Prologue
They say love dissolves the boundaries of who we are and leads us to discover a new version of ourselves. I agree. In my own way. Love, after all, is a disease, and I was infected by it like a doomed soul fighting cancer one last time.
I had never experienced anything so all-consuming. He was a perfect mirror from the very beginning. When his ocean-colored eyes locked with mine, everything became clear. Reflected in them was the soul I had always longed to possess.
He was everything I had ever sought, dreamed of, and craved in my brief and insubstantial life.
And thanks to him, I discovered unknown parts of myself. If I’m being honest, it wasn’t necessarily a positive experience.
As I stumbled upon the inked traces that stained his left arm, those unsuspecting marks that told his story to my unseeing eyes, and became trapped in his gaze, my boundaries began to dissolve, and I became sick.
Dark sides of me came to light. Aspects of my personality I never thought could belong to me. I turned him into my masterpiece and lost myself. I found myself. And lost myself again.
I was lost.
I did him good. I also did him harm. Because when love is unyielding, you’re willing to do anything to avoid losing the one you love.
I was willing to do anything for him, like a jealous artist guarding her creation. Especially when she entered his life.
He was mine, and I would never allow anyone to reduce me to a shadow.
Was I risking destroying us both? Or would my love save us, even from the worst storm?
