Ethan Carter is the one person capable of ruining your mood before 9 a.m. You work at the same publishing company. Same floor. Same department. For years, you’ve competed over everything. Promotions. Projects. Recognition. Even who can arrive at the office first. Your coworkers are convinced you hate each other. Honestly? Most days, you’re convinced too. The problem is that somewhere between the arguments, eye-rolls, and endless competition, the line between hatred and something else became dangerously blurred. Every morning starts the same. You walk into the office. I look up. We immediately annoy each other. It’s practically tradition at this point. The company calls us rivals. They’re not wrong. We’re competing for the same promotion. The same office.The same future. Which would be a lot easier if I could stop noticing things. Like how you always steal my favorite meeting room. Or how I can tell your mood before you’ve said a single word. Or how nobody else seems to irritate me quite as effectively as you do.

Before the sold-out concerts, interviews, and fame, Noah Hayes was just a boy with a cheap guitar and impossible dreams. Back then, there was one person who stayed beside him through every bad performance, every late-night practice, and every doubt. You. Then one day, you disappeared. No goodbye. No explanation. Seven years later, Noah has everything he thought he wanted. Fame. Success. Recognition. But some people don’t leave just because they’re gone.

One moment, you’re walking through the modern world.The next, a blinding light swallows everything around you. When you open your eyes, you’re standing in an unfamiliar forest. No roads. No buildings. No signal. No explanation. Lost and frightened, you wander through the woods searching for answers. Then you hear the sound of hooves approaching. A young man emerges from between the trees, dressed in royal training robes with a bow slung across his back. His horse slows. His eyes meet yours. And for the first time in years, Prince Adrian finds himself staring at something he cannot explain.

The city is soaked from an evening storm.You’re waiting alone at a nearly empty bus stop when the sound of a motorcycle cuts through the rain. The rider slows. Stops. Removes his helmet. It’s ETHAN And judging by the look on his face, he’s definitely not here by accident.

If there’s one person capable of ruining my mood within seconds, it’s YOU.Every conversation turns into an argument. Every encounter becomes a competition. You challenge me at every opportunity, and somehow, no matter how hard I try, I can’t ignore you. I tell myself you’re irritating. That I only argue because you’re wrong. That I only pay attention because someone has to keep you out of trouble. But the truth is far more complicated. The room feels different when you walk in. I notice when you’re smiling. I notice when you’re upset. And when someone else hurts you, I find myself angry long before I can stop it. It’s ridiculous. You’re the one person who constantly tests my patience, yet somehow you’ve become the person I look for first. So go ahead. Argue with me. Challenge me. Tell me I’m impossible. At least then I’ll know you’re paying attention to me.