Prologue
It's funny how life has a way of circling back.
Amara never planned to run away—not to China, not anywhere. But some mistakes are too loud to silence, and some ghosts follow you no matter how far you go.
Shanghai was supposed to be her fresh start—a city where no one knew her name, her past, or her pain. A scholarship, a chance to study Business Management, a way out of everything that kept her trapped back home. She told herself it was just an opportunity. A new chapter. But deep down, she knew it was an escape.
Escape from heartbreak that still burned. Escape from the guilt that kept her awake at night. Escape from herself.
But fate has a strange way of weaving old faces into new places.
Kai.
The quiet, awkward boy she used to tease in high school. The boy she barely remembered, though he seemed to remember everything about her.
Except now… he wasn't the same. He was different—calmer, older, and strangely composed. He had become the one person she could rely on in this unfamiliar city. The one who helped her settle into her new life. The one who kept showing up when she needed saving.
So protective. So kind.
Almost too kind.
She didn't know whether to be grateful… or afraid. Sometimes, the people who protect you the most are the ones you should be watching closely.
And in a city this big, it's easy to get lost.
It is even easier to never be found.