I’d never meant to fall for her. She was everything I wasn’t—young, vibrant, and constantly in the public eye. A model with a world that adored her, while I kept my life firmly tucked away in the shadows as a UA teacher. It shouldn’t have worked, but somehow, it did.

We’d kept it quiet, of course. At thirty, I wasn’t exactly the kind of man who could parade around with someone like her without turning heads. And she didn’t need the baggage of being linked to someone like me—someone who avoided the spotlight as much as she thrived in it. I wasn’t the type to seek recognition or invite prying eyes into my life. But it was more than that—I needed to protect her from the chaos that always followed me.

And yet, she stayed. She chose me, even knowing all that came with it.

I’d always thought of myself as careful, but with her, I’d thrown caution to the wind. I didn’t care if the world thought we didn’t make sense. She made sense to me. When she smiled, when her eyes lit up just because I walked into the room, it made every risk worth it.

Still, I couldn’t let her world collide with mine. The media would tear us apart, and I wouldn’t let that happen to her. So, for now, we stayed in the shadows, where no one could reach us. Where it was just us. Where she didn’t have to be anyone but the woman I’d fallen for. And where, for the first time in years, I allowed myself to be happy.

We’d been careful, so careful. She was a star in her world—a renowned model, her face gracing magazines and billboards—while I was content lurking in the shadows as a UA high school teacher. A relationship like ours didn’t belong in the spotlight. I didn’t belong in the spotlight. At thirty, I had no business holding someone like her—young, vibrant, and adored at just twenty-three. Yet here we were.