Tender Rot

Jeune Moreau learned early that love was conditional. Her father's love came with requirements she could never meet. Her mother's love ended at the bottom of a staircase. The only constant in her life was Elias, who refused to leave her side, who cared for her through every fever, who looked at her like she hung the moon.

She didn't realize devotion could become a cage.

Then she met Isaiah, a man who touches her like she's precious, not property, who loves her gently without conditions, without hunger. Who offers her something she never thought she'd have: a way out and a chance at a normal life.

But the Moreau family doesn't let go of what belongs to them, and Elias has always believed Jeune belonged to him.

Even in death.