Four books. One journey. Love, heartbreak, and dreams 💌

This is the first book in the series. The remaining three are also available on Scrollstack, don't forget to check them out and add them to your reading list as well. Happy reading 🤍

The one who loved without limits, who stayed long after they should have left, who gave without expecting anything in return. The one who deserved more than silence, more than regret disguised as too-late apologies.

"Back to December" was never just a song-it was a confession, a quiet kind of heartbreak, the weight of realizing too late. Of standing in the wreckage of something beautiful and knowing we were the ones who destroyed it. Of wishing, praying, pleading for time to bend backward, just for a chance to make it right. But in reality, time is unforgiving. The past is a door that never reopens, no matter how many times we knock.

But in this story, she will do what we couldn't. She will go back. She will hold on before it's too late. She will love him the way he deserved the first time.

And maybe-just maybe-she will heal the guilty, broken part of you that time never could.

For all of us who never got the chance-this time, she will.

PHASE 1:

Academic Rivals to Lovers

Enemies to Lovers

Forced Proximity (Project Partners Edition)

High school romance

Popular girl x new boy

He fells first and harder

Betrayal for a Greater Sacrifice

The One Who Left, The One Who Was Left Behind

Slow-Burn (But With a Flamethrower)

Enemies in Public, Lovers in Private

Phase 2:

Exes to Enemies to Lovers

Company Rivals

Fake Dating

Second Chance Romance

Touch Her and You Die

FML Desperate Groveling

"I Hate You" but Also "I'd Burn the World for You"

Revenge

They were never meant to fall.

She was never meant to leave.

And now?

Now, she's back to reclaim what's hers.

Let the games begin.

For as long as Kiara Oberoi could remember, her life had been a race she was never allowed to lose. A race for perfection, validation, Her parents' approval. and survival under the crushing weight of her family's expectations. And standing in her way at every turn was Danish Malhotra.

Her biggest rival. Her greatest weakness. The boy who knew exactly how to ruin her.

They spent their years locked in battle-academic rankings, debate championships, internships, and scholarships-neither willing to give the other an inch.

They were fire and gasoline, a collision waiting to happen. But behind every sharp remark and stolen glance, behind the whispered fights in empty hallways and the unbearable tension in crowded classrooms, there was something deeper.

Something she thought would break them before it ever had the chance to bloom. They fought in front of the whole world. They fought when no one was watching.

And somewhere in between all those fights, between the sharp words and long stares-

they fell.

It started with a project that forced them together. Forced them to see past the rivalry, past the competition, past the carefully built walls. Forced them to face the fact that they understood each other in ways no one else ever had.

Then came the nights spent arguing over books and ideas. Then came the stolen glances when they thought no one was looking. Then came the heat, the hunger, the impossible pull of a love they never meant to fall into.

Until one night he opened about his dark past with her and proposed to her,as the reply- she kissed him. In front of the whole world.

when they were alone, when it was just the two of them, she gave him everything-

her touch, her trust, her body, her heart.

He gave her the truth.

Told her why the world called him The Bastard of the Malhotra Family. Listened as she confessed why they whispered Crazy Bitch of the Oberois behind her back.

They laid their souls bare.

And the next day? She destroyed him.

"I could never love someone who doesn't even know his own origins."

And then, she left.

No warnings. No explanations. Just silence.

Now, she's back. And she's asking for the impossible.

Same fire. Same hunger. Same boy she left behind-only now, he's colder. Crueler. Untouchable.

And she's not just facing him in a classroom anymore.  She's his business rival.

She tells herself she's here to win. To reclaim everything she lost. But when she meets him again at a wedding, when their eyes lock across a crowded room, she realizes one thing- She isn't leaving without him this time.

"Let me get this straight," Danish's voice is sharp, his disbelief barely masked. "You want me to pretend to be in love with you?"

Kiara tilts her head, the ghost of a smirk playing on her lips. "No, Malhotra. I want you to pretend you never stopped."

His jaw clenches. For a second-just a second-something dark flashes across his face. Anger? Desire? Regret? Gone too fast to tell.

"You're insane."

"I knew you'd resist. But here's the thing-you don't have a choice." she shoots back, stepping closer, deliberate, calculated.

Danish stills. His eyes narrow, his expression shifting into something unreadable.

"What did you do, Kiara?" His voice is quieter now. Dangerous.

"Oh, nothing," she muses, feigning innocence. "Just set the stage for a little... performance."

Because this time, the war isn't between them.

This time, they're fighting the same enemy.

Kiara's mother-a woman who built her empire by controlling and destroying-has spent years ensuring Kiara and Danish stayed far, far away from each other.

And if she thinks they're back together? If she thinks Kiara has slipped through her fingers and back into his arms?

She will stop at nothing to rip them apart again. All Kiara has to do is wait for her to make a mistake.

And then? She'll burn her to the ground.

"And where do I come in?" Danish's voice drops, razor-sharp.

Kiara leans in, her breath fanning against his skin. "You get to destroy her just as much as I do. You get to prove that she never had control over you. You get to watch her burn."

She can feel his heartbeat against her palm, faster than it should be. Not from fear. Not from hesitation. From something else entirely.

His fingers curl into fists at his sides. His lips part, as if to say something, but then he stops. His gaze locks onto hers, unreadable, unreadable, unreadable-until suddenly, it isn't.

"Tempting," he murmurs. "But let me guess-there's something in it for you, too?"

She shrugs, feigning indifference. "Maybe I just miss seeing you grovel."

His lips twitch in amusement, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"You think you can handle pretending to be mine again?"

Kiara exhales a quiet laugh, but it doesn't hide the flicker of something in her chest. Something dangerous.

"I was never yours."

But the truth tastes bitter on her tongue.

Because some flames never die. Some embers never stop glowing beneath the ashes.

They think it's just a game, just another battle of wills. But the closer they get, the harder it is to tell where the lies end and the truth begins.

Because the past doesn't stay buried forever.

Because old wounds don't heal when the knife is still lodged in place.

Because pretending can only go so far Before someone gets burned for real. And this time They might not survive the aftermath.