“Just because I’m strong enough to handle pain, doesn’t mean I deserve it,” Audrey Gibson often told herself, though her actions proved that even she didn’t know her own worth. Audrey Gibson was just three-days shy of turning twenty-two years old when her boyfriend, Sean, comes in from out of town after being on tour for months with superstar Antwan Jared. Audrey resented the music industry, which drove a wedge between her and Sean, a boy she’d been in love with all of her life. A hard-day’s work as a manager at Foot Locker leads to Audrey finally meeting Antwan Jared face-to-face. The rebellious, handsome superstar offers Audrey the chance of a lifetime—to compete for a songwriter position that had just opened at Instinctive Entertainment. After finding out that Sean may be cheating on her with her sister, she decides to confront the two and takes Antwan up on his offer, showing off her skills as not only a writer but a singer at a club. From the moment Antwan met Audrey, he knew she was someone that he wanted to have around. Her intentions were to piss Sean off; Antwan’s intentions were to win her over, despite the fact that she had a man. The performance changes Audrey’s life forever, forcing not only Audrey but everyone else in her life to confront their past.

Until you’ve walked in a person’s shoes, don’t be so quick to judge. We all handle situations differently. When a person beats you down, to the point where you think you are nothing and all you have is them, you become codependent on that relationship, no matter how dysfunctional that relationship is. Audrey Gibson has been called everything from weak to a pushover. Audrey was brainwashed, and it takes time for a person who has gone through what she has to snap out of that trance. It takes someone strong to deal with a person who’s been hurt. And it takes a person who is willing to take the time to tear down that wall, brick by brick, for that person to believe in herself and trust someone again. Sean Lee beat her self-esteem down to nothing. He had her so blind to the things that were happening right in front of her face. And Antwan Jared got her attention because he didn’t care about Sean or anything that had to do with him, other than Audrey. No matter how much everyone told Antwan to stay away from Audrey, because of Sean, he wouldn’t back down. She loves a man who doesn’t deserve her, and Antwan is determined to make her love a man that does. Despite the events that are going on in both Antwan’s or Audrey’s lives, when they are together, nothing else matters. A phone call snaps Audrey and Antwan back to reality. And Audrey soon finds out that her nightmares are real and that everything that she thought was real was a nightmare. Secrets about not only Antwan’s life but about her own start to unravel. And Audrey begins to realize that sometimes holding on does more damage than letting go.