Between the Lines | Luigi Mangione

Before the world knew him as a fugitive, a shadow chased by whispers of treachery, he had been everything to me. Before he was branded a national suspect for an assassination attempt, Luigi Mangione was the whole of my world.. My whole world, confined to the warmth of his amused smiles, the way the sunlight danced in his curls. Not just a boy, but the boy-a constellation of beauty spots and crooked, amused smiles, the kind of person who made you believe the universe might be kinder than it was.

This is our story. The story of how I watched that sweet, sharp-witted boy turn into something forged in fire and steel-a warrior carrying shadows on his back.

But even now, even with his name whispered like a curse across the country, I refuse to believe he'd ever do something like this.

You did this to him. You made him do it.

And as a member of the Senate, sworn to uphold the law, I should condemn him. Instead, I will fight to save him, even if it means walking a razor-thin line between loyalty and treason. Because if there's one thing I know, it's this: the boy I loved still exists somewhere inside him. And I'll find him before it's too late.