Chapter 1: Exile and Return

The disgraced former governor lost everything, and I was the only one foolish or loyal enough to follow him into exile—for six long years.

People in Savannah still whisper about those years. Six years isn’t just a sentence—it’s a whole era of missed birthdays, empty Christmases, and muggy southern summers spent in a borrowed apartment, waiting for news that might never come. The scent of burnt pecan pie lingered in the air, and the old radio played carols to nobody. I knew I was the last person left in his corner, and I clung to that loyalty like a secret badge of honor.

After Andrew clawed his way back to power, he sent me away from Savannah for good.

"You know this world, Nat. Someone like me—someone in my position—can’t marry a girl with your kind of story."

He handed me a chest of cash, his face set with pride and a coldness that stung deeper than any slap.

"Don’t get any ideas. Just stay out in the suburbs near the city. If I have time, maybe I’ll come visit."

My hand trembled as I took the chest. The humiliation burned through me, hot and sharp, as I remembered the first time he’d ever given me something—a wildflower, shy and full of hope. Now, this was all I was worth to him. Cash. A payoff. I bit my tongue to keep from crying.

But I didn’t listen. I skipped the outskirts and went straight back to my old hometown in Maple Heights, a thousand miles away.

It was a twelve-hour train ride, the kind where your legs cramp and your thoughts chase old ghosts. I stared out at the changing landscape: peach groves fading into rolling hills, then finally, the familiar stretch of tired highway leading into Maple Heights. Every mile was a homecoming and a letting go.

The faded Dairy Queen sign at the edge of town still buzzed, even though nobody stopped there anymore. When I pushed open the door of the abandoned family house—

The childhood fiancé I lost during the chaos was actually still alive.

He straightened his tall, sturdy frame, eyes red and tired, and tossed aside his shovel.

"Well, look who finally decided to come home. I waited so long, I thought the whole world forgot you but me."

His voice was rough, raw with something I couldn’t name. For a second, it was just us, standing in the dust and memories, with the golden afternoon sun slanting across the cracked porch floorboards.