FLAMES BETWEEN US

She has learned to stretch every penny, every hour, every ounce of strength. survival by night, a life stitched together with quiet sacrifices. She is not destitute, but the weight of 'almost enough' lingers in every breath.

He was born into excess, a man who has never tasted the sharp edge of hunger-at least, not the kind she knows. His world is marble floors and glass walls, cold and unyielding. Wealth wraps around him like armor, shielding him from anything-or anyone-that could make him feel.

She enters his house with a single purpose: to cook. A job, a paycheck, nothing more. But between the scent of simmering spices and the silence between them, something begins to shift.

He is hunger wrapped in privilege. She is warmth built from struggle. And love is the one thing neither of them can afford to serve.