# BEFORE WE BECAME STRANGERSEthan Cole never expected university to change his life.He arrived at Westbridge University with little money, no connections, and one goal: survive four years, graduate, and give his family the life they deserved.Then he met Amelia James.Their first meeting was far from romantic. Ethan accidentally took her seat, and Amelia made sure he knew exactly how annoyed she was.But one wrong seat became a friendship.The friendship became late-night conversations, stolen smiles, unforgettable memories—and eventually, love.For the first time, Ethan believed he had found someone who would stay.But Amelia comes from a wealthy family that believes Ethan isn't good enough for her. Her father will do everything in his power to separate them, while Daniel, the boy Amelia's family approves of, refuses to give up on her.As pressure builds, secrets surface, trust begins to disappear, and the two people who once promised never to leave each other begin hurting one another in ways they never imagined.Sometimes love isn't destroyed by a lack of feelings.Sometimes it's destroyed by fear, pride, family, jealousy, and the things people refuse to say.Years later, Ethan and Amelia will meet again.Older.Changed.And carrying wounds neither of them has completely healed from.But before they became strangers...They were everything to each other.And some love stories don't end when two people say goodbye.Sometimes, they begin all over again.

THE 12TH VICTIMEleven people are dead.They had nothing in common—or so Detective Daniel Cole thought.Each victim was found in a different location, killed in a different way, with only one disturbing detail connecting them: a mysterious symbol carved into the palm of their hand.The police have no suspect. No motive. No explanation.Then Daniel receives a message from an unknown number:“Eleven have fallen. You were always meant to be number twelve.”At first, Daniel believes it's a threat from the killer.Until he discovers an old photograph from his childhood.In it, Daniel is standing beside eleven other children.Every single one of them is dead.As Daniel digs deeper into the case, he uncovers a forgotten children's home, missing police files, buried memories, and a psychological experiment that was never supposed to be discovered.Someone has been manipulating the murders from the shadows.Someone who knows Daniel better than he knows himself.And the closer Daniel gets to the truth, the more he begins to question his own memories.Because maybe the real mystery isn't who is killing the victims.Maybe it's—why Daniel was chosen to be the 12th.