Synopsis
Elias Ashford has always been the kind of man people notice.
He doesn't have to ask for attention. It follows him.
Born into one of the most influential families in the country, Elias grew up surrounded by wealth, expectations, and people who already had an opinion about him before they ever met him. By the time he entered college, his surname was already enough to make people whisper.
But Elias never wanted to be known only as his family's son.
So, while most students were worrying about lectures, examinations, and weekend plans, he built something of his own.
A company.
From nothing but an idea and an unreasonable amount of determination, Elias turned his sophomore-year project into a growing business. By graduation, he was no longer simply the wealthy son of a powerful family.
He was Elias Ashford.
Successful.
Ambitious.
Confident.
Untouchable.
At least, that was what everyone believed.
Until one girl decided she wasn't impressed.
She didn't know him.
She barely knew what he looked like.
She only knew his name.
And that was enough for Isabella Reyes to have an opinion.
Elias first notices her because she is talking about him.
Not praising him.
Not admiring him.
Not whispering excitedly about his company or his family.
She's criticizing him.
Bluntly.
Honestly.
And, in Elias's opinion, completely unfairly.
For the first time in his life, someone is looking past the polished image everyone else seems determined to worship.
And Elias hates it.
He hates the way she questions everything people say about him.
He hates the way she refuses to be impressed by his success.
He hates the fact that she seems completely unaware that he's standing close enough to hear every word.
Most of all, he hates that he keeps noticing her afterward.
At first, Isabella is nothing more than an irritation.
Then she's a curiosity.
Then she's the person Elias begins unconsciously looking for in crowded hallways.
He notices her sitting alone with a book.
He notices her arguing with friends.
He notices the way she talks to stray animals as though they understand every word.
He notices that she is always willing to help someone else, even when she has too much going on herself.
And slowly, without meaning to, Elias begins seeing the person behind the girl who once annoyed him.
He never tells her.
He never approaches her.
He never gives her a reason to suspect that the senior everyone knows has been quietly watching from a distance.
To Isabella, Elias is simply a name.
A successful senior.
A familiar face she doesn't actually know.
And by the time he graduates, she has no idea that she ever mattered to him.
Then life moves on.
They lose touch.
Years pass.
Elias builds his company into something larger than he ever imagined.
Isabella becomes a doctor.
Their lives move in completely different directions.
Neither expects to see the other again.
Until Elias collapses.
It begins with a sharp pain in his chest.
A sudden, terrifying episode that leaves him unconscious on the floor of his office.
When he wakes in the hospital, he doesn't know exactly what happened.
The doctors are still investigating.
The diagnosis hasn't been revealed.
And Elias isn't interested in staying long enough to find out.
Until a woman walks into his hospital room.
She's wearing a surgical mask.
He can only see her eyes.
But he knows.
He knows her.
Isabella.
Eight years—or perhaps more than either of them realizes—have passed since the days when she unknowingly occupied his thoughts.
Yet the woman standing beside his hospital bed is unmistakable.
She doesn't recognize him.
Or if she does, she gives no indication.
To her, he's simply another patient.
A difficult one.
An impatient one.
An arrogant one.
A man who thinks he can negotiate his way out of a hospital bed because he's used to getting what he wants.
And Elias?
He finds himself irritated by her all over again.
It almost feels familiar.
Almost comforting.
Because Isabella still doesn't treat him like everyone else.
She doesn't care about his surname.
She doesn't care about his company.
She doesn't care how much money he has.
When he refuses to rest, she tells him to rest.
When he tries to work from his hospital bed, she takes away his laptop.
When he insists he's fine, she reminds him that his body has already disagreed with him once.
And somehow, the woman who used to annoy him in college is now the woman he can't stop thinking about.
But this time, something is different.
Because Elias begins noticing things he didn't see before.
The tiredness behind her eyes.
The way she forgets to drink her coffee.
The way she takes care of everyone around her while neglecting herself.
The moments when her smile disappears as soon as she thinks no one is looking.
There is something broken inside Isabella.
Something she has become very good at hiding.
And Elias doesn't know what it is.
He only knows he wants to understand.
What he doesn't know is that Isabella has been fighting a battle of her own.
what happens to them.
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