All James Braddock had ever wanted was a son, an heir to his fortune. A renowned research scientist in Britain, he was a celebrity in his own right. Marrying at the age of thirty, Ava and her twin brother were born a little later that year on April 23rd. Her brother was the pride of the Braddock family, not that Ava was neglected but the favourite was obvious. His dream accomplished, a son for his heir, James was barely home. The children were raised by their nanny, and though Ava never developed a close bond with her parents, she grew very close to her twin brother. There was the occasional jealous when they were younger, Ava hated living in her brother’s shadow, but her twin never made her feel like an outcast. He was always glad to pull his sister into the sunlight with him. They were inseparable all throughout their childhood. That was until adolescence when the both of them were divided and attended private academies.

Ava was a star student, dedicating herself to her studies. A strict upbringing assured she’d have the discipline to commit to her studies. Secondary school was easy, too easy for her. It was easy to juggle a social life with her studies, the typical adolescence. As a matter of fact, nothing about Ava’s adolescence was exceptionally unique. There were the typical parties, first boyfriends, failed tests and lectures from her father. Nothing was particularly outstanding.

Nothing until the death of her parents in her early twenties. The Braddock twins were offered a Christmas funeral, and that became one of the most defining moments of Ava’s life. The death of her parents, the inheritance, the sudden distance she took from her twin. The death of her parents had affected her more than she thought it would have. There was a year taken from school, a year to travel the world and to decide what she wanted to do with her life. Rather, a year to party and have fun (something her twin brother did not quite approve of). That year took her to Amsterdam, and Ibiza, and finally to New York where she settled for a bit. It was there that Ava fell in love with the city and decided to settle. It wasn’t her first trip, she had gone a few times as a child on her father’s business trips but seeing it as an adult made her love New York. This was her home and London was all but forgotten. She decided to pursue her education in New York, modelling on the side while she made her way through school. It wasn’t that she particularly needed the money but modelling gave her some sort of attention that she enjoyed, attention that she couldn’t refuse.

New York came with a degree in psychology where Ava began to work in a rehabilitation facility as a counseling psychologist. It wasn’t a particularly glorious job, but it was good experience gained while she worked on opening her own practice. She had always been interested in the human condition, in how humans functioned, and this was something of a dream for her. Perhaps it was something she had gotten from her father, that curiosity. Ava spent a few years working in rehabilitation facilities before she opened her own private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This was her dream, her new life. Ava didn’t have to worry about living in her brother’s shadow or her father’s constant lecture. She disconnected from the world and found her own life where she could be the one in charge. She made a name for herself, at least as far as the medical world goes. Her father would have hated seeing that she hadn’t become a psychiatrist, maybe one of the reasons Ava loved it so much. She made her own decisions.