Off Patterns And Pretenses

Alina Brown has never stepped beyond the forest edge.

Hidden in a forgotten town, she lives beneath her father's rules-and beneath sleeves that conceal something far stranger than skin.

Her world is quiet, curated, and brimming with secrets.

Vihaan Rajvansh's life, in contrast, plays out on center stage.
A crownless king of Los Angeles hallways, he wears arrogance like armor and laughter like camouflage.
No one asks what's missing-and he never offers to tell.

When fate drags a reckless school trip into the mist-laced woods of Bleakstone, Alina and Vihaan collide-two opposites wrapped in lies, legacy, and things they were never meant to find.

In a story of veiled identities, dangerous gifts, and loyalties tested in silence, one truth begins to unravel:

Some connections are written in scars long before they're spoken in words.