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PROLOGUE

DELLA

2032

FIRST, I WANT to say thank you

Thank you for falling in love with Ren just asmy youth, my jealousy, my possessiveness; butwhat our story has always been about

It wasn’t about two children falling for each other

It wasn’t about sex or hunger or selfishness or want

It was about love

True love

Love that spans decades, infects souls, and turns you i can ever die

It transcends time, space, distance, universes

A love like this isn’t confined to pages or photos or memories—it’s forever alive and wild and free

Love

That is what our story is about

Rooes, lust flickers and sets in the way and educates, pain can derail happiness, joy can delete sadness, togetherness is more than just a fairy-tale…it’s a choice

A choice to love, cherish, honour, trust, and adore

A choice to be there when arguony arrives, and fate seems determined to rip you apart

A choice to choose love, all the while knowing it has the power to break you

A choice, dear friend, to give someone your entire heart

It’s not easy

No one ever said it was

Some days, you want it back, and others, you wish you had ive

Love is the hardest thing we’ll ever have to do because love, as miraculous and wonderful as it is, is also cursed and soul-breaking

Because of love, life is a war of

But in the end, love is what life is about

And love is the purpose of everything

So, thank you

Thank you for sharing our love

Thank you for living, for choosing, for being brave enough to fall

CHAPTER ONE