Eighteen-year-old Jasmine Black has always believed in love - even if she's never experienced it herself. When she enters a national romance writing competition, she's determined to prove that understanding love doesn't require living it. But standing in her way is Lucas Hart - the internet's golden boy of heartbreak, last year's finalist, and the anonymous critic who has been dissecting her writing online. As rivalry turns personal and every word becomes a battle, Jasmine begins to realize something terrifying: The story she's trying to write about love... might be writing her instead. In a competition where only one can win, hearts are the most dangerous prize of all. She just never expected it to come with a warning. When she enters a prestigious national romance writing competition, Jasmine is determined to prove that love can be understood through observation - that emotion can be studied, dissected, mastered. Then the sabotage begins. Private drafts leak. Anonymous messages appear. Lights fall from ceilings. And someone is always watching. Standing across from her on stage is Lucas Hart - last year's finalist, composed, magnetic, and far too calm when everything around her spirals. He defends her publicly. Challenges her privately. Protects her... maybe too fiercely. And then there's the other presence. The silent observer. The one who knows things he shouldn't. The one who warns her before danger strikes. The one who whispers truths about her own family - truths that point back to her uncle... and a secret buried deeper than the competition itself. As rivalry turns into something dangerously intimate, Jasmine begins to realize this was never just about writing. It's about control. It's about power. It's about who gets to decide the ending. Because someone isn't just trying to win. Someone is trying to break her. And in a game where love is weaponized, trust is a risk - and the most dangerous plot twist... ...might be falling for the wrong person.

At 25, Bria Roy had fought her way to NYU, proving herself worth every cent her parents reluctantly spent on her education. Growing up in a small California town where ambition was stifled, she vowed to escape and build a life on her own terms. NYU was her chance, and she poured all her energy into academics, avoiding anything that might derail her focus. Parties, friends, and relationships were distractions she couldn't afford. Beneath her quiet resilience was a tender heart she rarely showed. Her carefully controlled life revolved around hard work and solitude-until one ordinary afternoon in a café changed everything. Zane Black, 32, was the epitome of privilege: a millionaire playboy with fast cars, faster women, and a knack for making headlines. But his gilded life shattered when his older brother and sister-in-law died in a car crash, leaving their infant daughter in his care. Unprepared for fatherhood and grieving, Zane was thrust into a role he never imagined. Now, he struggled to balance running the business empire he and his brother built with the delicate responsibility of raising a child, searching for purpose in a life that once thrived on excess. __ One afternoon, Bria sat in a bustling café, her mind foggy from back-to-back exams. The sharp cry of a baby broke through her exhaustion, pulling her attention to a tiny infant wailing in a bassinet near the entrance. The man beside the child-a tall figure in a tailored suit-looked helpless as his efforts to soothe her failed. Before Bria knew it, she was on her feet. Kneeling by the bassinet, her soft whispers and gentle touch quieted the baby almost instantly. When she looked up, she met the man's piercing gaze-equal parts gratitude and something unspoken. In that moment, an ordinary encounter sparked the beginning of something extraordinary. Bria had a feeling their paths would cross again.