CHAPTER ONE
Ava sat up, her chest rising and falling rapidly as the remnants of her past and the nightmare clung to her. The beating, the cold basement floor, the suffocating fear—it all felt so real. She rubbed her eyes, forcing herself to breathe.
“It’s just a dream,” she whispered to the empty room. “You're not that girl anymore.”
She wasn’t seventeen, cowering in the shadows of her past. No, she was thirty-two, stronger, wiser, and no longer under anyone’s control.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, her bare feet meeting the cool hardwood floor. Her heart still raced, but she focused on grounding herself, on reminding herself that she’d made it out of that hell hole that the Porters had called home. She had her own life now, her own purpose.
She glanced at her phone on the nightstand. It was six-thirty. She had a full morning ahead of her. She had to stop by the office to make a few phone calls and pick up some documents before heading to the courthouse.
A court hearing for one of the kids she oversaw loomed ahead of her, a day that could change the trajectory of a young life.That’s why she chose social services, to make sure no kid would ever have to feel like she did—unseen, unheard, betrayed by the very system that was supposed to protect them.
Ava stood and stretched her arms above her head before moving toward the bathroom. As she walked down the tiny hall separating her bedroom from the master bathroom, her eyes caught the framed picture of Evelyn, her adopted mom, smiling back at her. She paused, her fingers brushing the edge of the frame as memories surfaced.
It had been fifteen years since she ran. She could still remember the night vividly as she slipped out of that hellhole of a house with only a backpack and a little over two thousand dollars she had scraped together from months of working at that fast-food joint. She’d waited until her foster parents had passed out, slipping out into the night like a shadow, her heart pounding with both fear and the thrill of freedom. She was determined to get as far away from Seattle as she could.
Seattle had been her starting point, but it was the bus ride from Wyoming where her life truly changed. She met Evelyn on that bus, an older woman with kind eyes and a calming presence. They had talked for hours, and something in the warmth of Evelyn's voice made Ava trust her in a way she hadn’t trusted anyone in years.
By the time the bus rolled into Virginia Beach, Ava knew that the beach town would be her new home. Evelyn had offered her a place to stay and a fresh start, but without her, Ava wasn’t sure where she would’ve ended up. Maybe on the streets, maybe worse. But Evelyn had given her more than shelter. She gave her hope. A future. A real family.
Ava’s lips curved into a small smile, her heart swelling with gratitude.
She shook herself from the memories, reminding herself that today wasn’t about the past. It was about the kids who needed someone to fight for them. Someone like Evelyn. Someone like her.
Stepping into the bathroom, she turned on the shower, letting the steam fill the small space. The hot water would be her reset, washing away the lingering weight of the nightmare and preparing her for the day ahead.
As she stepped into the shower and under the hot water, she reminded herself once again that she was no longer that scared girl in the basement. She was Ava Morgan, a strong, determined woman and a voice for those who hadn’t found their own yet.