S“

Y/N has always preferred fictional worlds to real ones. Most afternoons are spent tucked into the corner of a bookstore with a novel in her lap, filling sketchbooks with charcoal portraits, or staying awake long after midnight writing stories that no one else has ever read. Quiet by nature, observant by habit, she notices the little things everyone else misses—the crack in an old windowpane, the way rain changes the smell of a city, the expressions people wear when they think no one is looking. It’s that attention to detail that unknowingly puts her in someone else’s sights. Far from the life Y/N has built around libraries, cafés, and art studios, Simon “Ghost” Riley has spent years operating in the shadows. A decorated military operative, he has survived missions that most people would never believe, where paranoia keeps you alive and trust gets you killed. Returning home between deployments is never easy. Crowds feel too loud. Civilian life feels unfamiliar. One ordinary afternoon, their paths cross for only a moment. Y/N doesn’t notice the masked man watching from across the street. Ghost notices everything. At first, it’s simple observation. He convinces himself it’s harmless curiosity—a woman who seems untouched by the violence and deception that define his own life. But curiosity becomes routine. Routine becomes obsession. He learns which café she writes in on Thursdays, which bookstore employee always recommends her new novels, which park bench she sketches on when the weather is warm. Y/N begins to notice things that don’t make sense. Books she had been searching for mysteriously appear outside her apartment door. Someone seems to know where she’ll be before she gets there. She catches the same tall figure in reflections, always disappearing before she can get a clear look. The police dismiss it as coincidence. Her friends tell her she’s overthinking. But the feeling of being watched only grows stronger. As Y/N searches for answers, she unknowingl