for her grandmother. Then she met Liam Hayes at a university fundraiser. He was charming, brilliant, and the heir to the Hayes tech fortune. His family' s foundation was a major donor to the univers

ight. Ava felt an unspoken debt, a need to re

jobs, not galas and endless wealth. But he was persistent, and she found herself drawn to his sharp mind and surprising vulnerabi

ate and legal fallout, Ava dealt with the human one. She learned the schedules of the nurses, advocated for better pain management, and was the one constant presence by his side when he woke up terrified and disoriented. She was the one

ous scholarship. For a moment, she allowed herself to imagine it: the ancient libraries, the passionate discussions, a life dedicated to the beauty she loved. Then she looked at Liam, sleeping fitfully in the hospital bed, his face etched w

ependent on her, and in his vulnerability, he was open and tender. He would trace the shape of her face with his finge

is voice thick with emotion as she helped him navigate the familiar

a future together, forged in the fires of his trauma. She felt seen, cherished, essential. It was a fleeting, beautiful period of shared struggle and p

shifted subtly. A new tension entered his shoulders, a distance crept into his voice. He started talking about the "pressures of the business," a world he had p

simple wildflowers look childish. The contrast was stark and deliberate. Chloe represented the world Liam belonged to, a world of power and influence. Ava represented his period of weakness, of