Before the World Saw Me

Hazel Brooks has spent years as her school’s favorite punchline. When basketball star Mason Riggs—the boy who once defended her—publicly mocks her body and rejects her confession, Hazel’s confidence shatters. With her grandmother’s support, she stops starving herself, grows stronger, and begins reclaiming her life. Then Adrian Vance, the mysterious masked transfer student everyone calls “Ghost Boy,” takes the seat beside her. Silent, feared, and fiercely protective, he stands up for Hazel when no one else will. As she blossoms, Mason begins regretting the girl he threw away—but Adrian is hiding a dangerous truth. Behind the mask is the heir to the Vance crime family, a name powerful enough to silence the entire city. And long before anyone else saw Hazel’s worth, he had already chosen her.