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His words stab me in the chest Once I lay eyes on ive hi before I look at him

“So, I became part of her life I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could But Phoenix wantedI wasn’t willing to give her”

“What changed?”

“Fate”

I frown

“I brought Rose to a playground She was playing with a young boy her age When she ran over to where I was sitting on the bench, she was dragging the young boy behind her He was se He had dark hair and was too thin in ratty clothes It was clear he wasn’t taken care of as well as he should have been”

I gasp—ry He wore ratty clothes I tried so hard to ensure he didn’t have the same life I did He was adopted by a wealthy faht What happened?

“I wasn’t going to do anything other than talk to the foster agency and ensure he was placed with a better family Maybe pay for his food or clothes—”

“I put him up for adoption with a wealthy family; he shouldn’t have been in the foster system”

“His adoptive parents had died the year before”

My eyes bulge My poor son Is he fated to live my same broken life? How can fate be so cruel?

Langston continues, “I was just going to help hi she didn’t do often I’d been co around for two years at this point, and she neverdeal But then I saw his eyes”

He stares into my own eyes “I saw his eyes, and it was like I had found apiece of my soul Eyes who hadn’t peered at , beautiful hazel eyes Eyes that belonged to my best friend Eyes I would knohere”

My eyes

My son has my eyes