The Stranger I Choose

At seventeen, Emma's life was decided by everyone except herself. Raised in a family that believed tradition should never be questioned, she was forced into an arranged marriage before she was old enough to understand what love truly meant. By the time she finally escaped the life she never chose, she had already learned that some memories never stop haunting you. Three years later, Emma is twenty-one, an ordinary college student determined to leave the past where it belongs. Hoping for a fresh start, she joins a dating app under a fake age, convinced that a small lie is easier than explaining the truth. That's where she meets Daniel. Thirty-five, thoughtful, endlessly patient, and claiming to be nothing more than an ordinary office worker, Daniel is unlike anyone Emma has ever known. What begins as late-night conversations soon turns into something neither of them expected—a love built on comfort, trust, and the courage to begin again. But Daniel is hiding more than his true identity. No one knows he was once married. No one knows his wife died years ago. To the world, he has always been a successful bachelor. Only Daniel knows the truth-and he's determined to keep it buried forever. As Emma and Daniel grow closer, the lies they've told—and the truths they've buried—begin to catch up with them. The more they fall in love, the more their carefully guarded worlds begin to unravel. Because some pasts refuse to stay buried. Some secrets are worth killing for. And sometimes, the person who feels safest to love is the one hiding the darkest scars.