𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒊𝒌 𝑶𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝟏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒌𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆. 𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏. ❝𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍, 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.❞ Octavia Maevis Cyrus spent years clawing her way out of a family that wanted to own every part of her. The name. The image. The fame. The future. Born into one of New York's most powerful families, Octavia was supposed to become another polished piece of the Cyrus empire. Instead, she chose paint-stained hands, sharp words, and a forest home in Oregon bought with money she earned from her own art. For the first time in her life, she has something that belongs only to her. Her house. Her career. Her freedom. Then a man appears at the edge of the trees. At first, he is only a shadow in the rain, a masked stranger too close to her windows and too quiet to be harmless. Then come the messages, the gifts, the photographs, and the terrifying proof that no locked door is enough to keep him out. He watches her. Listens to her. Learns her. And Octavia has no idea that the monster haunting her nights is the same man standing across from her in a café with ocean-blue eyes, cherry sugar on his tongue, and a smile sharp enough to ruin her peace. Ares Nero Knox was supposed to be on vacation. Then he saw her. The girl with the paintbrush in her hair and darkness in her art. The little painter who looked like freedom, fury, and every addiction he had ever tried to quit. Now she is all he wants. And Ares has never been good at wanting quietly.