The word shattered the room.“Grandma.” One small word — pure, uncalculated, full of belonging — and I broke it with a cold reply that froze every heart around the table. Her face fell. My son looked away. And in that silence, I felt something precious slip from my hands. That night, I didn’t sleep. Amy’s voice replayed in my mind like a song I had turned off too soon. I saw her wide, searching eyes, the way she hesitated before speaking, and the way I answered not from truth, but from fear — fear of being needed again, fear of...
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