Scars and Solace

The burden of his legacy sits heavily on Alfred Ambrose's shoulders, making the reserved heir emotionally distant and terrified of replicating his parents' disastrous downfall. For him, love is a dangerous game-one he has sworn off of playing, haunted by the past every time he looks in the mirror.
Ivy Torres built her life around a single, intense focus: ambition. Burned by a high-school romance that left her scarred and skeptical, she sees romance as nothing but an unnecessary source of pain. For Ivy, her goals are her armor, and love is the last thing she's searching for in her college career.
But when mutual friends drag them into the same orbit one winter night, their opposing worlds briefly collide. Alfred is drawn to the way she sees past the facade, while she finds herself disarmed by the rare glimpses of vulnerability beneath his cool exterior. As they are slowly, irrevocably pulled toward each other, the carefully constructed walls around their hearts begin to crack.
Can they withstand the tidal wave of feeling the swore they'd never face? Or will the ghosts of their painful pasts prove too powerful for a second chance at love?

TRIGGER WARNING:
Mentions of emotional manipulations and gaslighting, depictions of anxiety and panic attacks, verbal and physical intimidation, toxic family dynamics, and relational trauma.