verraxwrites
She was raised in a house where other people's love became her burden. Where betrayals she never caused still shattered her peace, where promises made by others left scars on her, and where chaos was inherited like blood.
Arika learned early how to survive-how to be sharp, silent, and untouchable. The world sees an accomplished woman with a calm face and a perfect life. No one sees the war she carries home every night.
Then Samarth enters her life like something impossible-gentle where life was cruel, patient where she was guarded, and warm in all the places she had turned cold to survive.
But some hearts are not afraid of love.
They are afraid of what love will have to endure.
As fate keeps pulling them together through chance meetings, tangled destinies, and unspoken longing, Arika must choose between protecting the man she loves from the wreckage created by others... or letting herself be loved for the first time.
A story of longing, healing, and the kind of love that arrives softly after a lifetime of storms.
Warning: This story contains intense paranormal themes, depictions of mental illness, emotional abuse, trauma, and references to self-harm.