Chapter one

In gritty, unforgiving New York City, a struggling single mom named Liv works at a local coffee shop while raising her infant son, Elijah. Life is a daily grind of survival, with no room for softness, until a quiet, mysterious customer named Eli begins showing up regularly. What starts as a distant curiosity slowly evolves into a fragile connection, built through small gestures and shared pain. Just as Liv begins to let her guard down, Eli disappears, only to return days later, bruised and breathless, with a shocking revelation waiting in the hallway behind him.