The Inscrutable Mr. Yang

<p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>When solitude feels like safety and connection feels like a threat what happens when someone dares to cross the threshold of your defenses?</strong></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Claudia Sano has a system: keep things light keep people at arm's length and never ever let anyone close enough to see the cracks. Her anxiety demands it. Her peace depends on it. Keeping to herself keeps her anxiety in check and after years of hard-won balance solitude feels safer than anything resembling connection.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Ian Yang was on the brink of career success when a family emergency pulled him home. Running his parents' cleaning business isn't part of his long-term plan but he's willing to do whatever it takes to get through this crisis. Which means keeping a low profile helping where he's needed and definitely under no circumstances doing anything to put the company at risk. But from the moment Ian sees Claudia he's hooked. </span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>When Claudia's tasked with asking Ian for some information he makes her a deal: he'll talk-but only if she agrees to a few no-pressure platonic dates. No strings. Just time spent together. A harmless bargain. </span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Easy. Until it's not.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Because Ian doesn't just see her-he sees </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>through</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> her. And for the first time Claudia wonders if letting herself be seen could be worth the risk.</span></p><p></p>