Molly writes stories to survive herself. Elias reads them to understand her.
Molly is gentle, earnest, and hopeful in ways she doesn’t recognize—soft in a world that has only taught her to brace for loss.
Elias is steady, unreadable—his tenderness something earned, not freely given.
When her world collapses under doubt and grief, he is there—steady, warm, and impossibly sure. He tells her she is brilliant. Precious. Worthy of being protected.
But Elias doesn't simply admire Molly’s writing—he studies it. He studies her.
As Molly begins to lean on him, Elias gently places himself at the center of her life—guiding, supporting, shaping. He promises she will never be alone again.But protection becomes possession—so slowly she almost welcomes it.
A heart can get used to hands that hold too tightly.
And Molly has always been so very tired of holding herself.
A slow-burn dark romance about grief, obsession, and the kind of love that feels like being chosen—and claimed.