jlorenzbittersweet
Aegel Aramis is a man who treasures structure. As a student teacher, he builds his life around the safety of lesson plans, predictable outcomes, and the comforting distance of his own quiet routines. But his fragile world is shattered when his new stepbrother, the enigmatic and brilliant architecture student Damien Crow, enters the frame.
Damien is the polar opposite of Aegel-dark, magnetic, and terrifyingly precise. While Aegel constructs walls to feel safe, Damien sees those walls as challenges. He believes that "circles are cages," and he is determined to dismantle every boundary Aegel sets. Damien doesn't just walk through Aegel's life; he redesigns it, turning the campus into a stage where he is the director and Aegel is the unwilling subject.
What begins as unnerving encounters and unsettling comments rapidly evolves into a systematic, psychological takeover. Damien is a predator who hides in plain sight, using his genius and charm to make his stalking look like intellectual curiosity. As the line between protection and possession blurs, Aegel finds himself caught in a net he didn't see coming, realizing too late that his attempts to stay safe have only drawn him deeper into Damien's design.
"Circles are cages. People build them to feel safe. But cages break."
How do you escape an architect who knows exactly how to build a prison around you?