Ava Green pressed her back against the cool wood of her bedroom door, listening to the quiet hum of her foster home. Ahead of her, her foster brother, Jake Stone, held her close, his hands on her waist. For seven years, he had been her secret, a dangerous poison she had been drinking, waiting for his thirtieth birthday when he promised to finally claim her. But in a crowded bar, clutching his phone she had rushed to return, she overheard his cruel confession to his friends: she was merely a "convenient distraction," a "placeholder" until the "real thing," Chloe, was ready. The future she had so carefully built shattered around her. His words, "She's not Chloe. She's not the future Mrs. Stone," hit her like a physical blow. The seven years of whispered promises were a brutal lie. She was just a toy to be discarded. The phone grew impossibly heavy in her hand, her legs unsteady as she stumbled away from the bar, away from his laughter, into the cold night. Back in her room, a lifeline appeared: "Your Application to Architects Without Borders," an acceptance to a conflict zone in the Middle East. It felt perfect, a place to tear down her old life and build something new. She replied with two words that promised to erase him and everything he represented: "I accept."
Ava Green pressed her back against the cool wood of her bedroom door, listening to the quiet hum of her foster home. Ahead of her, her foster brother, Jake Stone, held her close, his hands on her waist. For seven years, he had been her secret, a dangerous poison she had been drinking, waiting for his thirtieth birthday when he promised to finally claim her.
But in a crowded bar, clutching his phone she had rushed to return, she overheard his cruel confession to his friends: she was merely a "convenient distraction," a "placeholder" until the "real thing," Chloe, was ready. The future she had so carefully built shattered around her.
His words, "She's not Chloe. She's not the future Mrs. Stone," hit her like a physical blow. The seven years of whispered promises were a brutal lie. She was just a toy to be discarded.
The phone grew impossibly heavy in her hand, her legs unsteady as she stumbled away from the bar, away from his laughter, into the cold night.
Back in her room, a lifeline appeared: "Your Application to Architects Without Borders," an acceptance to a conflict zone in the Middle East. It felt perfect, a place to tear down her old life and build something new.
She replied with two words that promised to erase him and everything he represented: "I accept."
Introduction
10/07/2025
Chapter 1
10/07/2025
Chapter 2
10/07/2025
Chapter 3
10/07/2025
Chapter 4
10/07/2025
Chapter 5
10/07/2025
Chapter 6
10/07/2025
Chapter 7
10/07/2025
Chapter 8
10/07/2025
Chapter 9
10/07/2025
Chapter 10
10/07/2025
Chapter 11
10/07/2025
Chapter 12
10/07/2025
Chapter 13
10/07/2025
Chapter 14
10/07/2025
Chapter 15
10/07/2025
Chapter 16
10/07/2025
Chapter 17
10/07/2025
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