"Beautiful things don't ask for attention." In a world that thrives on conformity, August is an anomaly. Raised in a secretive overbearing family, she was chosen to leave its hidden grounds-not for freedom, but for duty. Sent to college to become the strategic mind for her generation behind the family's growing empire, she tries to move through the world like a ghost, draped in gothic shadows with secrets too heavy to share but her style is just too much to go unnoticed by judging eyes unscathed. Then she meets Kason through his older brother. A rising rapper with a reckless charm and a hunger for something real, dealing with battles of his own, he's instantly drawn to August's eerie demeanor and the quiet storm that lingers behind her dark mysterious eyes. She's nothing like the women he's used to-unbothered by trends, and untouched by the need for validation. The more she resists, the deeper he falls, his infatuation turning into an obsession he can't shake. One he cant let go of. As their worlds collide, the slow burn of their connection threatens to ignite everything August has been taught to suppress. With her past closing in and expectations pressing down, she must decide if she's willing to defy everything she's ever known for the chance at something dangerously real. In a society that demands she fit a mold, August stands in defiance. Unfortunately, love has a way of making even the strongest question their silence. STARTED; February 22nd , 2025 PUBLISHED; MARCH 18th, 2025 FINISHED; MAY 27th, 2025

He leaned back, looking at her face again before his fingers slid under her chin, lifting it so she had no choice but to meet his eyes. "You love me." He said, shaking his head in mock sympathy. "& that's the most reckless thing you could've ever done." His grip tightened slightly under her jaw, not hard enough to hurt, just enough to remind her that he could. His thumb grazed her jaw, slower this time, respectful. "Love doesn't make me weak, baby. It makes me more dangerous. Because I love you back, meaning I now have something to lose." He leaned in until his lips hovered just above hers, their breath mingling. "& I don't like that. Not having shit to lose is what kept me untouchable, now I got a weakness & now we gotta die holding hands because you ain't doing this shit without me & I ain't doing it without you. So, Naytiri, you sure you wanna bleed for me?"