Empty Promises

Before the love, before the betrayal, there was only silence.
Amara lived in a world muted by grief.
Ever since the day her mother's laughter disappeared from the house, she had felt like a shadow walking through a world too bright for her sorrow. Her mother had given her everything-encouragement, shelter, a dream-and in return, Amara had been too late. Too distracted chasing art, success, and validation to realize time was slipping away.

The day she stood over her mother's grave, Amara stopped speaking for two weeks.
She moved into her small studio apartment, dropped out of every social circle, and buried herself in colors-dark, angry, tortured colors. She painted the silence. She painted the guilt. And in those canvases, she found the only voice she had left.

She vowed never to love again.
Never to let anyone in.
Because the weight of loss was too cruel to risk it twice.

But then he came.
Jace.