Description

In Highlands City, Helena never makes a move without weighing what she stands to gain. Joining the PAC (Custodial Sponsorship Program) is no exception: by taking in a young person leaving the system, she can secure two years of substantial tax breaks for her companies. For her, the arrangement is a calculated business decision. Her chosen beneficiary is Evan, a 19-year-old orphan who has spent five years in a juvenile detention center. Sharing a roof brings two very different outlooks into direct conflict: Helena approaches the arrangement with an eye on profit and the belief that she holds the power, while Evan brings the street-learned rules he knows govern life in the city. What begins as a financially convenient sponsorship becomes a dangerous contest for control. Helena may believe she dictates the terms, but Evan has his own understanding of whose rules matter in Highlands City—and they are not hers.