Tides Of Desolation

Elira had always been the shadow in her family, a daily reminder of a mistake they wished they could erase. Growing up in a household where love felt like a privilege reserved only for her perfect older sister, Elira's days were haunted by her mother's bitter words and her father's cold indifference. She was the family's hidden shame, a living symbol of secrets and mistakes.

Each day reminded her that she was just an outsider in her own home. Elira was a nursing student, a consistent honor roll, and obedient to a fault, yet nothing she did could win their love. No accomplishment, no amount of trying, could lift the weight of her mother's disappointment or her father's quiet blame. She felt like a forgotten whisper, a background character in a life that didn't seem to want her.

These relentless feelings, like scars etched into her heart, filled her mind with dark thoughts and hopelessness.

Maybe they were right. Maybe she really was worthless. Maybe happiness was a luxury she'd never know.

And she almost accepted it. Almost.

Until she met Raven, a man whose presence felt like warmth in her perpetual winter. Raven was as damaged as she was, haunted by his own past, yet he saw something in Elira-something worth holding on to. With him, her thoughts quieted, her shadows softened, and for the first time, she felt as if she mattered. Raven didn't flinch at her scars; he embraced them, as though he understood every piece of her pain.

But life had a darker path laid out for them.