Umm. Let's start from the top, shall we?
This isn't the kind of story that begins with once upon a time, no fairy-tale castles, no knights, and of course, no prince charming.
Just a guy named Avery, his kid brother Dale, and their diagnosed mother crammed into the old house their father left behind when he died about five years ago.
Avery looked like a normal guy, tall, lean, with calloused hands and a sharp jawline that made people glance twice. But normal guys didn't drop out of college at nineteen to work dead-end jobs.
Normal guys didn't lie awake at night recalculating bills, wondering if Dale's school fees would leave them eating even rice for the third week straight. He looked after his family and made sure whatever he did would put a smile on many faces.
Now who tells a story without a town?
Jacksonville was the kind of town that fooled you at first glance. High valleys cradled it like protective arms, waterfalls cutting through the cliffs like ribbons. Trees arched over the roads, their branches created a canopy that made even the dustiest streets feel enchanted, it was just the perfect town you could picture. But magic didn't pay the bills The further you got from the postcard views, the more you saw the truth, cracked sidewalks, boarded-up shops, and people who smiled too hard to pretend they weren't drowning.
Merchants rarely bothered coming here anymore. Why would they? Half the town couldn't afford fresh produce, let alone luxury. Avery had learned the hard way that money didn't just buy things it bought choices. And he'd run out of those a long time ago.
Now rumors had started trickling in whispers about a wealthy family buying the old Laurent estate up on Ridgeview Hill The kind of people who didn't just have money, but dripped it. The kind of people who'd never stepped foot in a place like Jacksonville unless they wanted to gawk at the abstract poverty. Avery didn't care. Rich folks came and went.
They didn't stay.
The rumors turned out to be true. Avery first heard about it at work, some construction guys talking over coffee, laughing about how some
"big-shot city family"
had bought half of Ridgeview Hill. He'd pay a little attention at first, just there minding his business, already the stress from work had shattered his remaining strength and the last thing he needed was some wealthy arrogant family making a way to his mind as well.
"The Abels," they said.
"Loaded with luxury, plenty enough to feed the entire city for decades."
Avery didn't care. Rich people were all the same, flashy cars, empty smiles, and a habit of bulldozing through lives like they were nothing.
Then the notices came few days later.
It started with old Mrs. Shantel next door, her hands shaking as she handed Avery the crisp white envelope, very early that Monday morning.
"They're buying us out," she whispered. "Four months to leave."
Avery's stomach dropped.
"OMG This can't be true." He exclaimed.
He tore open his own letter right there on the porch.
NOTICE OF PROPERTY ACQUISITION
The Abel Estate Development Co. has purchased this land as part of a revitalization project. You are hereby given 120 days (4 months) to vacate. Compensation will be provided per county regulations.
The words blurred. "Revitalization." Like Jacksonville was some rotting corpse they needed to fix.
Dale found him still gripping the letter an hour later.
"We're getting kicked out?" His little brother's voice cracked.
"No,"Avery said, too sharp. "Not us."
Because he wouldn't let it happen. This house was all they had left of thier father.
The town's mood turned fast.
At the diner, the grocery store, the gas station, everywhere Avery went, people spat the name Abel like a curse.
"They think they own the whole damn town now."
"That daughter of theirs? Saw her in a dress worth more than my truck."
"Bet they've never worked a day in their lives."
Avery kept his head down. He had enough problems without hating strangers.
But then he saw her.
Isabelle Abel.
Standing on the freshly paved driveway of the Ridgeview mansion, arms crossed, surveying the neighborhood like she was already bored of it.
She hadn't noticed him yet.
Good.
Because the second she did, Avery already knew she'd look right through him. Just like the rest of them.