He noticed her first—not for beauty, but for how nothing shook her. Praise. Rumors. Silence. Erse never asked to be understood, and Ruel told himself he wouldn’t try. But her distance pulls him in, until he’s lost in what she won’t say. While the world misreads her, she quietly builds walls no one can reach. This is a story of longing, restraint, and the ache of wanting what stays just out of reach. For anyone who needed someone—and learned not to.

cat's name is macky, u're welcome.