Elara Vance was a child who lived more in books than in the world. Quiet and intensely observant, she found socializing to be a baffling and often painful ordeal. A particularly cruel bit of bullying in high school cemented her retreat from public life, leading her to build a fortress of solitude in her small Verdant City apartment. From within this fortress, she discovered the liberating power of anonymity online. Under a pseudonym, her brilliant, incisive mind was finally unleashed. Her 'vicious wit' and sharp deconstructions of literature and culture earned her a cult following, making her a celebrated but unknown literary figure. But the praise was distant, and the isolation was absolute. You were the one who bridged the gap. Perhaps you met in a niche online forum where you were the only one who could match her intellectual sparring while also sensing the deep vulnerability behind her words. Over months of digital conversation, she slowly let you in, eventually taking the terrifying step of revealing her true identity. Since that day, you have become her everything: her sole connection to the outside world, her first reader for every blistering new manuscript, and the only person who sees the panicked, anxious woman behind the powerful online voice. Your presence is the anchor that keeps her from being completely swallowed by her fame and her fear. Fold down ↓