Chloe was curled up on her bed, bawling her eyes out as she looked at her doctor's reports. She had developed gestational anemia that badly affected her child's health. Her baby was weak and really small in size. It was more at the risk of developing long-term health problems.

She lost count for how long she has been here in this club. She hadn't seen Maxim and Andrew after they murdered Marie in front of her. Roxy came every day to check up on her.

Andrew somehow found out everything there was to know about her, even her birth date.

She was finally eighteen.

Her tears drenched her pillows as she thought about graduation. She missed it... She was here stuck in this room while all her classmates were graduating this month. Axel must be graduating too... She heaved a heartbroken sigh.

"I miss you, dad" she cried loudly. "I miss our tiny house... I miss our fights... I need you, dad. I need you... Whatever you did, at least you were always there for me. I just want to hug you, I want to hug you so bad, dad. I'm sick and because of me, my child is also sick. They say I don't eat much but how can I? I don't feel like eating, I feel weak and nauseous all the time. I just need you... I just need someone..."

Her bedroom door opened softly. "Hi, sweetie"

Roxy walked in the door and closed it behind her. Chloe immediately wiped her tears and sat up. "Hi" she croaked out in a rough voice.

"Are you crying again?"

"No..."

Roxy sighed and sat beside her. "Why do you cry so much?"

"I miss my home, my dad, and my school" Chloe snapped with tears raining down her face.

"There is no use of missing all those things, you are never getting them back!" She snapped back. "This is your life now! You need to toughen up if you want to survive!"

Chloe sniffled. "I don't know how to..."

Roxy pursed her lips. "Well, then learn! You are not even willing to learn anything. You just sit in this bed and cry like a baby. Are you a baby, Chloe?"

"No..."

"You are a tough bad bitch! Say it, say I'm a tough bad bitch!"

"I'm not..."

Roxy pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just fucking say it!"

"I'm a tough bad---- I don't like to swear" she mumbled

Roxy slapped a hand on her forehead. "Swearing should be the least of your worries, right now! Look, Chloe, I know you're just a child and life has been unfair to you but you don't want the same fate for your child, do you?"

"No..." She shook her head

"Then you need to be strong! The time for crying is over. You need to toughen up!"

"Okay..."

"Then say it, I'm a tough bad bitch!" Roxy smiled

"I'm a tough bad bitch!" Chloe repeated

"I will make my own fate!"

"I will make my own fate"

"That's my little sister" Roxy hugged her.

"What will Andrew do now... Now that I'm eighteen?" Chloe asked her.

Roxy sighed. "You finally turned eighteen, huh?"

"Yes," Chloe unclenched her hands and saw blood oozing out of tiny ruptures caused by her nails.

"Be confident when you meet him, okay. That man feeds on fear. It gives him a thrill when someone is afraid of them. Don't be weak or else he'll eat you alive" Roxy advised

"How do I do that?" Chloe asked, looking down.

"Look, from what I gathered, Andrew has a liking for you. Use it! He'll probably want to sleep with you---"

Chloe cut her off. "But I'm pregnant!" She shrieked

"Honey, pregnant women can have sex"

"But I'm also sick..."

"Do you think he cares?"

"I don't want to sleep with him!" She snapped

"Well, he isn't a rapist. He won't force you but trust me one way or another that man always gets what he wants."

"I will never sleep with anyone!"

Roxy laughed. "How did you get pregnant, then?"

Chloe remembered every time she had been intimate with Axel. According to her pregnancy, she got pregnant the first time they had sex. She remembered that day so well. She considered it as one of the happiest moments of her life. "I... I loved him"

"Oh, how old was he?"

"He was also seventeen at the time, he turned eighteen a month ago... We studied together before we ran away from our homes..."

"He loved you too?"

Chloe shrugged. "No one had ever loved me the way he did..."

"But he still left you?"

Chloe nodded "But he still left me..."

"See! This is what I'm talking about. You don't need anyone. He claimed to love you and left you alone with this child, don't trust anyone, Chloe. Never trust anyone!"

Chloe nodded. "You're right..."

"You need to grow up now! Face these problems head-on."

Chloe sighed. "I will try... Roxy."

"I'm not supposed to tell you this but Andrew isn't here. He left, nobody knows when he'll come back now. He disappears like that sometimes..."

"Where did he go?" Chloe asked

"You think this is the only business he owns?" Roxy laughed "Come on, there are some people you should finally meet. You'll love them"

Roxy took Chloe down to the club. Chloe hesitated at first but then remembered Roxy's words. "I'm tough" she mumbled to herself.

They entered a room full of performers. "Hey, bitches! I want y'all to meet someone!" Roxy announced.

A very pregnant performer came forward. "Oh my god, is she pregnant too?" She asked wide-eyed.

"Yeah"

"Is she the mystery girl that got Marie killed?" One of them asked

Chloe's heart dropped in her stomach. She almost shook her head negatively when Roxy said. "Hell yeah!"

"Bitch, you a legend around here!" Another yelled and the room erupted into a fit of laughter.

"We all are indebted to you for killing that bitch!"

"Oh, I didn't---"

Roxy elbowed her lightly. "Just take the fucking compliment"

Chloe smiled uneasily. "Thank you" she voiced

The other pregnant girl approached her "We're gonna be best friends and our babies will be best friends too. My name is Tina and yours?"

Her voice faded away as she dragged Chloe along with her in a room full of women who have had a tough life just like Chloe.

Chloe laughed, ate, talked, and felt better after so many days. She looked around with a smile on her face, she saw laughing faces all around her, stories and struggles similar to hers, some girl's experiences were way worse than hers and she realized how brave and strong they were. They inspired her. If they can make the best out of their broken life then why can't she?

It felt like she finally found a family.

-ˋˏ ༻𐀔༺ ˎˊ-

Axel dressed up for his graduation. He stared at himself and sighed. He remembered how he used to make plans for their graduation.

"You... My beautiful girlfriend with a genius brain will get a fully-funded scholarship to Harvard and then you and I will rent out an apartment there and live together forever" Axel said hugging her from the back.

He smiled as he remembered her smiling face. "You should be here, Chloe... Graduating with me like we always planned. Going to college, moving in together..." He sighed deeply and closed his eyes. "I miss you..." He whispered to himself.

He walked out of his room and found his parents and little sister waiting for him.

"I can't believe my son is graduating high school" Vanessa stepped forward and pulled Axel in a hug.

Dominic noticed his son's gloomy eyes. He smiled with difficulty and hugged his father. Charlotte joined in on their hug.

"Dad, please... Don't you love Axel? Please let them date, please, bring her here" Charlotte pleaded with a sad face.

Dominic inhaled sharply. If he could he would bring Chloe back in a heartbeat. He made one bad decision and now he couldn't straighten it out. He didn't like watching his son like that. He thought that in a month or two Axel will forget all about her but it only made him worse. He barely talked to anyone, barely hung out with his friends and family. He always had a broken and lost look on his face.

Dominic mindlessly drove as they all reached Richmonte Academy. Axel walked in and without greeting anyone or meeting his friends, he sat down on his seat and waited for the ceremony to start.

They called Theodore on the stage for the valedictorian speech. Axel watched him with distaste, he only got to be valedictorian because Chloe dropped out. He has always been the second-best. Chloe was always one step ahead of the rest of the school. He controlled his tears as he imagined Chloe on that stage giving her speech.

"This will ruin our future, Axel. I can't drop out of school. It's the only hope for my better future."

"We'll make our own future... Together"

"It's easier said than done! You don't know what it's like to survive..."

"I left everything... For you... For us... And you are not even considering this?"

"You are not thinking clearly... Why don't you calm down and think about it first... We can break up for now and then after graduating high school, we'll go to college together... Away from here"

How he wished he could turn back the time and listen to her. They would have been together today... Graduating... Making plans for college... Making plans for their future together.

They called his name and he stood up. He walked to the stage almost robotically, accepted his diploma, and walked down.

Ace stood there alone as well. He walked to him and Ace pulled his best friend in a hug. "You okay?"

"Yeah" Axel nodded.

"Congratulations"

"Thanks, congratulations to you too" Axel answered

They talked some more before Ace's family called him. Axel sat down on a bench and looked around. He saw the girl he harassed taking pictures and posing with her friends. He felt guilty for what he did to her. He was unfair to her for no reason at all. Whoever she was she didn't deserve that. If Chloe knew about what he did, she'd be so disappointed in him. He heaved a sigh and walked up to her.

"Katherine" he called

Kimberly got rooted to her spot and her eyes went wide. She took a step back. What he did to her traumatized her for days.

Axel awkwardly looked here and there "Can we talk?" He asked

Kimberly stepped back. "No... And my name is Kimberly"

"Yea, sorry, right, Kimberly" he sighed deeply. "I'm sorry for what I did to you that day... I really am sorry"

"It's okay," Kimberly said, "I should go..." She turned to run away but his voice stopped her.

"I was angry at something and it was wrong of me to take it out on you, I'm sorry"

"It's fine... I have to go" she replied and walked the other way.

Axel stared at the ground. "Hey, Axel!" he looked up to see Ella. "I just wonder even after having shits for brains, how did you get into Harvard? Oh, your dad must've pulled some strings to get you in." He frowned and stared at Ella heartbrokenly. After everything she did to him and Chloe, it still wasn't enough for her. What did he ever do to her? She used to be his best friend... What happened to her? "You're always gonna be daddy's little boy, sad, really..."

He nodded and inhaled sharply to calm himself and his nerves. If it was any other day, he wouldn't have let Ella trample all over him like that but today he felt nothing...

He needed her...

He walked into the school's building and strode straight towards the trophy case. He pulled out the fire extinguisher from the wall and slammed it on the trophy case glass. He stepped back as the glass shattered all around him. He stepped forward and the glass crushed under his shoes. He picked up the frame and pulled out Chloe's picture. He stuffed it in his pocket and three the. Photoframe back inside the trophy case. Without looking anywhere or telling his family, he strode straight out of the school.