WHEN LOVE FEELS LIKE SUMMER ~ By Maria Grace

From Melina's Heart✍️ They say summer is the season when everything blooms, when the sun kisses your skin, and the world feels soft enough to trust, but no one tells you how fast it fades and how something that warm can still leave you burned. If you're reading this, you're holding the part of me I never meant to share. I wasn't looking for a fairytale. I wasn't looking for anything, really not love, not redemption. I was just trying to make it through the day without falling apart. Then I met him. Lucas Murray. He wasn't a promise. He was a warning. The kind of man who looks at you like he already knows what you're hiding and dares you to say it out loud. I didn't want to want him. But the more I pulled away, the more I unraveled. And suddenly... love felt like summer. Beautiful. Addictive. Dangerous. This isn't a sweet story. It's messy, real, and full of the kind of truths we only admit when we think no one's listening. But it's mine. And now, it's yours too. So, if you're still here, turn the page. But don't expect to leave the same way you came in. With all my heart, Melina ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Character name: Lucas Murray Lucas Murray was born into a world of wealth, legacy, and unrelenting expectations. As the heir to Murray & Co., the most powerful and influential publishing agency in the world, his future had been written for him long before he could choose a single word for himself. Groomed from a young age to lead, Lucas knew how to navigate legacy like a second language. When his father unexpectedly stepped down, Lucas took the reins in his twenties and didn't just fill the role, he redefined it. A visionary CEO with a sharp mind, magnetic presence, and the rare ability to turn silence into authority. He quickly became the name behind every voice that mattered. If a story shaped the world, chances were it passed through his hands. But beneath the boardroom brilliance and global acclaim, Lucas carried something quieter. He carried the weight of being known by everyone but understood by no one. In a family where power was everything and vulnerability was a liability, Lucas had never been taught how to be open but only how to be strong. Relationships, even at home, were built like deals: strategic, measured, temporary and while the world saw charm and control, what they didn't see was the loneliness behind his eyes. The stillness of a man who had spent a lifetime helping others find their voice, yet had never been given the safety to use his own. His heart was guarded. His silence mistaken for coldness. But the truth? Lucas felt everything he had just never been allowed to show it. Until her. A woman who didn't flinch at the walls he'd built. A woman who refused to be impressed by his empire, yet saw right through the man inside it. Unapologetically honest. Strong willed. Quietly dignified. She didn't fall for his power, she challenged it. She didn't beg for space in his world, she made her own. And for the first time, Lucas found himself willing to risk everything. Not for legacy. Not for control. But for love. Character Name: Melina Hazel Anderson I grew up in a house where control was mistaken for love, and silence was the safest response. My dreams? Just noise in the background, things to be corrected, dismissed, reshaped. My father never saw me. Not really. No matter how smart I was, how beautiful people said I could be, to him I was never enough and eventually, I started to believe him. For years, I tried to fit the mold he carved for me. I smiled when I wanted to scream. I stayed quiet when my heart begged to speak. But you can only hold your breath for so long. One day, I finally exhaled and I walked away. Leaving was the hardest thing I've ever done. But staying would've broken me. I stepped into the unknown with nothing but stubborn hope. No plan. No safety net. Just a quiet promise to myself: I would never let anyone define me again. I'm determined. I've had to be. Every step forward is a small rebellion against the life I left behind a fight for my own name, my own space, my own worth. Do I want love? Yes. The kind that doesn't shrink you. The kind that heals. But I've learned to guard my heart like it's the only thing I own. Trust is hard. Vulnerability even harder. And so I keep people at a distance, close enough to see me, far enough that they can't hurt me. I know I can be too independent. Too proud. Asking for help feels like defeat, and needing someone feels dangerous. I've taught myself that if I fall, I rise alone. That's strength, maybe but it's also a prison. I lock myself away so tightly that sometimes even I forget where I hid the key. Still... I haven't given up. Not on love. Not on life. Somewhere deep down, I believe there's more than what I've known. That maybe, just maybe, there's someone out there who won't just love me in spite of my scars...But because of them. Enjoy you all!🫠