Because He Noticed

Because He Noticed

Freya Skye learned how to disappear without leaving.
A pulled hood. A quiet smile. A love that looked safe from the outside and felt like a cage from within.

Everyone believed the version of her that said she was fine.

Everyone-except Malachi Barton.

He has known her since before secrets had names. Since silence meant comfort, not fear. Even when time, distance, and a boyfriend who hated his presence tried to pull them apart, Malachi never stopped watching her. Never stopped noticing the small things others ignored-the way she flinched, the way she apologized too quickly, the way she kept shrinking.

When he sees the bruise, the lie finally breaks.

What Freya is trapped in isn't love. It's control dressed up as concern. And Malachi becomes the one person she can't lie to anymore. The only one who knows how bad it really was. The only one who stays when the truth comes out shaking.

But noticing is dangerous.
It draws lines. It invites consequences.
And loving someone who is breaking means standing in the dark with them while they decide whether they want to survive.

As fear turns into fury and silence turns into confession, the bond between Freya and Malachi shifts into something undeniable-something fierce and fragile and terrifyingly real. Because some loves don't arrive loudly.

They arrive quietly.
They notice.
And they refuse to look away.

A dark romantic story about control, survival, and the kind of love that doesn't promise to save you-
only to stay when everything else falls apart.