The Ice That Melted Her
Read the storyLouise is a shy, deeply sensitive 20-year-old who has spent most of her life doubting herself, always feeling a little too quiet, a little too awkward, never quite enough. She never expects someone like Ilia Malinin, a three-time World Champion figure skater, to look at her twice. Before meeting him, she only knows his name. To her, he is just a famous athlete—someone impossibly far from her world. But Ilia notices her, and once he does, he never looks away. He pursues her with unwavering patience, slowly breaking through the walls built by years of insecurity. Confident, attentive, and disarmingly gentle, he seduces her not with empty charm, but through consistency—through the way he shows up, listens, remembers, and cares. Little by little, he gives her something she has never truly known before: the feeling of being chosen. Their relationship becomes Louise's first experience with love, and it terrifies her as much as it consumes her. Younger and far less experienced, she feels painfully vulnerable beside him. She cannot understand how a man so accomplished, so admired, so certain, could want someone like her. And yet Ilia never hesitates. Not once. As he guides her through this unfamiliar intimacy with tenderness and certainty, Louise begins to admire him almost painfully—not for his titles, but for the man he is in private: protective, patient, and devoted in ways that leave her breathless. When he teaches her how to skate, their bond deepens even more. Louise struggles helplessly on the ice, constantly losing balance, embarrassed by every stumble, but still trying. Ilia takes every excuse to hold her—steady hands at her waist, arms catching her before she falls, quiet reassurance whenever panic rises in her chest. He never lets her hit the ice. Slowly, admiration turns into something deeper, almost overwhelming. Louise starts idolizing him not because he is a champion, but because of how completely he loves her—how naturally he protects her, how gently he handles every fragile part of her heart. She feels impossibly lucky, almost undeserving, to be loved by a man like him. What she does not fully understand is that while she sees him as extraordinary, Nikolai loves her with the same devotion. He may have conquered her heart first—but he is just as hopelessly, completely in love with her.