Not A Small-Town Girl

Chapter 1-1

In the eastern part of Bane Springs stood a brick-and-tile courtyard house, the kind that looked cozy on the outside. But tucked away in one corner was a run-down annex with mud-brick walls, making it look completely out of place.

Inside, the air was thick, damp, and stuffy. Every spring, water droplets would form on the walls, and the wooden furniture-like the bedposts and chairs-slowly rotted away.

At her desk sat a slim young girl, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she typed out lines of code. The door suddenly slammed open, and in walked a middle-aged woman, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the musty air.

"Danielle," Lucy Granger snapped, her voice sharp. "I’ve set up a marriage for you with the town supervisor’s son. Marry him, and you’ll have it made. I worked my ass off to make this happen for you."

In Lucy’s mind, the deal was already done. ’Once this ungrateful brat gets married, we’ll get a fat bride price. Then I can buy my precious son a nice apartment in town.

Danielle didn’t even look up from her screen as she said flatly, "No."

Lucy’s face flushed with rage. "You little shit!" she screamed. "After everything I’ve done for you-feeding you, giving you a roof over your head for over ten years-you should be thanking your lucky stars the supervisor’s son even wants to marry you.

"This is the best deal you’ll ever get, and you better realize it."

set for the 18th," Lucy continued, her voice dripping with

getting married, whether you like it or not." She shot her daughter one last glare

smug grin on his face. "So, what

drag her there if we have to. She’s

at the Darling

sister yet?" Joseph Darling, CEO of Darling Group, asked,

sent out search teams, Mr. Darling," Ivan Moore, the family butler, reported. "But every lead goes cold. We’ve tried

giving up. Keep searching, or else." His tone left no room for argument, and

quickly apologized, swallowing his nervousness. "I’ll dispatch more teams immediately." Though the other Darling boys were approachable, the eldest always set him

a shadowy corner by the stairwell, Audrey Darling overheard the conversation. Her fingers clenched into fists, her freshly manicured nails digging into her palms as she glared at the two men with icy

memories flooding back. Before she turned five, her adoptive parents

a while, she had known what it was like to be loved and cared for. But everything changed when Lucy gave birth to Robbie. That’s

family. She ate whatever scraps were left after they’d eaten -if there were any. Most nights, she went to bed hungry, with nothing

Danielle out of her dark

Emery Parker’s voice came