Isabelle Abel arrived at the construction site alone for the first time, her designer boots sinking into mud no maid would ever scrub clean. The burned fence from yesterday's protest lay in twisted ruins, but workers were already replacing it like nothing happened.
Her mother's voice echoed in her memory: "A few bruises remind people of their place."
A glint caught her eye. Buried in the ash was Avery's wrench, left behind in the chaos. She pocketed it, her fingers brushing the initials "T.L." etched into the handle—his father's.
——
At noon, a crane cable snapped.
Isabelle watched in horror as a steel beam swung wildly toward a group of workers, including Avery. He shoved Finn out of the way a second before impact, the beam grazing his shoulder hard enough to spin him into the dirt.
"STOP THE MACHINE!" she screamed, sprinting forward before her bodyguards could react.
Avery looked up, blood streaking his temple, to find Isabelle kneeling beside him. "Somebody get a first aid kit" she screamed. Her hands clothed uselessly over his injuries. "You—you idiot," she whispered. "Why risk yourself?"
He grinned through the pain. "Rich people wouldn't understand."
The insult lacked its usual bite.
"You're cutting corners on safety!" Isabelle stormed into her father's office, slamming the wrench onto his desk. "That crane wasn't inspected!"
Robert Abel didn't look up from his blueprints. "Budget constraints, darling. These delays are costing us."
"People could have died!"
"People die everywhere." Her mother entered, sipping champagne. "The mayor just approved Phase Two. We start demolishing the residential block tomorrow including the Lawson house."
Isabelle's stomach dropped . Avery's home.
---
She found Avery fixing his truck outside Martha's orchard at sunset.
"You should leave," Isabelle said, the wrench held out between them like a truce flag.
He stiffened. "Here to gloat?"
"Your house. Tomorrow morning." The words tasted like betrayal. "They're not giving notices this time."
Avery's fingers brushed hers as he took the wrench. "Why tell me?"
Isabelle fled before she could answer.
That night, Isabelle stared at her gilded ceiling.
She'd memorized every shade of Avery's anger, the storm-gray of his glare, the iron set of his jaw, but today, she'd seen something new. The way he'd shielded Finn without hesitation. The callouses on his hands as he gripped her wrist to steady himself.
This wasn't how villains acted.
Her phone buzzed. A text from her mother:
"Dress impressively for the demolition. The press loves redemption stories."
Isabelle threw it against the wall.
---
Dawn painted the Lawson house in gold as Avery and Dale carried boxes to their truck. Isabelle watched from her car, guilt eating her ribs—until 7am Abel security's SUVs screeched into the street.
"Early," she breathed.
Her mother stepped out, smiling for the cameras as workers surrounded the house. Avery shoved Dale behind him, His mother short of words—just stood frozen across the street weeping her eyes out. gripping his father's wrench like a weapon.
Isabelle's car door slammed before she'd decided to move.
"Stop."
Every head turned. Eleanor's smile froze. "Darling, this isn't—"
"I own twenty percent of Abel Development." Isabelle's voice shook. "As *majority shareholder*, I'm halting this demolition."
Avery's eyes locked onto hers. For the first time, they held something besides hate.
Hope.