The Defiant Chord

The Defiant Chords To escape a monster, she ran to the edge of the world. But some monsters know how to wait. Mila Hart is out of options. Fleeing a past that's more threat than memory, she brings her silent daughter, Lily, to the only place she can think to hide: a remote, forgotten lighthouse in the fog-shrouded town of Elowen Haven. The granite tower is a fortress of stone and sea, but the silence of Elowen Haven isn't peaceful—it's watchful. And the tower's reclusive keeper, a brilliant musician shattered by a violent past, is not its only ghost. When the man Mila is running from—the charismatic, cruel Julian Thorne—arrives in town, her sanctuary becomes a cage. Thorne has been here before. He knows the town's secrets. And he's not just here for Mila. His presence triggers a terrifying spiral in Lily, a waking nightmare only she can perceive, and Mila realizes the true threat isn't the man at her door, but the phantom he left behind. A traumatized mother, a silenced musician, and a town's buried tragedy are all connected by a single, dissonant chord. To save her daughter, Mila must unravel a conspiracy of stolen genius and silenced truths, and face the monster in the heart of the fog. A gripping gothic thriller of psychological suspense, perfect for fans of Shari Lapena, Daphne du Maurier, and stories where the darkest secrets are kept in the smallest towns.