cryordont
"I see you, Rela. Not the version they clap for."
⋆✴︎˚。⋆ To the world, she is VÉRA - a name shouted by crowds, written in headlines, glowing under stage lights.
Offstage, she is Rela.
At twenty-five, Ravenna Rodriguez is everything a pop star is supposed to be: kind, graceful, unproblematic. She loves to sing - it's the one place where the noise quiets and she feels whole. But fame comes with rules. Smile. Stay calm. Don't snap. Don't show too much. Especially not the parts of her that ache.
Jasper Solan knows those rules better than anyone.
As her primary bodyguard, he is always there - steady, silent, professional. He lives in her house, travels where she travels, watches every room before she enters it. He calls her VÉRA in public, like he's supposed to. Rela in private, like no one else does. He never asks for more. Never crosses lines. Never lets himself feel.
Until the quiet moments begin to matter more than the noise.
In a world where everyone wants something from her, Jasper is the only person who never demands perfection. And in a life built on distance and restraint, getting close might be the one thing neither of them is allowed to do.
The Girl Behind VÉRA is a slow-burn romance about fame and privacy, restraint and longing - and the dangerous comfort of being truly seen.