Escape ***1ST DRAFT***

Naja thought she escaped her past.

A fractured family. A dangerous mother. A hometown that remembers the girl she used to be-but not the woman she's become.

Now she's back, riding between the two people who know her best:
Rayne, her fiercely loyal brother who would burn the world down to keep her safe, and Vincent, the calm, calculating man who chose them as family long before love ever entered the picture.

What starts as a quiet ride home turns into a collision with everything Naja tried to leave behind. Old wounds reopen. Lines are crossed. And when her mother resurfaces with violence instead of love, survival becomes the only option.

This story explores chosen family, slow-burn love, loyalty that bleeds, and the cost of coming home when the past refuses to stay buried. It's about protection, trust, and finding safety in people-not places.

⚠️ Author's Note / Disclaimer:
This is the first draft of this story. It is not final, not polished, and definitely not my best work yet. There will be a second draft/rewrite later this year, with deeper development, cleaner pacing, and stronger writing overall. Consider this version a raw foundation-messy, emotional, and still growing.

Read with grace. Revisions are coming.