Love in Desperation

Micah was a soccer prodigy - a raw, unstoppable force on the field, all lightning-fast feet and bruised knuckles. Coaches called him a once-in-a-generation talent. Teammates called him trouble behind his back.

His father, known to the world only by the name Leviathan, was a ghost story whispered in courtrooms and back alleys - a man with blood on his hands and power in his veins, whose legacy clung to Micah like oil that wouldn't wash off. His mother, Vanessa, wasn't much softer. A self-made billionaire before thirty, she ran her empire with a smile like a blade and a heart locked behind bulletproof glass. To Micah, she was just another stranger with his last name.

With parents like that, love was never on the table - only pressure. So when he wasn't scoring goals, he was starting fights, shoving people away before they could get close enough to see the cracks in the armor. He didn't have friends. Didn't need them.

But when Leviathan's past caught up to them in the worst possible way, Vanessa did what she always did best - she cut her losses and ran. She packed up her son and her perfectly curated life and fled across state lines, landing in the glittering chaos of Manhattan.

Micah didn't want a fresh start. He wanted to fight. He wanted to run until his legs gave out. So when he crashed onto the roster of his new college's elite soccer team, he expected to find more of the same - parasites looking to ride his talent to trophies and fame. He was ready to hate them all. And maybe they were ready to hate him back.

But the game has a way of forcing people together in ways they don't expect. Friendship. Loyalty. Love. Words Micah once thought were for weaker people. Now they're becoming a promise - fragile and terrifying - that maybe he doesn't have to destroy everything he touches.

He'll have to decide who he really wants to be: his father's son, his mother's puppet... or something entirely his own.