If this were a Vietnamese opera, his tears would be forming rivers and drowning everyone. When your best friend died like this, you were supposed to be destroyed. If they stung, it was due to the heavy incense fogging the funeral parlorвЂ™s reception room. This was an ambitious project for me, and youвЂ™ve all surprised me with how supportive youвЂ™ve been. You make this even more special, and I canвЂ™t thank you enough.ДЇinally, thank you to the incredible publishing team at Berkley: Cindy Hwang, Kristine Swartz, Angela Kim, Megha Jain, Jessica Brock, Fareeda Bullert, Tawanna Sullivan, Colleen Reinhart, and others. I couldnвЂ™t have asked for a better partner for this publishing journey weвЂ™re on. No acknowledgments would be complete without my amazing agent, Kim Lionetti. Because I made the grievous mistake of not mentioning my nieces and nephew last time: Sylvers, you are super-super-duper awesome. Many thanks to the rest of my family for putting up with me as I wrote this book, especially when I was antisocial and wrote through all of our vacations. Mom, thank you for leading by example and being you. Thank you to the sensitivity readers who provided alternate perspectives on the diversity involved. Thanks to BrightonвЂ™s Bs for always being welcoming: Melissa Marino, Anniston Jory, Elizabeth Leis, Ellis Leigh, Esher Hogan, Laura Elizabeth, and Suzanne Baltzar. Thank you, ReLynn Vaughn, Jen DeLuca, Shannon Caldwell, and my fantastic Pitch Wars mentor, Brighton Walsh, for reading early drafts of this book. Roselle Lim, how is it that we only just met this year? It feels like weвЂ™ve been friends forever. Thank you for being there when things are rough. Lucas, IвЂ™ll forever associate rainbows with you.

Gwynne Jackson, thank you for your kindness and patience and for always being genuine. Suzanne Park, you are the most considerate, hardest-working person I know.

This book was extremely difficult to write for a variety of reasons, and IвЂ™m so thankful for the people who supported me during the process. IвЂ™m honored that youвЂ™ve chosen to spend time with my words and I hope that something here resonates with you, makes you think, or makes you feel. First of all, I need to thank you, dear reader.

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