Following onto my last post maybe the Oc/reader could be Alex's age and either is living with their mother but their father wants custody over them. The father, burton jernigan, is unable to gain custody. He no longer loves his ex wife but he does care about his daughter.
Another possibility is that the mother is dead, she died after jernigan left her and the reader/oc. Alex's family adopted the reader/ oc and she is the same age as Alex. The reader/ oc hates their father because they feel that if their father never left then their mother would be alive. Burton Jernigan on the other hand dearly cares about their daughter and misses his ex wife realising too late that it was a mistake leaving his ex wife. The reader/oc dearly treasures the last gift that their mother had given them, a necklace. It is a black cord with a golden phoenix in the middle, its wings spread out.