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ABOUT
Full Name: Kennedy Juliette Astor (formerly Wallace)
Nickname: Ken, Kenny, Kenny J (bc Kol lives to annoy her)
Age/DOB: January 11, 1990 (35)
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn
Gender: Cis Woman
Place of Birth: Hartford, CT
Neighborhood & Length of Time in Briar Ridge: Briar Ridge Hills / Three Months
Sexual/Romantic Orientations: Bisexual / Biromantic
Religion: She was raised Catholic but she’d consider herself non-denominational Christian at best
Occupation: Waitress at Luther’s and Front Desk/Receptionist at Upper Hand Tattoo Studio
PERSONALITY
Goals/Desires: To make amends for all the wrongs she’s done, pay back Niko and his company (even though she’s had zero contact with him since her sentencing), live a life completely above board, learn to drive, fix things with her parents and build a relationship with them, figure out what she actually wants to do with her life, and above all- live a life with meaning
Fears: Dying alone, leaving the house without brushing her teeth (she’s very into dental hygiene), needles
Hobbies: Baking, going for long runs, binge watching all the tv she’s missed the last four/five years (she’s obsessed with Bridgerton)
Likes & Dislikes: Thunderstorms, spicy food, floral scents, Marlboro Silver shorts cigarettes, the peace of falling asleep to pure silence, soft pillows, baseball caps, showering without having to wear sandals, windblown hair, banana splits, the warmth of a prolonged hug, men in grey sweatpants, fairy lights, napping outside in the sun, red lipstick // sharing a room, surprises, people yelling, going off schedule or when her schedule gets disrupted, nicotine gum, ebooks, unpainted nails, hairspray, sloppy joe sandwiches, the smell of gasoline, brussel sprouts (they do not taste any better with bacon you cannot convince her), being late, social media, yellow mustard, going to the doctor
TLDR
Kennedy is a 35 year old convicted felon who moved to Briar Ridge after being released from a four year prison stint. She was born into a political powerhouse family in Hartford, Connecticut and was disowned and cut off by her parents when she chose to be with her high school sweetheart. She was married on her 18th birthday, moving to New York City with her new husband, where the two embarked on a journey of financial struggles and young love. After years of struggling and working multiple jobs to help keep the couple afloat once her savings had run out, Kennedy met Nikolai Ramsey and he offered her a lifeline in a storm. She became his assistant and the steady salary helped get her and her husband back on their feet… until it didn’t. Because of poor money management, the couple once again found themselves on the verge of eviction, and that was when Kennedy took matters into her own hands. She began to embezzle from Niko’s company, and she got away with it for six years before it finally caught up to her. After her arrest, she pleaded guilty to a class c felony and was sentenced to eight years in prison. She got out in four due to overcrowding and her good behavior and lack of any previous criminal record. Kennedy moved to Briar Ridge to live with her cousin, Kol Kingston, and to restart her life as a free woman. This time determine to do it all right and prove she’s learned from her mistakes, however she’s unaware that ghosts from her past have also found their home in the small seaside town.
BIOGRAPHY
Trigger Warnings: crime, police, bad parenting, infidelity, prison/jail
She was born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut; where her family was seen as the pinnacle of wealth, prestige, and poise
Her father, Arthur Astor, is an incredibly popular senator whose aim is to make it to the White House and her mother is the absolutely perfect and charitable senator’s wife
Kennedy was raised to be the perfect little accessory to complete their perfect American family, and while she wanted for nothing material, as a child all Kennedy had wanted was her parents’ love and attention; especially since she was raised by nannies and only got to spend time with her parents during public events or when she earned their attention
She worked really hard to be who they wanted her to be- she joined the debate team, excelled in school, learned three languages, danced ballet until her feet bled, won multiple tennis competitions- she did everything and anything her parents asked of her for scraps of their love and yet it was still never enough
No matter how many trophies or competitions she won, how highly she was ranked among her classmates, her parents continued to spent most of their time away from home and focused their attention on her father’s career rather than their only child’s life- it led to a lonely childhood where her nannies were her best friends, but they seemed to disappear once she got too close to them
It was only when Lincoln Wallace came into her life that Kennedy finally began to get some of the attention and love she’d been searching for
He was recruited to their prestigious private school on an athletic scholarship and despite his athletic prowess, was looked down upon by most of the school’s elitist students- but not Kennedy
The two developed a close friendship that quickly blossomed into romance, a romance that her parents were against as soon as they’d found out about it
Kennedy had assumed, like with nearly every other part of her life, her parents wouldn’t care who she was dating- but she’d been wrong. They wanted her to be with someone whose family could bring connections and prestige for Arthur’s political career or the family image- Lincoln, whose family had blue collar roots, could do neither
The pair kept their relationship a secret throughout most of high school, Kennedy even going as far as going on the dates her parents set up for her and playing the polite princess before sneaking off to see Lincoln play or spend time with him
They got caught Kennedy’s senior year, her parents coming home from an event earlier than expected and finding Lincoln’s beater car in their driveway and Lincoln himself in their daughter’s bed
Once he was kicked out, Arthur and Cordelia sat Kennedy down and gave her the ultimatum that would change her life: she could break up with Lincoln and allow them to arrange a proper relationship for her while keeping her trust fund and access to her parents’ credit cards or she could stay with ‘the dirtbag’ (her father’s nickname for Lincoln) and be cut off completely from the family and their money
It surprised both Kennedy and her parents at how quickly her choice left her lips- without thinking, she chose love. She chose Lincoln
The next day she packed a bag (well, several- more than several) and moved out of her parents house and in with a friend of hers- the plan was to graduate high school, get married, get a job while going to college, and start their lives together; but things didn’t quite go as planned
In an attempt to smooth things over with her parents and somehow keep them in her life, Kennedy showed up to the family’s annual Christmas Party- a huge, formal affair that everyone who’s anyone was invited to- and she was turned away at the door. When she tried to call her parents, it went straight to voicemail, and once she was able to get in thanks to one of the kind maids she was promptly ignored.
Despite her many attempts to speak with them, they continuously brushed her off, acted like she wasn’t there, wasn’t speaking directly to them. Finally, her mother pulled her aside and asked her why she continued to humiliate them and herself by forcing her way into a place she wasn’t wanted
The conversation was the final straw in her relationship with her parents, the breaking point for Kennedy. She didn't return to school after Christmas break, instead she and Lincoln got married on her eighteenth birthday and moved to New York City- naive enough to believe that the city that never slept would hold the key to all of their dreams
But as two kids in an incredibly expensive city, living off of Kennedy’s savings didn’t last them very long and life got difficult a lot sooner than either had anticipated or expected
With each of them working multiple jobs, their electricity getting shut off, and a the threat of an eviction hanging over their heads, Lincoln decided to join the NYPD- it was a guaranteed paycheck, supposed to be a livable wage, and would hopefully give the couple a chance to breathe
For a while it worked- Kennedy was finally able to get her GED and begin a couple community college courses while only working two jobs; things evened out, they were stable enough to begin building their savings and move into an apartment they didn’t have to share with roaches and rat traps and actually had a bedroom
But just a few years later they found themselves nearly exactly where they’d been prior to Lincoln joining the NYPD- facing eviction with their savings depleted. That was when Nikolai Ramsey came into Kennedy’s life, taking a chance on the struggling young woman and hiring her as his personal assistant
Once again, their finances evened out and life went back to normal. The longer Lincoln was on the department, the higher his salary got and now with Kennedy working a full time, well paying job, the couple could finally breathe
And then, it happened again- their finances went into a free fall, despite having been in this situation multiple times before it seemed they hadn’t learned from their previous mistakes and found themselves hemorrhaging money once more- this time the 30 day notice on their door and the power and water missing from their apartment, led to Kennedy doing something she never thought she’d do- stealing from her employer
She told herself it was just until they were safe, their savings padded, their home secured, their bills all caught up and their debt lessened- she told herself she’d pay back the money, put it back without anyone noticing it was missing- she’d gone into it with the best of intentions. It was just the desperate act of a desperate woman, afraid of ending up on the streets
But after a couple years of cyphoning money from Niko’s family business, when her and LIncoln’s debts were paid off and bills were all up to date, Kennedy found herself continuing her illicit behaviors. Suddenly she was able to afford some of the finer things in life, the things she’d had taken away from her when she left the luxury of her parents money and influence behind her in the name of love- and instead of stopping like she’d promised herself she would when she started, Kennedy continued, taking a little bit here and there, sure she was being careful enough that no one would notice
While her professional life seemed to be thriving, her personal life was floundering. As she and Lincoln got further into their respective careers, working longer hours and spending more time away from each other, they found themselves curating lives that despite their love for each other, seemed to be taking the husband and wife in different directions- down different paths
It was easy to miss at first, blaming a police officer’s difficult schedule with a woman who was trying to prove herself in a job she wasn’t quite sure she’d earned or was qualified for, but the couple who used to spend all of their free time together slowly began spending that time elsewhere
Maybe it wasn’t as sudden as it felt, but after her boss’s marriage ended, the pair grew closer and Kennedy found herself telling him that she and Lincoln had separated- fooling herself into believing it wasn’t really a lie because she couldn’t remember the last time she and Lincoln had felt like anything other than roommates who shared a bed for a few hours each night
And so, a year after his divorce was finalized, Kennedy and Niko began seeing each other- their professional relationship easily growing into one of romance and excitement. He brought a new spark to her life, reigniting a flame she’d thought had long burned out, and Kennedy was happy again
She had it all- everything she’d ever wanted, love, financial security and freedom, happiness- but when you take shortcuts, lie and steal to achieve your dreams, the universe makes sure to rebalance the scales
Everything blew up in her face when she was thirty one years old; six years into working with Niko, four years into stealing from his family company, two years into their romantic relationship, and thirteen years into her marriage- while at the office, specifically in Niko’s office, several NYPD officers came storming in with an arrest warrant for her
To this day, Kennedy remembers the look of confusion on Niko’s face when she was hauled out of her chair and a pair of handcuffs slapped down on her wrists- the way he tried to intervene, to stand up for her, and the way his face fell when she’d uttered the dejected ‘I’m sorry’ as she was led out of the office and into the elevator
Once at the precinct, Kennedy waived her rights and gave the detectives who confronted her a full confession. She was quickly arraigned, given a bond she couldn’t even begin to think about paying, and shipped off to Riker’s Island for a week until Lincoln took pity on her and posted her bail
She knew she’d been caught and despite her public defender’s objections, at her first hearing, Kennedy plead guilty to all of her charges. She’d already caused Niko enough pain, she wasn’t going to put him and his family through a trial as well, especially not one where their relationship and all of her dirty laundry would drag the man she loved through the mud. Plus, she didn’t want to harm Lincoln’s professional reputation and further
She was sentenced to eight years for her crime, and before she was transferred out of Riker’s and to a state medium security state prison, Lincoln served her with divorce papers- she’d lost everything and nearly everyone in her life and it was all her fault
For four years she focused on bettering herself, getting a degree, learning new skills through the prison’s vocation program- even attending church services in an attempt to find God- before she was granted an early release for good behavior (and due to the prison’s overcrowding)
With nowhere to go upon release and unsure of who to reach out to, Kennedy called her cousin, Kol Kingston, in hopes that the man who’d been more like a brother than a cousin to her throughout her childhood would help. And luckily for Kennedy, he did
Kol brought her to Briar Ridge to stay with him on the family estate he was fixing up and Kennedy, now slightly hardened from her time inside, was more determined than ever to do things the right way
She got two jobs to keep herself busy and build up her savings, knowing she had restitution and court fees to pay, and has been working on integrating herself into the small town life. It’s not easy, being unable to hide or run from her mistakes, but Kennedy is ready to move forward- no matter how hard it may be- and find joy in life once again
