New York City promises everything. Fame. Fortune. Freedom. But some dreams come with a price. Karlena Valkova learned early on to smile through the pain. The louder she laughed, the less visible her cracks were. Now, she's facing her dreams. But the promise of fame doesn't make it easier to hold herself together. If she stops performing, the whole world will see just how much she's breaking. Kai Raven lives in a world of unlimited money, clubs, parties, and bodies that mean nothing but a night in the sheets. He's respected. Reckless. Addicted to forgetting. When the chaos stops, the silence gets unbearably loud, and the past's claw marks burn. They should have stayed strangers. But a single university project throws them together, and suddenly they are drowning in each other's worlds. Cameras. VIP clubs. Underground races. Sleepless nights. He sees right through her mask, and she is the first to call him out on his bullshit. The lines blur between nights and mornings. Secrets become confessions. Pain turns to trust. Friendship burns with love and passion. But love isn't enough to save them from themselves. And when everything shatters, they stand face to face in a collision that was always meant to destroy them. What if the best thing he never knew he needed was her? What if her dream means nothing without him in it? Will New York City become their Empire of Alleviation?