Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

Abbey's mind soured at the thought.

The Cole brothers, with the eldest living the high life - no question about it. He was a big shot, miles apart from their average family.

Next up was her own family. Sure, Irving wasn't top of the line, but they were far from the bottom. Thanks to her parents' connections, Irving landed a cushy job as a manager at a diagnostics company, pulling in a cool $300k a year.

And there she was, with a steady job at the power company, and now Lauretta had joined the ranks too. By any standard, they were comfortably middle-class - more than comfortable, actually. Then there was the Norris family, trailing behind.

So what if someone got into Twilight Peak Academy? End of the day, they returned home, with Norris becoming a struggling teacher, the kind who doesn't know the first thing about making extra cash. Madge was just the icing on a cake that nobody wanted - a "full-time writer," which was a nicer way of saying "unemployed." Years went by without any groundbreaking novels. How many books had she published? How many rights sold?

Not even a single book signing. What kind of writer was that? She seemed more like a professional homebody!

And now, out of the blue, the Norris family was living in a villa?

In Pinehollow's finest residential area, no less.

Her parents had spent their life savings and could only afford a modest apartment - the smallest one available.

How on earth did Norris manage it?

"Irving, what's been going on with the Norris family lately? Anything unusual or off about them?"

"How should I know?"

"Aren't you his older brother?!"

"We don't exactly mingle much. Plus, didn't you tell me to keep my distance from them?"

Abbey was speechless.

mixing with the Norris clan. After all, who wants to

worried Madge might start asking

bring this up all

family silently buying a

Irving fell silent.

How could it not?

as a beggar

wonder about the

mention Anne

Where would she get

are you even

Wait a second...

Sold herself!

had she not

sparkled

and

it

Unable jealousy and

frustration. Content belon veget

her phone

"Hey, Alva, you busy?"

"What's up, Abbey?"

"I was

ran

Lakeside Pearl

out properties today,