elarawriteslol
Max Hayes never meant to buy a legend.
When she signs the papers for Neverland Ranch, she thinks she is only buying land, a house, and a quiet place to start over. She does not know the property still has an owner who never left.
Michael has been trapped here for years, bound by a curse that keeps him from crossing the gates. The world moved on. He did not. The ranch is his, and he guards it with a cold, restless fury. Strangers come and go. None of them stay long.
Then Max arrives with boxes, music, and a stubborn kind of sunlight that refuses to be warned away.
He shows himself the second night, standing at the edge of her bed like a warning she is not allowed to ignore. He expects fear. He expects her to run. Instead she stays, questions sharp and voice steady, even when the air turns ice-cold around her.
What begins as protection turns into something sharper. He watches. She knows. The nights grow longer, the space between them thinner. One moment of fear pulls him close enough to touch. One reckless choice of hers leaves him fighting every instinct he has left.
He is a ghost who cannot leave.
She is the living girl who refuses to.
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