Restoring 9

Tadhg Lynch is fire and silence. With a brutal past and a father who taught him fear behind closed doors, Tadhg wears his trauma like armor - sharp, defensive, and unreadable. Nightmares chase him, trust eludes him, and peace is something he's convinced he'll never earn. He recognizes pain the way others recognize faces - fast, instinctively. Especially in her.

Ciara Bellemore is light dimmed too soon. Graceful and polite on the outside, she hides bruises beneath long sleeves and hope beneath whispered prayers. With a mother fading from illness and a home filled with silence and control, Ciara clings to the only comfort she knows: angels, feathers, and a belief in something better.

When they collide, it's friction and fire. She thinks he's arrogant and angry. He thinks she's fake and fragile. But pain recognizes pain - and slowly, behind the bickering and glares, a quiet understanding grows.