A Garden of Us

ling street food. For Dr. Elara Vance, however, the air inside her climate-controlled research lab at the National Botanical Institute felt sterile, clini

its delicate aerial roots shriveling. Elara frowned, her brow furrowing in a way that often made her look intense, even severe, to her junior colleagues. But it wasn't severity; it was

ssor Adebayo, her former mentor and the current head of the Institute. "Elara, my

Crinum jagus samples?" she asked, already anticip

ething far more... challenging has come up. Do you remember the old Whispe

s – a sprawling, supposedly enchanted estate from the colonial era, rumored to house a collection of flora so rare it bordered on mythical

t? Beyond saving." Elara's pragmatism was her anch

rne family, or what's left of them, is finally looking to divest. And the city council, in a rare moment of fo

to potentially rediscover lost species, to resurrect a botanical treasure from the dead... it was audacious. It was

espite the sudden rush of adrenaline. She wanted to k

tect. A rather unconventional fellow, I hear. Liam Thorne. Yes, that Thorne. The last surviving heir, apparently. He's tasked with the

ifically. This wasn't just about plants anymore. This was about people, history, and something far less predictable than

rossing her mind: Could I bring you back? Or will this new challenge deman

sor," Elara said, a spark ig