Elara Jones
Age: 20
Background: A runaway with a voice that could move the stars, Elara fled a broken home with nothing but her dreams and a battered suitcase. Quiet but resilient, she hides a fire behind her gentle eyes—and a talent the world has yet to hear. She's not looking for love… but fate has other plans.
Cassian Reid
Age: 29
Occupation: CEO of Nova Records
Background: Ruthless. Brilliant. Untouchable. Cassian built an empire out of nothing but pain and ambition. Music made him powerful, but it also stole something he swore never to lose again: his heart. Then a mysterious girl sings under a streetlight… and everything begins to unravel.
The city didn't welcome Elara Jones.
It towered over her like a concrete jungle of forgotten dreams—cold, loud, and pulsing with ambition she wasn't sure she had anymore. Veridale, the city of music, lights, and stars. A place where voices rose to fame… and others disappeared into silence.
She gripped the handle of her secondhand suitcase, its wheel wobbling across the uneven sidewalk as rain drizzled over her thin coat. Her shoes were soaked. Her throat burned from exhaustion. But her eyes, though tired, still held a flicker of something unbreakable.
Hope? Or foolishness?
Elara had twenty-eight dollars in her pocket. No apartment. No job. No backup plan.
Only one thing truly belonged to her—her voice. She hadn't sung in months. Not since the last night at home, when her stepfather had hurled her mother's old guitar out the window and screamed that dreams wouldn't feed a starving girl.
That night, she left. That night, she stopped singing. But Veridale called to her. Even now, with her stomach growling and the city indifferent to her presence, she felt it—the tug in her chest. As if music itself were somewhere close, waiting.
It was getting dark when she found an empty park bench under a flickering streetlight. A violinist played across the square, his instrument telling a story of heartbreak and healing. No one stopped to listen—but Elara did. She sat. And for the first time in weeks, she let herself breathe. Her lips parted. Barely a whisper. A soft hum. Then words followed—tentative, trembling. "Stars don't ask permission, they just shine…"
The melody floated out of her like mist. Gentle. Raw. Beautiful.
She didn't know that, across the street, a man had paused.
Tall. Sharp suit. Dark eyes like storms held at bay. Cassian Reid stood frozen by the sound.
He wasn't supposed to be here. He hated this part of the city—too messy, too human. But now, the voice drifted through the air and rooted him to the spot.
It wasn't just good.It was transcendent.
Cassian's chest tightened
"Who the hell is singing?" he muttered, narrowing his eyes as the music ended.
But by the time he crossed the street, the bench was empty.
Elara was gone.
And all that remained was the echo of her voice like stardust vanishing into the night.