Chapter 2

The sound of seagulls filled the salty air as Summer sat cross-legged on the edge of the wooden pier. Her fingers absently skimmed the water, her thoughts drifting with each ripple. Canada had always been a place of healing for her—a fresh start, a quiet escape. But lately, even the cold wind brushing her skin didn’t feel enough to numb the ache she carried.

She had been doing fine—at least that’s what she kept telling herself.

But healing didn’t always mean forgetting.

It had been two years since Oasis died. Two long years of dragging herself through therapy sessions, journaling in silence, and clenching her fists at night to stop herself from screaming. Her PTSD had become a quiet monster—lurking, breathing, watching her every time she dared to be happy again.

Especially when Thunder Voldizépeña entered her life.

She met him in the most unexpected way—after spilling coffee on his tailored suit in a café near her parents’ home. She was too exhausted to apologize properly. But he smiled. Not the usual flirtatious kind she was used to from other men. His smile was curious, careful, as though he could see the cracks inside her and still didn’t turn away.

He kept showing up after that. A polite hello here. A shared walk there. And when she finally allowed herself to let her guard down, she realized he wasn’t like the others.

Thunder wasn’t a man of promises. He was a man of actions. A man who showed up. A man who waited patiently when she needed space and offered silence instead of empty words when the nights got heavy.

But Summer didn’t want to fall in love again.

Because falling meant crashing.

And she was so tired of the wreckage.

“Hey,” Thunder’s voice pulled her back from her thoughts. He stood behind her, holding two cups of hot cocoa. “You disappeared on me again.”

Summer gave him a faint smile, taking the cup. “I just needed to breathe.”

He sat beside her, the wood creaking beneath his weight. His presence was always grounding, like gravity reminding her she was still here.

“Do you ever get tired of fixing broken things?” she asked quietly, eyes still on the lake.

“I don’t fix people, Summer. I just stay with them while they heal.”

The way he said her name made her chest tighten. He never asked for her heart. He never demanded her love. But she could feel his waiting, the way his eyes lingered longer than necessary, the way his fingers brushed hers a little too often.

She couldn’t deny it anymore—Thunder was becoming important.

And that terrified her.

“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” she murmured. “I’m not someone you build a life with. I break things. I ruin love.”

“You don’t ruin anything,” Thunder replied gently. “You’ve just been through hell.”

She let out a bitter laugh. “More like I live in it. Do you know what happens every time someone tells me they love me? They die. Or they leave. Or both.”

Thunder didn’t flinch. “Then I guess I’ll have to survive it.”

His words struck her deeper than she expected.

She turned to him, vulnerability naked in her gaze. “Why me?”

“Because when I look at you, I don’t see a broken woman,” he said. “I see someone who’s still standing, despite everything. And that’s someone worth loving.”

Her heart ached with the weight of those words. She had built so many walls. So many promises never to feel again. But here was a man, standing outside her fortress, knocking—never forcing, just waiting.

It was getting harder to ignore him.

Harder not to imagine what life could be like if she opened the door.

But just as Summer leaned in to reply, her phone buzzed on the wooden planks beside her.

Unknown Number.

She hesitated.

“Everything okay?” Thunder asked.

“Probably just spam,” she lied, silencing it. But something inside her shifted. A chill crept up her spine, and an unease settled over her.

They walked back in silence, Thunder’s hand hovering close but never touching. He always let her lead.

That night, Summer couldn’t sleep. Memories of Oasis’s pale face in the hospital bed haunted her. The promises he whispered before he closed his eyes for the last time. The ring she never wore. The vows she never got to speak.

And now Thunder—kind, patient, persistent Thunder—was cracking open a part of her she had sworn shut forever.

Could she risk it?

Could she really start over?

She stood by her bedroom window, staring at the quiet snow outside. Life had changed so much, yet fear still felt the same.

Her phone buzzed again.

This time, a message.

“Miss me?” — L.X.”

Her breath caught.

No. It couldn’t be.

Her knees buckled slightly as she read the initials over and over. There was only one person who ever signed his messages like that.

Lava Xovert.

The man who had humiliated her at the altar. The man who left her for wealth, prestige, and a different life. The man who disappeared and became nothing more than a scar on her past.

But now… he was back?

Why?

Why now, when she was just beginning to breathe again?

Her hands trembled as she gripped her phone.

She wanted to ignore it.

She wanted to delete it and pretend it never happened.

But deep down, Summer knew better. Lava Xovert never played games unless he had something to gain. And if he was reaching out, it wasn’t to apologize.

He wanted something.

And whatever it was—it would bring chaos.

Summer looked at her reflection in the dark glass.

Was she ready to face this ghost?

And could she keep Thunder safe from the storm that was brewing?

She didn’t know the answers yet.

But she could feel it coming.

A new chapter.

One that would test everything she had left.