CHAPTER 1
THE FAMILY ABOVE THE CITY
Ashbourne City bowed without realizing it.
Every road curved upward toward the hill where the Golden House stood, as if the city itself had been designed to honor the Alveré family. Sunlight clung to the estate longer than anywhere else, brushing its pale stone walls with gold even as dusk swallowed the rest of the world.
Victor Alveré stood by the window of his study, hands clasped behind his back. Below him stretched the city he owned in pieces—corporations, properties, influence stitched into every corner. He had everything a man could want.
And yet, his chest felt hollow.
Behind him, Eleanor Alveré sat silently on a velvet chair, her posture flawless, her face calm in the way only practiced women could manage. She wore pearls even inside the house, as though the world were always watching.
They did not speak.
They rarely did anymore.
The silence between them was heavy—not empty, but crowded with things unsaid.
Down the hall, Lucien lingered near his bedroom door, listening to the quiet as if it might confess something. At twenty-six, he was already legendary in Ashbourne. His face appeared in magazines, his name whispered in admiration and longing.
But Lucien felt like a fraud.
He avoided mirrors.
In the east wing, Seraphina brushed her long black hair before an antique mirror, her sharp green eyes assessing herself not with vanity, but with caution. Beauty had never felt like a gift to her. It was a weapon—one she had learned to carry carefully.
Four people.
One house.
One secret they never dared speak aloud.
The Alverés were cursed.
CHAPTER TWO
THE ENVY OF A CITY
The community watched the Alverés obsessively.
Women dreamed of Lucien—his restraint only deepened their desire. He was the man every woman believed she could be the one to soften.
Men wanted Seraphina not just for her beauty, but for what she represented: conquest. To be chosen by her was to prove something.
Yet no one ever was.
The Alverés remained untouched.
At cafés, whispers bloomed like mold.
"They're not normal."
"Too perfect."
"No scandals. No mess."
People did not realize how much suffering silence could hide.
CHAPTER THREE
THE CURSE
The curse did not arrive with thunder or blood.
It came quietly.
Like inheritance.
Generations ago, an Alveré patriarch had made a choice—power over compassion, wealth over truth. The bargain was never spoken aloud, but it etched itself into bloodlines.
Every generation prospered wildly.
And every generation paid.
The curse thrived on repression.
On secrecy.
On fear of exposure.
And now, it stirred again.
CHAPTER FOUR
MARA VALE
(Inciting Force Introduced)
Mara Vale had built her life on uncovering lies.
Her apartment was cluttered with newspaper clippings, glowing laptop screens, and notebooks filled with sharp handwriting. She didn't chase gossip—she hunted patterns.
The Alverés were her white whale.
No scandals.
No leaked recordings.
No disgruntled ex-lovers willing to talk.
Just… disappearances.
Careers that imploded after brief associations.
Employees who quit and vanished.
Tragedies filed neatly under "unrelated incidents."
Mara leaned back in her chair, eyes narrowed.
"No one's that clean," she murmured.
She decided then.
The Golden House would speak.
CHAPTER FIVE
SIGNS OF FRACTURE
(Inciting Incident)
It began with Eleanor collapsing at a charity gala.
Her body simply gave way—no warning, no illness. The room froze as she crumpled, pearls scattering across marble floors like spilled secrets.
Doctors found nothing.
Then Victor forgot an entire board meeting he had chaired.
Lucien started dreaming of a woman with no face, her voice soft and mournful.
Seraphina woke with scratches down her arms, burning as if something had clawed its way out of her.
The curse was awake.
CHAPTER SIX
THE BLOGGER MOVES CLOSER
Mara relocated across from the Golden House within a week.
She documented everything: lights flickering at odd hours, deliveries that arrived unmarked, staff who avoided eye contact.
One former maid finally spoke.
"They're not monsters," the woman whispered, shaking. "They're prisoners."
That night, Mara received a message:
STOP.
She smiled into the darkness.
CHAPTER SEVEN
LIVING WITH THE CURSE
Lucien stopped leaving the house.
Seraphina avoided mirrors.
Victor snapped at staff.
Eleanor began waking up screaming, clutching her chest.
The Golden House creaked at night, as though remembering something it wanted to forget.
And then—
Someone new arrived.
CHAPTER EIGHT
HAILEY
(The Catalyst)
Hailey stood at the gates with calm certainty.
She wore no jewelry. No visible wealth. Just a pale blue dress and eyes that held quiet storms.
"I'm here for the Alverés," she said.
The gates opened without question.
Inside, the air shifted.
For the first time in years, the house felt… curious.
CHAPTER NINE
THE WOMAN WHO SAW THROUGH THEM
Hailey did not admire the wealth.
She studied them.
She touched Eleanor's hand and eased her breathing.
She met Victor's gaze without fear.
She spoke to Lucien like he was human, not cursed.
She smiled at Seraphina like she understood loneliness.
"You don't have to fight it alone anymore," Hailey said softly.
The curse recoiled.
CHAPTER TEN
OBSESSION
Mara couldn't find Hailey anywhere.
No records.
No social media.
No past.
A ghost inside the most guarded house in the city.
"This changes everything," Mara whispered.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE CURSE FIGHTS BACK
(Rising Action)
Victor's empire teetered.
Eleanor began coughing blood.
Lucien's dreams bled into waking hours.
Seraphina saw shadows move where none should exist.
Hailey finally told the truth.
"The curse feeds on what you hide," she said. "It survives because you refuse to be seen."
She revealed her lineage—descended from those who once tried and failed to break the curse.
"I won't fail," she promised.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE BREAKING POINT
(Peak / Climax)
Mara broke into the estate.
She recorded everything.
The curse.
The ritual.
The truth.
Hailey prepared the final act—not magic, but confession.
The curse screamed as the family spoke.
Victor admitted his fear of powerlessness.
Eleanor confessed her guilt.
Lucien confessed his longing to love.
Seraphina confessed her terror of being wanted only for her beauty.
The walls shook.
Mirrors shattered.
And the curse—
Unraveled.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SILENCE
The house fell quiet.
Not heavy.
Peaceful.
The Alverés stood together—not as prisoners, but as a family.
Hailey was gone by morning.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
DENOUEMENT
Mara deleted everything.
Some truths healed better in silence.
The Golden House opened its gates.
Laughter replaced echoes.
The city watched—but this time, the Alverés did not hide.
EPILOGUE
WHAT REMAINS
The curse was never the wealth.
It was fear.
And fear, once named, lost its power.