The Man Who Heard My Silence

ELLIOT

Eight months ago, my best friend fell from a balcony at Harrowgate Academy. Everyone decided I had something to do with it. Then I stopped speaking. Now I’m back at the school that buried the truth, trapped beneath my father’s control and surrounded by people who call me Graves instead of Elliot. The only person who sees me differently is Dr. Julian Mercer. My counselor. The one man I absolutely should not want. He never forces me to speak. Never touches me without asking. Never treats my silence like weakness. And somehow, that makes him impossible to resist. But when evidence left behind by my dead best friend begins exposing Harrowgate’s darkest secrets, the man I fear most realizes I may know too much. This time, silence won’t save me. Maybe Julian will.

JULIAN Elliot was supposed to be a patient. Nothing more. Then I saw the bruises. The fear. The way his father watched him. And I realized Elliot’s silence wasn’t weakness. It was survival. I know the boundaries between us. I know exactly why they matter. But wanting him is becoming harder to ignore. So I’ll wait until he’s safe. Until he’s free. Until choosing me truly belongs to him. Because when Elliot finally finds his voice again, the first thing he gives me isn’t a confession. It’s my name. And if anyone tries to take that voice from him again, they’ll have to go through me first.