Isla Holbrooke wakes up everyday knowing she's different. She accepts it, she embraces it, but she's not sure she quite understands it. Her scars are mental, not there to be seen but to be felt. So when her friend signs her up for a matchmaking service, everything begins to change after she receives an anonymous text. What starts as a conversation leads to life-changing events. She no longer finds pity in her dull life anymore, no longer dreads the visits to her psychiatrist. Now, there's somebody to talk to and somebody who listens. Ash Castello has just come back from Italy. Forced to take over his father's business, he's already begun to hate the job his first day. The coffee machines are broken, profits are falling, and the designer he's supposed to work so closely with, despises him. But there's something that helps shed light into his day. Every morning, he finds himself waiting for a text from a girl he's never even seen before. He doesn't know the colour of her eyes, but knows that her favourite colour is silver. He doesn't know her name, but knows what she calls her Turkish Siamese But he definitely doesn't know that she's the same girl he works with everyday. The girl that hates him, is also the same girl who listens to him whenever he has something to say. No... definitely not. Cover image credits go to the rightful owners! :)

|| Featured FREE story with exclusive paid chapters - previously a paid story || When Haley discovers the truth behind Xavier, whose silence holds a deeper meaning, she sets her mind on making his life better one small step at a time. ***** Haley Rosamond is happy with her simple life, content under the wing of her father. Well-protected, she has no idea of the darkness surrounding Xavier Hunt, with his all-black attire and infrequent presence in school-accompanied by his bruises and scars. That is, until Haley catches a glimpse of Xavier's reality and is made to question everything she knows about family and life in general. The truth, she realizes, couldn't be more different from everything she has heard. Supported by her father, Haley sets her mind on helping Xavier any way she can, and what begins with tutoring sessions, free food, and random acts of kindness blooms into friendship and something a little more. But when Haley's admission into her dream college and another tragedy in Xavier's life threaten to undo everything she has worked for, Haley needs to decide if she'll stick by Xavier or simply be another person in his life that disappears. [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]] Cover designed by Holly Thurston