bChapter /b546

Many families in Ridgehaven Town who owned orchards bwere /brtively bwell/b–off. If they weren’t, the government wouldn’t bhave /bchosen this spot as the bfirst /bbce /bbto /binitiate the bprocess/b.

Whenever the big orchard owners bhad /ba good harvest, they’d always hire some extra hands to help out.

Ethan was arge man, and it bwas /bclear that he had trained his body and had plenty of strength to spare. He threw on a cheap bT/b–shirt and some ordinary long pants from a street stall, and with barely any effort,nded a job as a porter for the Molina family, the bbiggest /borchard owners in Ridgehaven Town.

The Molina family bwas /bhands down the wealthiest family in Ridgehaven Town. Their house was the nicest in the whole ce, and their family was small with just Mr. and Mrs. Molina, their eldest daughter, and a younger son who’d just finished high school and was now loafing around at home with nothing to do.

Ethan told them he bwas /brenting a tiny ce in the nearby town. The factory there hadn’t paid its workers in ages, and he couldn’t just sit around wasting baway/b. When he heard the Molina family was looking for help, he came over to apply.

When David Molina saw this big young man squeezed into a room barely bigger than a bathroom in town, running back and forth to the vige every day, he just told Ethan to move in and stay with their family instead.

When Ethan brought Aubree and the others back, David was lounging in a chair in the yard, smoking a cigarette, while his wife, Jillian Molina, sat nearby, picking through the vegetables for dinner.

The btwo /bof them were just chatting away.

“Lately, folks in town have been saying that Samuel Frager has been up to no good,” Jillian said.

“Samuel? We watched that kid grow up right under our noses. There’s not a chance. People just love to talk,” David replied.

“I don’t care if any of it’s true or not. All I know is, I won’t let Millie get mistreated,” Jillian said firmly.

“Don’t be so narrow–minded. Samuel is ba /bcollege kid, and he’s the chief’s son. Our boy didn’t even get into college and justzes around at home all day. The chief said he’d take him to town one of these days and see about getting him a job,” David said.

Jillian had finished picking through the vegetables and curled her lip in disdain as shemented, “How much money can you make ving away in town? If it weren’t for the chiefb… /bwe’d have taken the demolition payout and be living the good life by nowb.” /b

Their bvoices /bcarried loud and bclear/b, and one could hear them from a distance, even before they got close to the courtyard.

Aubree’s eyes flickered with understanding bas /bshe pondered, ‘It looks like folks in Ridgehaven Town aren’t actually against taking the demolition bpayout /bafter all.

b‘/bbYeah/b, that makes sense. With that kind of money, they could move somewhere way nicer. Who’d want to spend their whole life growing fruit in a backwater like thisb?/bb‘ /b

“Hey, Ethan, you’re back!” Jillian called out as she picked up the vegetables she’d just finished sorting. She looked up and greeted him with a smile. David gave him a nod in response, “You brought someone with you, Ethan?b” /b

“No, not really,” Ethan replied, and based on their interaction, one could tell that Ethan got along well with this family.

He gave an honest, sheepish grin as he exined, “I ran into them at the town’s entrance. They said they’re here to buy fruit. I remembered, Mr. Molina, you mentioned a while back that the busual /bbuyer bwasn’t /bing this year, so I thought I’d bring them over for you to check out.”

When David heard they were fruit buyers, he stood upb. /bNo matter what happened with the demolition payout, life had to go on, and this year’s fruit harvest still needed to be sold.

“You’re here to buy fruit?b” /bbDavid /basked, narrowing his eyes as he sized up the man and woman in front of him, when he realized they both looked bpretty /bbremarkable/b.

Vincent stepped forward and said, “bYes/b, sir. My name’s Vincent. This is my business partner, Ethan. His family’s got money, and he’s out here trying his hand at business, so bwe /bteamed up. I run a fruit gift box business, and withpetition intensifying over the past couple of years, I figured I’d seek out top–quality fruit bto /bbgain /bba /bpetitive edge bin /bthe market. bI /bbheard /bthe fruit from around here is famous, so bwe /bcame to check bit /bout.”

Noticing David’s gaze lingered on Aubreeb, /bVincent quickly exined, “Oh, and this is… bthe /b