HAZEL'S POV

I knew Abby was only trying to help me because she wanted me to be happy, but she kept trying to set me up with other people. I knew she didn’t understand everything I had gone through because I couldn’t bring myself to talk about it, so it was not her fault. Most of the time, I thought I would be better off alone. That way I wouldn’t get hurt. That was my biggest fear. I had been hurt by every person I had ever known until I met Abby. She didn’t even realise that I didn't even fully trust her for a long time after we met. She was the only person I ever let see me cry, and that was by accident. When she didn't make fun of me or tell me to stop acting like a baby, I realised she really did care for me as a friend, and I could open up to her. Her parents were amazing, too. Her mom had always treated me like a daughter. Their home was the first place I ever felt welcomed. They never judged me or pushed me to talk. They didn’t know that until I’d met them, I had never been hugged in a way that didn't end in the person touching me in a way I didn't welcome.

For as long as I could remember, I had lived at that orphanage. I was told one time that my parents were teenagers who got too drunk one night and got pregnant with me. They left me in the care of the orphanage but never signed any paperwork for me to be adopted. So when I was little and had the best chance of being adopted, they couldn't allow me to be adopted because of 'paperwork' problems. I was five by the time they got around to clearing me for adoption. By that time, it was too late for me. Nobody wanted me anymore. I was what they called a lifer. A lifer was what they called a child who would age out of the system when they turn eighteen. A child who would never have parents. A child who would never have a family. People didn’t like to think about kids like us because it made them sad but not sad enough to do anything about us. So we became forgotten. The first ten years I lived at the orphanage weren’t so bad. I guess. I never knew anything different. I got up, ate what they called breakfast although I was not even sure what kind of food it was. Then I went to school. I actually didn't mind school. It was a good brake from the 'home' I had. Then, I went home, ate dinner, did homework (when I felt like it) and went to sleep.

Then one day after I turned eleven, the man who was in charge of the orphanage called me into his office. I was surprised at his request because for the most part he never bothered with us. He just sat in his office and collected his pay check.

I knocked on his door.

"Come in,” he said in his deep voice.

I opened the door and he motioned me to come in.

"Have a seat, Hazel. I asked you here because I know you have always lived here, and I was wondering if you could help me with something." He walked out from behind his desk and stood behind me. "I have been watching you, and you are growing up." He put his hands on my shoulders. It sent shivers down my spine. I didn't like where this was headed. "When girls grow up, they have to learn about men. Most girls learn that from their fathers, but since you don't have a father, I thought we could help each other. But you have to understand that this is something you absolutely can not talk about. Nobody ever talks about the lessons they learn from their fathers"

I was very nervous.

His hands went from my shoulders down to the neck line of my shirt. "How about we get right into our first lesson." His hands were now down my shirt and on the little nubs where my breasts were just starting to form.

I wanted to scream so badly, but I was too afraid of something worse happening. What if he was right? What if this was what was supposed to happen?

He pulled his hand out of my shirt. I was hoping it was over but no such luck. He came around to stand in front of me, and he unzipped his pants. He pulled his pants and underwear off and then put his hand back on me in the same place it had been. Then, he rubbed me and himself until this wild stuff came out of him.

I wanted to cry, but there was no point. Nobody would care about me.

He wiped himself off, and he pulled his pants back on. "Next time, we will go farther, but remember this is our secret.”

I stood up and ran out as fast as I could.

This started happening every couple weeks. But then, weeks turned into days. After a few months, he was calling me to his office every other day. This went on for two years. I hated myself as much as I hated him. I always felt dirty.

I must had done something to deserve this. I could barely look myself in the mirror until I met Abby. I didn't know why she took interest in me, but I was happy she did. She saw through me and saw the hurting, scared little girl who was dying to feel loved and excepted.

Because of the years of abuse I went through, I didn’t think I could ever trust a man again. I still didn’t know if I could ever fully trust a woman either. But Abby was determined to find the person who was right for me.

When I turned eighteen, I thought about seeing if I could find my parents. I would lie in bed every night and think about what my parents looked like and what they did for a living. Like my mom was a doctor and my dad a lawyer. That I got my eyes from my mom and my smile from my dad. I guessed I was not meant to know. For a long time, I really thought they would come back for me, but they never did. I was alone. I excepted the fact that I always would be. I turned eighteen and moved away from the orphanage, and now, I lived alone. I knew that nothing great would ever happen for me. I would always struggle in life. All these things made up who I was. I knew it wasn’t pretty, but it was the truth. Maybe one day, I would say the words out loud to someone who wanted to share my life with me, but for now I was silent.

"HAZEL!" Abby shook me. "The class is over."

Was I daydreaming again? I really needed to stop doing that in class.

"We have lunch next." Abby said, and I nodded.

I stood and followed her to the lockers. We found Mel on the way and we walked together. I was opening my locker when Abby gasped.

"I forgot my Maths book! dammit!”

"Damn. You know how mean she can be. Borrow from other people." Mel suggested.

"Here." I handed her mine.

"Oh yeah! We have different classes later, huh?"

I nodded. "Use mine." I smiled.

"Thanks Haz."

We were talking when somebody banged on our lockers. "Hey bitches." It's Arthur.

"Oh look. The slaves decided to meet the queens."

Arthur smirked. "At least, my Mother wasn't raped. But here you are."

Mel held Abby's arm from attacking him.

"At least my Mother didn't have to beg for someone to marry her." Abby countered back.

Now, it was Arthur's Friend who controlled him. "If you hit her, our whole team will be dead."

Abby smirked. "You do know your boundaries. That's good."

Arthur tried to break free.

"Abby, that's enough." Mel said.

Arthur took a deep breath. He walked towards us. "There's no way you can get the dare done." He smirked and walked away.

"Little did he know I did." Abby said and closed her locker.

We walked towards the cafeteria and bought some food. We sat in our usual sitting area and just waited for the others. Well, mostly Abby's Friends or Melanie's. I only had them. Soon, the others joined, and they talked animatedly with each other. Me, on the other hand, was just enjoying my food when suddenly the door banged loudly.

"What happened?” Mel asked us.

We looked around and noticed a guy in an all black suit and a policeman walk in the cafeteria. He stopped in front of Arthur. "Arthur Watson?"

Arthur looked up.

"You're under arrest." The policeman stepped up and handcuffed him. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of Law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you." He read the Miranda to him.

"What?! I didn't do anything! MY FATHER WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS!" He struggled within the policeman’s grasp.

The policeman didn't care. He just dragged him away.

"Well. That was a scene." Abby said and chuckled.

"Did you do that?"

Abby shook her head. "I'm guessing Aunt Alle did." She chuckled again.

They laughed. I had no idea how they did it...

THIRD PERSON POV

"Alle. Eat." Larissa said to her daughter.

Alle nodded and ate.

"Alle, we have a meeting to go to tomorrow. Can you prepare some paperwork?" Carmen asked.

"Sure, Dad. I will." Alle said.

Larissa slammed her hands on the dining table. "No work talk when we have dinner." She calmly said.

Carmen apologised and smiled. They knew too well not to cross Larissa.

"Where's Hopy?"

"She went to dinner with her family at Bella's family’s house."

"So just us three?"

Larissa nodded. "Yes. You should marry someone already. Maybe she can cook for us next time." She winked at her Daughter.

Alle smiled. "I'm working on it." She said.

Carmen raised her eyebrows. "Are you serious?"

Alle nodded. "All thanks to Abby actually." She smiled genuinely.

"Who is she?"

Alle smiled. "Hazel. She reminds me of Kylie so much. But the thing is she's not Kylie. And I like that about her."

Larissa and Carmen chuckled.

"So you want to date a high school kid?"

Alle laughed. "She's eighteen, Mom."

Larissa smiled. "I know, honey."

Carmen finished her food. "Meet me outside." She smiled and walked out.

Alle continued to eat and smiled at her Mother. "I'm going to meet Daddy."

Larissa nodded. "Just don't make her angry. She had a rough day today."

Alle nodded. She stood and walked outside where she met her Mother smoking. "I thought you quit?”

Carmen smiled. “Yeah. I did. Just I found this pack, and I had to try it.”

Alle chuckled. "That's mine."

"I know, Alle." Carmen took one last drag and threw it away. She released the smoke in the air and sighed. "Alle. Let's just get straight to the point. Okay?"

Alle nodded. She’d never seen this part of her Mother.

"I just opened a hotel and casino in Las Vegas. I need you to go and report back to me about the progress. The twist is, my Friend, Bill, is handling it. Honestly, I don't trust him. He has this attitude that I don't like. He may be my trusted worker, but business is business."

Alle nodded. "Sure. I'll go as soon as possible."

"You will be going with one other familiar person." Carmen said and walked in the house.

Alle was about to ask her who, but her Mother disappeared inside the house. "Daddy, what are you trying to do?" She said to no one in particular. She walked inside and sat on the couch. She rested her head and closed her eyes. She wanted to know what her Mother meant by familiar person.

Meanwhile, Hope and Bella were washing the dishes when Abby and Ally walked in the kitchen.

"Mommy. Aunt Emma is here, and she was shot."

Bella's eyes widened, and she instantly ran towards her Sister. "What's wrong?"

Emma smiled. "Normal stuff happened on duty." She was now a police officer. She went to a police academy after she graduated.

"Well, thank God it's only your arm."

Emma smiled at her little Sister.

Ally watched her aunt’s injured arm. She was wondering how it looked without the bandages. "Aunt Emma. Can I look at your arm?"

Emma nodded. She let her Niece touch the wound.

"Does it hurt?"

"Very much.”

"I love your job. It's so cool."

Bella heard what her Daughter said. "You will not follow your aunt’s steps to be a police woman."

Ally pouted. "Mommy! I want to be a spy! Secret agent!”

Bella firmly said no. But Hope winked at her Daughter.

"You can be anything you want, honey. I'll talk to your Mom about it. Just pursue your dream."

Ally smiled and hugged her Mom. "Thanks Mom."

Abby walked in and leaned into her Mother. "Mom. I have something to tell you."

Hope nodded and waited for Abby to talk.

"Ummm.. Aunt Alle helped me arrest the senator’s Son."

Hope's eyes widened. "What?! Why?"

Abby nervously laughed. "He tried to grab hazel’s arm. And you know how sensitive she is."

"Oh yeah. The senator’s Son. He was convicted for raping the mayor's Daughter."

Abby's eyes widened.

"So it's not Alle's fault?" Hope asked.

"Nah. That too. She filed for harnessing and disturbance. The senator was not happy at all."

Hope sighed. “Dammit. Knowing Alle she will not stop if that man is not in jail."

Bella went to her wife's side and rubbed it. "Relax. I know Alle is wise enough. She won’t do anything careless." She said.

Hope nodded and smiled at her Wife. She still believed this thing would be more complicated in the future...

ALLE'S POV

"HOW DARE YOU!" The senator barged in my office door while I was on a video meeting with my workers in Germany.

"Wir werden dies in einem anderen Zeitpunkt fortzusetzen. (We'll continue this in some other time.)" I said to them and ended the call. I looked at him. "Was machine Sie tun Sie pathetischen Vorwand eines Mannes alle unsere Senator wir nennen? (What do you want you pathetic excuse of a man we all call our senator?)" I asked him.

"What? SPEAK ENGLISH! WE'RE IN AMERICA." He screamed at me.

"What do you want, Senator Watson?"

"You young bitch! Drop the charges on my Son."

I smirked at him. "Why should I?"

His face showed anger. "I swear I'll end your family’s status in this town."

I laughed. "I would like to see you try. My family has been the most influential family in town for years. I would like to see you try to bring us down."

He looked like he was about to say something but decided not to. "You're a young mindless bitch. I'll make sure you will pay for this."

I stood and looked at him eye to eye. "You barged in my door. You threatened me. You called me names. You are exactly what your Son is, senator Son of a bitch. I really want to see what you can do to a Larove. But listen to this. When someone tries to disturb a Larove, the Christ family will not stand down. We know your secrets and that little underground activity. Don't make me be a real bitch."

He stepped back. He fixed his suit and cleared his throat. "We'll forget that I was here."

"I was thinking the same thing."

He smiled forcefully and walked out of my office.

He had balls to meet me here?! How dumb is he!

"Miss. Are you okay?" Vanessa walked in the room.

"I'm fine. Thank you. Can you bring me the files that I need to sign? And I don't want any visitors. Except family members."

Vanessa nodded.

I sighed heavily. I continued to finish my work and tried to focus on the problem at hand. How did I tell Hazel that I wanted to have dinner with her... I smiled thinking about her...