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Steven Archibald grew up wrapped in comfort and love—until his mother died. Her loss shattered the family dynamic, leaving Steven with a distant father, Hector Archibald III, one of New York's wealthiest and coldest men. His home life grew even more unbearable under the aloof gaze of his stepmother, Sylvia. The only light in his life came from his younger half-brother, Heck. But even Heck’s companionship couldn’t keep Steven tethered to a life steeped in hollow privilege. At thirteen, Hector’s icy control became too much to bear. Steven snapped. He ran away, shedding his last name and the weight it carried. From that moment on, he was “Chris,” just another boy lost in the gritty streets of Huntington Beach.

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Fate led him to the church and to Father Raul, a kind but mysterious man, who gave Steven a makeshift home in the attic. There, Steven found something unexpected—music. It became his sanctuary, his language when words felt impossible.

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Years passed. Now a musician in Los Angeles, Steven has reclaimed his name but continues to drift through life, his painful past buried beneath layers of detachment. But the past doesn’t stay buried forever. One day, a voice from a chapter he thought he’d closed—Hector’s—pulls him back. The news shakes him to his core. Heck, the brother he once adored, is in critical condition after an accident. Sylvia and Hector plead with Steven, telling him he’s the only one who can save Heck’s life with a transplant.

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Returning to the family he escaped feels like ripping open old wounds. But Steven goes, compelled as much by duty as by the shadow of love he still feels for his brother. Reuniting with Hector, Sylvia, and Heck’s fiancée, Sara, plunges Steven into a maze of questions about what he left behind. Memories of Heck flood back—vivid, bittersweet, and impossible to ignore.

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The story reaches its emotional peak in the hospital, where Steven stands on the brink of a decision that could forever change him. To save Heck, Steven must give up a part of himself—physically and emotionally.

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The Runaway Prince is a story of tangled emotions, of family ties that endure even under the strain of loss, betrayal, and time. It explores the scars left by abandonment, the fragile but unyielding power of brotherhood, and the intricate dance of rediscovering who you are. Sometimes freedom brings you full circle. Sometimes healing lies in the places you once ran from.

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