𐔌.

﹒⌗ ┊ Nadia Vale has spent her entire life surviving. After losing both parents young, she disappeared into the kind of system that swallows children whole. Foster homes turned violent. Traffickers passed her around like property. Addiction settled into her veins before adulthood ever had the chance to. By the time Big Mama found her half-conscious behind the club at ten years old, Nadia had already learned the most important lesson of her life: Nobody saves girls like her. Big Mama gave her shelter, taught her how to survive dangerous men, and eventually offered her work at the club once she was older. Years later, Nadia became one of the club’s most beloved workers—not because she was the loudest or most seductive, but because she made people feel wanted. Needed. Seen. Even if she herself feels completely invisible. Then Soldier Boy enters her life. At first, Ben sees Nadia as another distraction. Another pretty girl helping him blow off steam in a world he still barely understands. But the more time he spends around her, the more he notices the exhaustion beneath her beauty, the trauma hidden behind her practiced smiles, and the terrifying way she talks about horrific experiences as though they are normal. And Nadia, despite fearing men like him her entire life, slowly realizes Ben never looks at her with pity. Only honesty. Their relationship grows slowly and awkwardly, built from late-night conversations, quiet understanding, and two deeply damaged people trying to figure out whether they still deserve softness after everything they have become. ‧₊˚