COMPLETE | Catalina Jasmine Rivera knows how to leave before anyone gets the chance to leave her. As a rising celebrity actress, Catalina has mastered the art of walking away-on-screen and off. She knows how to smile through rumors, hide behind carefully crafted answers, and keep people from getting too close. Because when you grow up believing that everyone eventually leaves, it's easier to leave first. Then she meets Lake. And this isn't the first time they've met. She finds herself stuck with him in a dating reality show where staying is the key to winning everyone's hearts-just not hers. Between stolen moments, memorized scripts, family secrets, and a relationship they were never supposed to have, Catalina finds herself falling for the one person she had spent years trying to forget. But Lake knows a version of her that the cameras never will. *** If their first meeting was about falling in love, what happens when they meet again? Will Catalina finally learn to stay-or will she run once more, believing that no matter how much she loves him, fate was never on her side to begin with? Part of the Collection: Starstruck Series - you don't need to read this in chronological order. ----- This book includes some mature scenes. Date started with plot and character planning: 2022 Date started: May 29, 2026 Date completed: August 26, 2026

She spent her whole life choosing everyone else. Until one day, she finally chose herself. At fifteen, Imara already knew what it means to carry more than she should. Between a family that keeps asking too much of her and a life that never seems to give her a choice, Imara reaches a point where staying hurts more than leaving. So she leaves. Years later, she is forced to return to the home she once walked away from-only to find that some things have changed, while others have been waiting for her all along. Because sometimes, leaving isn't the end of the story. Sometimes, it's only the beginning. • • • A New Adult Novel by Mariya Autor | ©2026 She Was Someone First Book Cover: Edited in from Canva