SouthAfricannovelist
CRUMBLING PETALS
Can a love born in warmth survive a corporate winter?
Twenty-three-year-old Bethany Smith is a girl made of soft edges and gentle intentions. She loves the smell of rain, gets easily flustered by a warm smile, and constantly fights a nervous stutter that catches in her throat. Blessed-and cursed-with a striking hourglass silhouette, she hides behind oversized knit sweaters to escape the intense, provocative stares of strangers. All Bethany wants is to love and be loved in return.
For three years, Deon Hamilton was her safe harbor. The brilliant, commanding twenty-six-year-old CEO of Hamilton Enterprises used to shield her from her anxieties, kissing away her doubts and protecting her fragile heart.
But over the past year, the warmth has slowly leaked out of him. Trapped in the icy, high-stakes world of corporate acquisitions, Deon has transformed into a distant, ruthless stranger who views Bethany more as a naive disruption than a partner.
Driven by his fierce, possessive control, he shuts her out of his heart while dictating her life from behind a massive mahogany desk.
Humiliated, lonely, and deeply aching, Bethany makes a silent vow to love him harder. She believes that if she keeps giving him every piece of herself, the man she fell in image with will finally return. But as the emotional neglect deepens, Bethany faces a terrifying reality. She is a flower trying her best to bloom in the middle of a blizzard... and her petals are beginning to crumble.