My Mother Thought I Was Moving to a Slum—So She Brought 50 Relatives to Mock Me. They Didn’t Expect the Address.

more chance.”

Elena looked down at him and felt a flicker of something—not love, not even pity, but a kind of melancholy for wasted time. “You brought a bucket once,” she said softly, “to catch the leaks in our old apartment. Remember?”

Mark nodded through his tears.

“Keep it,” Elena said. “You’re going to need it for all the crying you’ll do when you continue reading …