Victoria was such a kind woman, and an even kinder mother. When she was pregnant with Ava, she knew that there was no way a young woman like her would be able to raise a child on her own, let alone a demon spawn, so she found William, a businessman with enough money to sustain a family.
William wasn't in love with Victoria, but he did consider her a very close friend and was more than happy to raise her child alongside her.
Ava was born in September. At a young age, she learned that her parents weren't together; she didn't seem to care. They were still amazing parents and she loved them both very much.
Ava remembered her mom well. Victoria was a tad overprotective, especially since she didn't know if or when her daughter would develop Sebastian's powers, but she nurtured Ava well.
However, when Ava was eight, Victoria got pneumonia and unfortunately passed away. Ava didn't speak a word until she turned ten, and William didn't force her. He knew that this was her way to grieve. Unfortunately, William knew he couldn't take care of Ava on his own, so he went searching for a suitable partner.
In this search, he found Denise, who a single mother of a young daughter. She seemed perfect: a former housekeeper, already a mother to a daughter, and looking for a husband. She moved in after six months and they married after a year.
Unfortunately, her daughter and Ava didn't get along as well as expected. Claire was around a year older than Ava and a bit malicious in some ways. She didn't like Ava in the slightest and was very spoiled by her mother, getting everything she wanted and never taking no for an answer.
So whenever Claire would do something wrong, she had the perfect blame: little Ava, because of course, Claire was a perfect angel.
Denise never knew of Ava's origins or her real father; she never asked so William never told.
William didn't truly love Denise either, but they both knew he needed her. So she sucked up to him as much as she could so he'd never see how they both mistreated Ava. She was locked in her room as punishment on several occasions and many times without meals. She grew extremely skinny, and whenever William noticed, she was too terrified of future punishments to tell him.
Anytime William became swamped with work, he was usually locked in his room as well; he just never noticed. Denise told control of the household as if it was her own, and Ava and William were just the other family living there.
As Ava and Claire grew up, they also grew into their looks. Claire was the epitome of beauty, with long blonde hair and green eyes, just like her mother. Ava was just as beautiful, with her scarlet hair and blue eyes, but because of her lack of meals and tendency to stay away in her room even without the punishments, she always looked tired and gaunt. Boys never noticed her, and she pretended that she didn't care.
Whenever someone did notice her, it never lasted long. She'd panic and leave before anything got too serious, as she'd always expected the worst. Claire and Denise of course didn't care, as it meant more attention toward Claire.
Of course, this is why Ava holed herself away. There wasn't anything particularly interesting about the outside world or her family, so it was much easier to rely only on herself.
That's what made Julianna so special. She came to Ava's house on one of the rare occasions that Denise and Claire were out, bringing pastries and a gentle smile. She broke through Ava's carefully crafted emotional walls and helped her break out of her shell.
She only could hope that James would be the same way.
---
Unfortunately for Ava, Denise actually did get the mail.
She heard the excited shriek from downstairs and sat against the door to listen without confrontation. Denise and Claire already pretend that she doesn't exist, so she knew she wouldn't be caught.
From what she could understand, whatever they were screaming about was an invitation and it involved...the prince.
James?
Julianna would know.
And because Claire and Denise were downstairs, Ava proceeded to jump out of her bedroom window.
Fortunately, Julianna was actually on her way to Ava. Unfortunately, Julianna was there and watched her fall.
"Ava! Dear lord, are you okay?" Julianna hurried over to her and helped her up. "Why on earth were you jumping out the window?"
"Trying to find you!" Ava replied. "First of all, James. Prince. Whatever." She stopped to breathe before continuing. "He's back. In my dreams, I mean. And now there's apparently this invitation thing."
"Oh yeah, everyone in the kingdom got one." Julianna handed over her own copy. "King Quentin's hosting a ball for James. It just says 'so he can find a wife'. Maybe if you go, you can actually understand that you're crazy."
"I'm not crazy! He proposed courtship last night!" Ava exclaimed.
"I beg your pardon?"
"He said if we can find each other, he'd want to court me!" Ava repeated. "And he reassured me that he's real, not that that helps anything."
"Ava, this has got to be the craziest thing I've ever heard!"
"But what if this all checks out? What if he actually is the prince, and he does love me, and I finally get my happily ever after? I'm in your position too, I can't believe this and I'm so terrified that I'm giving my hopes up. But he just feels so real, Juli. Not real like the men in the books, but real like a human person. I trust him, Juli. Please trust me."
Julianna saw the hope in her best friend's eyes and sighed. "Okay. Let's get you your prince."