Built Before Beloved

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Before the quiet house.
Before the careful touches.
Before he ever said her name like it meant something,

there was the lab.

At eighteen, Naveah Henderson enters Hawkins Lab as a trainee nurse, sent by her beloved school, Hawkins High, she's taught to follow orders, keep her head down, and never question what happens behind closed doors. But nothing about the place feels right. The halls are too quiet. The smiles too rehearsed. And the rules, too strict to be harmless.

Then there's him.

Peter Ballard is just an orderly.
That's what they tell her.

But he watches too closely. Speaks too carefully. And seems to understand things no one ever explains. The more time she spends near him, the harder it becomes to ignore the feeling that something is wrong, not just with the lab...

but with him.

And with her.

What begins as quiet curiosity turns into something far more dangerous as the truth beneath Hawkins starts to surface. Lines blur. Trust becomes a risk. And somewhere between stolen glances and whispered conversations, something neither of them were meant to feel begins to take hold.

Something real.
Something forbidden.

They make a promise.
To get out. Together.

But Hawkins Lab doesn't just control people,

it breaks them.
It rewrites them.
It erases them.

Somewhere behind those walls, he remembers everything.

And Henry Creel doesn't take lightly to betrayal.

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Sequel to Beyond & Beloved, this story explores the hidden past of star-crossed lovers Henry Creel and Naveah Henderson within the walls of Hawkins Laboratory.

Beyond & Beloved is the first instalment in this two-part series, so be sure to read it before continuing.

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