Sometimes, being gifted isn't a blessing. Sometimes, it's a heavy chain, one that weighs you down more and more as the years pass. For Alexandra Whitmore, genius had never been freedom. It was the prison of endless expectations, the ambitions of her parents, the judgment of their community, and the watchful eyes of relatives who expected her to become the shining proof of the family's success. Every step she took felt like it was measured, judged, and stored away for later comparison.
Alexandra was born to an American father, Damian Whitmore, and a Lebanese mother, Nadine El Khoury. From the day she could understand words, her mother's voice became a constant reminder of duty, education, excellence, and the family's reputation above all else.
Nadine was a woman who demanded perfection and guarded the family name as though it were a crown made of glass, too fragile to be touched by anything less than flawless.
As the eldest of three children, Alexandra had carried more than her share of the load. The unspoken rule was clear: she had to succeed first so her younger siblings could follow in her footsteps.
But deep down, she knew those footsteps led to a life that would never truly be hers. One day, unable to bear it any longer, she looked her parents in the eyes and told them the truth: she could not, and would not, live the life they had mapped out for her. She begged her father to release her from the crushing weight they had placed on her shoulders.
At eighteen, Alexandra revealed another truth, one that shattered what little peace remained in their household. She told them she's a lesbian. It isn't a phase, and it never has been.
She loved women. She would not marry the man her mother had been quietly choosing for her since childhood. With a trembling voice, she asked them to turn their hopes toward her younger siblings, Hardy and Alexis, and to stop looking at her as the family's future.
The real breaking point came on her university graduation day. It should have been a celebration, a triumph. Instead, it became the battlefield of the fiercest argument she had ever had with her mother.
Nadine's voice cracked like a whip, angry, fearful, and unyielding. She threatened her own daughter in desperation, telling her she would rather see her dead than get disgraced.
And Alexandra, who had lived for years trapped in a dream that wasn't hers, found herself almost agreeing. Perhaps it would be easier to die than to live endlessly under expectations she could never fulfill.
"Dad, I'll leave this house with or without a husband," she said, her voice steady despite the storm in her chest. Damian, torn between love for his wife and love for his daughter, finally nodded in defeat. If the only way to keep Alexandra alive was to let her go, then so be it.
Alexandra and Nadine had always been two halves of the same coin, alike in stubbornness, yet standing on opposite sides of life. Their relationship had rotted into something poisonous.
Nadine could not accept her daughter's truth. She could not bear the thought of people whispering about the Whitmores or her family in Lebanon, the El Khoury. And Alexandra, exhausted and feeling hollow, saw only two choices: live forever in the shadow of someone else's dream, or break free and face the world on her own terms.
"Do you want our child to die?" Damian's voice rose, sharp with anger and desperation.
"She's a lesbian!" Nadine shot back. "I can't tolerate it! And she's leaving us! What if she gets hurt?"
"Alexandra is still our child!" Damian's voice cracked. "Whoever she is, whatever she is—she's my daughter! Whether she's a lesbian or not doesn't change the fact that she's my flesh and blood! For God's sake, Nadine, let her go! Hardy and Alexis are still with us. Let Alexandra live her life!"
Alexandra fell to her knees in front of them, her voice trembling but fierce with emotion. "Mom… let me be filial in my own way. I'm not asking for money. I'm not asking for anything, only for you to let me go. Please… let me go…"
Her tears fell freely as she pleaded, and the room fell silent except for the sound of her quiet sobs. Hardy and Alexis stood in the doorway, wordless. They didn't agree with everything Alexandra had done, but they knew, perhaps better than anyone, how much their older sister had been suffering all these years.
Alexandra is the most perfect of the three. Her face is a perfect blend of both her parents' traits. Her nose is perfect, her tall, curvy figure is great, and her intelligence is above average.
She's the perfect daughter in everyone's eyes, but who would have thought she was so broken beneath her perfection? And after a week-long argument, after her mother had utterly destroyed Alexandra, she let her daughter go. Alexandra left quickly without looking back; all she needed was permission.
Alexandra and her two younger siblings were born in Chicago, USA, and they moved to Lebanon when their youngest was one year old, where they settled. They moved back to the USA and settled in Los Angeles when Alexandra turned thirteen years old.
At the age of nineteen, after completing her undergraduate studies at a famous ivy league in Boston, Alexandra decided to not come back to Los Angeles and settle in Vermont.
Alexandra disliked the heat; Vermont is cool almost year-round. Vermont is also famous for its natural scenery, much of which is forested. Part of the New England region, it is also known as home to over 100 19th-century covered wooden bridges and as a major producer of maple syrup.
In her early years in Vermont, Alexandra lived in a small studio apartment with a kitchenette for $750 per month with no deposit. Her landlord lived on the third floor, with the basement, first, and second floors rented out. She rented the cheapest one, the basement. Alexandra lived in that apartment for two years before finally being able to afford a cabin home on a small Vermont river.
It's a house near the White Mountains, just a short drive from downtown Lincoln and Woodstock, and close to the ski areas of Loon, Cannon, and Waterville Valley. Her house also has direct snowmobile access from the five acres she owns.
The house she purchased is located on the Pemi River, a place where tourists and locals alike can swim, kayak, or simply relax by the fire as the river flows by. The house has a deck made of natural stones and is located on the edge of the river and is equipped with a fireplace; he bought it because he likes to enjoy a cup of coffee while watching the sunset.
Her mother was worried when Alexandra decided to live alone in a house located by a river, near a mountain, and far from other homes. She nearly forced Alexandra to return to Los Angeles.
But her father, knowing that his eldest daughter had been studying Krav Maga from an early age, tried to reassure his wife, explaining that Alexandra is accompanied by four large dogs: two German Shepherds, an Akita, and an Estrela Mountain Dog, a large breed that excels as guard dogs and family dogs. Although, when Alexandra moved to the house at the foot of the mountain, the dogs were still tiny, the size of adult cats.
Inheriting her mother's light brown eyes, strong facial bones, tall stature, and tanned skin, Alexandra is a striking and beautiful figure. Wherever she went, people always turned to stare at her. Her tall and lean body, with perfect feminine curves, had been trained in martial arts since childhood. Her style isn't dictated by current fashion; she has her own style and never lets anyone dictate it.
Her game development business was doing very well and generating a lot of money for her, with a monthly revenue of one hundred and twenty-five million dollars a month.
She operated her business from her own home, with numerous employees worldwide. A sales and marketing team expanded her target market, a business development team maintained relationships with existing clients, and an IT team she had formed and trained herself.
Only one assistant came and went to handle her administrative tasks. For her business headquarters, Dreambyte Games, Alexandra rented a small building in New York for her hundred employees. Twice a month, Jane would visit her in Vermont to request a signature on a document or permission to make a payment.
Dreambyte Games is an independent game development studio based in the heart of New York City. Founded by Alexandra Whitmore after graduating from university in search of creative freedom, the studio was born from a belief that games should not only entertain but also move players on a deeply personal level.
The name Dreambyte captures Alexandra's vision to merge dreams and digital bytes into immersive worlds players never want to leave. Every project reflects her commitment to diverse storytelling, inclusive romances with strong GL/gxg narratives, and branching choices that allow players to shape their own destinies.
The studio's debut title, Ashes After Midnight, was a gritty, emotionally charged zombie survival game that blended tense combat with moral dilemmas, forcing players to decide not just how to survive, but who they were willing to become in a world stripped of order. Its haunting atmosphere, character-driven narrative, and replayability quickly earned it a loyal fan base.
Following its success, Dreambyte expanded into new genres while staying true to its "player-first" philosophy, engaging directly with the community through livestreams, developer diaries, and interactive polls that help shape upcoming content.
The team thrives in a hybrid environment, with a vibrant New York studio hub and talented remote collaborators across the country, all united by a shared passion for crafting games that resonate long after the credits roll.
And the head of it all, who controls the management, is Jane Williams; she was chosen from among the applicants because she was the only one who told her the truth during the interview.
She had administered a test to all her prospective assistants several years ago: "When you need money to pay off debts, pay for food, and pay your rent, and none of your friends or relatives can lend you money, and then you find an ownerless bag filled with more money than you need, what will you do? There's no one there, just you and the bag of money. There are no police, no witnesses, nothing."
Almost all of her prospective assistants answered that they would take it to the police station and report it as lost property because the bag of money wasn't theirs. Only Jane replied, "I'll take it, then pay my debts, pay my rent, and eat. There's no owner, right? There are no witnesses, no police? There's nothing stopping me from taking the bag of money."
The answer she wanted was humane, firm, and undisguised. Alexandra hired her at that time and sent home all the prospective assistants who passed the first interview. She didn't need hypocrites working with her; she would only hire assistants who were capable of doing what she wanted and wouldn't lie to her.