs. “She’s in a better place,” someone whispered behind me. I hated that phrase. What place could be better than here, with her daughters? With the life she fought so hard t
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