Livia Konate woke with a gasp, sheets twisted around her arms, her heart pounding like a drum she could never escape. The remnants of the dream clung to her like shadows, teasing her mind with fleeting images that refused to fade. In it, he was there again the man who had haunted her sleep for months. Sometimes he was tender, gentle, making her laugh like no one else could. But tonight… tonight, he had hurt her in ways that left a deep ache she could still feel in her chest.
She pressed a hand to her temple, trying to shake the memory of his sharp gaze, the coldness in his smile, the way he had made her feel powerless. "Why do you come to me like this?" she whispered, voice trembling, almost afraid of the answer. The room was quiet, morning sunlight spilling soft patterns across the floor, gentle and ordinary, yet it could not soothe the storm the dream had left behind.
Livia swung her legs over the side of the bed, feet touching the cool floor. Her mind wandered not for the first time to the man who had entered her dreams, the one whose presence was both a comfort and a torment. She had no name for him, no face she could place in reality, yet somehow, his shadow lingered, sharp and piercing. She laughed softly at herself. Really, Livia? You're thinking about a man you've never met. But even so, she could not deny the echo of longing that had seeped into her waking hours.
She moved to the window, hands gripping the sill lightly as she gazed at the quiet streets below. Morning traffic had begun to trickle in, pedestrians lost in routines, unburdened by dreams that carried strangers into their hearts. Livia wondered idly if anyone else was haunted by someone they didn't yet know someone who could be cruel and gentle in equal measure, someone who had the power to stay with you long after they were gone. She shook her head, amused at herself.
Meanwhile, in another part of Lavida, Kael Marus prepared for the day ahead. Unlike Livia, Kael's mornings were never gentle. His first thoughts were of strategy, of plans, and of the long game that had been shaping his life for years. Every move he made was calculated, every person he encountered a piece on a board only he could see fully. His mind was consumed not by idle curiosities or fleeting distractions, but by the path he had set for himself the path of revenge.
Kael's thoughts drifted briefly to the Lavida Estate, the sprawling residence of the Marus family he had once been denied. Every memory of the family, every slight, every whispered insult from his childhood, fueled the fire he had nurtured silently for years. He had grown stronger, sharper, more dangerous than anyone who had ever underestimated him could imagine. Today, like every day, was another step closer to reclaiming what had been stolen from him. There was no distraction, no thought of frivolity, only focus, calculation, and patience. Every slight, every misstep by his family, every weak link, was ammunition for the moment he had long been preparing for.
Kael allowed himself a brief smile, though it did not reach his eyes a small acknowledgment of progress in his plans. Patience, he reminded himself. Everything in its time. Soon, the shadows he had carried for so long would stretch across Lavida, touching every corner of the family that had wronged him.
Back in her room, Livia shook off the remnants of the dream, wrapping her arms around herself. She had no idea that the man of her dream existed in her waking life, let alone that he was already weaving his way into the very heart of Lavida, in ways she couldn't yet imagine. The idea made her pulse quicken with an unfamiliar mixture of awe and fear what if dreams had a way of predicting reality? What if the shadow she'd felt for months had a name, a plan, and a power she could neither see nor influence?
She glanced at her phone, still lying on the bedside table, screen dark and silent. Tentatively, she reached for it, fingertips brushing the smooth surface, half-expecting a message to appear from someone she didn't know she'd been waiting for. The thought made her smile faintly, a mixture of nerves and curiosity dancing in her chest. Fate, it seemed, had a strange sense of timing and she could only wait to see how the threads of her life would intertwine with the man who existed both in her dreams and in the very real streets of Lavida.
As she moved to face the day, unaware of the storm quietly approaching, Livia felt a strange pull in her chest, a sense of anticipation she could not name. Somewhere beyond her window, beyond the hum of cars and the laughter of strangers, the first threads of fate began to twist and knot together, binding them closer than either could imagine. And while Livia stepped cautiously into her morning, the game Kael had been orchestrating for years continued silently, methodically, ensuring that the moment of reckoning drew ever closer.
The world outside seemed ordinary. But beneath the surface, forces were aligning, secrets were unfolding, and the lives of Livia and Kael were set to collide in ways neither could yet predict. Every choice, every move, every whispered word mattered. And when the pieces finally fell, no one could escape the path destiny had silently charted.