unknowngirly155555
Title: The Things We Left Behind
Growing up on the South Side of Chicago teaches you one thing early: nothing stays the same forever.
Leilani Carter has always known life wasn't going to be easy. Raised in a neighborhood where loyalty is tested, friendships don't always last, and everyone is fighting their own battles, she's spent most of her life trying to survive while dreaming of something bigger.
She's working long hours, helping her family, trying to keep her head above water, and figuring out who she is while the world keeps changing around her.
But just when Leilani thinks she's finally starting to move forward, the past comes knocking.
Old friendships resurface. Secrets she thought were buried start coming back. People she lost return with questions she isn't ready to answer. And a mysterious message forces her to face a part of her life she's been trying to forget.
Between losing people, dealing with heartbreak, money struggles, family problems, unexpected friendships, and the harsh reality of growing up too soon, Leilani has to decide:
Will she let her past define her?
Or will she fight hard enough to create a future nobody thought she could have?
A story about survival, loyalty, grief, friendship, love, and finding your way out when the world keeps trying to pull you back in.
Because sometimes the hardest thing to escape... is the life you came from.