The woman's eyes narrowed as she responded, her voice laced with bitterness.
"You wouldn't understand," she said, her tone sharp and filled with anguish. "You, who still have a purpose and a chance. You can't possibly know what it feels like to lose everything—everything you ever thought you were, everything that gave your life meaning. To be cast aside, made invisible to those you once called family. To be discarded like you're nothing."
Her words cut through the night, each one heavy with the weight of her suffering. Luke listened, the fire between them crackling in response to the raw emotion she unleashed. With every word, Luke felt an ache deep within him, a resonance with her pain. He understood far more than she could ever know.
"I do understand," Luke began, his voice soft but steady. "More than you might think. I've been there, in that dark place where it feels like there's no way out, where it seems like the world has turned its back on you."
