For the ones who smile when they're breaking, who say "I'm fine" when they're anything but. May you find the strength to speak, the courage to feel, and someone who stays long enough to see the cracks beneath your mask. ____________________________________ Lyla Voss is a master of pretending everything's fine-especially when it's absolutely not. Growing up in a house where love looked a lot like yelling matches and slammed doors, Lyla learned early that the truth can hurt more than it helps. So, she built her life on little white lies: I'm fine. It doesn't bother me. I don't need anyone. Lies that kept her pain neatly hidden and her world under control... mostly. Now 24, she's traded teenage chaos for co-owning a business with her best friend, avoiding cars as much as she can, and steering clear of emotional entanglements. Relationships? Hard pass. Therapy? She's "thinking about it." Vulnerability? Never heard of her. But all that changes at a charity banquet, where she meets a mysterious investor with sharp eyes, sharper suits, and absolutely no business looking at her the way he does. He wants in-on the company, maybe, but definitely on her. And Lyla? She's caught between running for the exit or letting him get close enough to see the cracks beneath her perfect mask. One thing's for sure: the more she lies to herself, the harder it gets to keep her heart out of the equation. *Warning* Mentions of suicide

The Fall Before The Fracture is not your typical love story - it's the deeply human, occasionally unhinged, and quietly holy tale of a girl who feels everything, all at once, all the time. Through offbeat morning routines, church mic stand disasters, emotionally-charged phone calls, and the kind of spiraling inner monologues that could qualify as cardio, this story follows Elena - a woman torn between loving too fast and trying to play it cool (spoiler: she never quite succeeds). She's navigating the thrill of being seen, the fear of not being enough, and the universal horror of accidentally catching feelings before someone texts back. But while the world wants her to focus on romance, Elena's real journey is quieter and deeper - a messy, slow-burning rediscovery of herself. Through awkward dates, late-night spirals, half-broken mic stands, and soft moments in front of a mirror, she begins to fall back in love with her voice, her worth, and her weird, wonderful self... only to realize maybe that was the point all along. This story is about faith, connection, insecurity, and that terrifying moment right before everything either falls apart or finally falls into place. Welcome to the chaos before the clarity - and the fall before the fracture.