|| Featured FREE story with exclusive paid chapters - previously a paid story || When Haley discovers the truth behind Xavier, whose silence holds a deeper meaning, she sets her mind on making his life better one small step at a time. ***** Haley Rosamond is happy with her simple life, content under the wing of her father. Well-protected, she has no idea of the darkness surrounding Xavier Hunt, with his all-black attire and infrequent presence in school-accompanied by his bruises and scars. That is, until Haley catches a glimpse of Xavier's reality and is made to question everything she knows about family and life in general. The truth, she realizes, couldn't be more different from everything she has heard. Supported by her father, Haley sets her mind on helping Xavier any way she can, and what begins with tutoring sessions, free food, and random acts of kindness blooms into friendship and something a little more. But when Haley's admission into her dream college and another tragedy in Xavier's life threaten to undo everything she has worked for, Haley needs to decide if she'll stick by Xavier or simply be another person in his life that disappears. [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]] Cover designed by Holly Thurston

|𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐬 - 𝐈| 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴. "Junoon ban chuki ho tum. Ishq ki tapish se bhi tez aur pagalpan ki har hadon se paar. Is qadar beyhadh ki tumhari rooh tak qaid karne ka irada hai." Upon stumbling with "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒐𝒚 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒆" Aarav on her cousin's wedding, Mishika struggles to keep the dark secrets hidden under the veil. However fate has always been cruel to her. Betrayed and tricked by her own extended family, she finds herself at the altar, 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 the man who was supposed to be her cousin's husband-to-be, the same man she had hated for 6 years. Threatened to take 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 on the very first night by her forced husband, she was pushed and pulled between the past she can't get over from and the practicality of life. When she scramble to figure out her expectations and boundaries in the hopeless marriage, she was left shaken when her 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦-𝘧𝘰𝘳-𝘢-𝘏𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 confessed about being 𝑶𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 with her since 8 years. An obsession he strived years to bury and get over with. But will it be so easy for 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 to incarcerate his favourite 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒆 when somewhere deep he knew that 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥 ? her heart was latched with HATE his mind was tainted with LUST? ❌No Cheating Between The Leads❌