Chapter 5

"Chloe, hold on! It's way too crowded here. Can’t you just let me stay in the corner? I’d much rather be there," I said uneasily as she tugged me into the bustling crowd of people dancing. I couldn't stand the sight of some of those men, completely wasted, which made me feel even more uncomfortable.

Did I make a mistake by coming here? Obviously, yes. I’ve never been in a place like this before and never imagined I would be. I thought it would help me clear my mind of Jaxon, but now I regret my choice. I haven’t even been here for ten minutes, and I already can’t stand it.

This kind of place has never been my thing, and I know I’ll just fall back on my usual habit of reading whenever I’m feeling down or need to clear my head. I can’t seem to embrace any other things besides reading. I wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible; I hated it so much, but Chloe was making it even harder.

"No way! You're dancing with me!" Chloe exclaimed, her excitement palpable, and I let out a frustrated sigh.

"But Chloe..." I started to say, but she interrupted me before I could finish.

"Tonight, you’re going to dance away all your worries and forget about that Jaxon guy and everything else that's been bothering you. Stop being so naive, Molly! Your big sister has your back!" Chloe exclaimed as she finally released my hand when we reached the middle of the drunken crowd.

"Have fun, little sis!" she added, and before I could respond, she plunged deeper into the throng of people.

Is she serious right now? She's actually leaving me alone in a place like this, surrounded by these people. What on earth is she thinking, believing I’d be comfortable here? She knows I’ve never been in a place like this before, and it’s definitely not my scene.

"Oh my goodness, what am I going to do?" I muttered, feeling frightened as I glanced back, wishing I could escape. But with so many people around, getting out wouldn't be easy at all.

I'm not only uneasy about how intoxicated everyone is and my dislike for this place, but the way those leering men's eyes are fixated on me makes me feel both irritated and terrified as if they want to devour me alive. All I want is to vanish from this place immediately.

What can a naive girl like me do among all those men? It's freaking me out even more than I imagined. I swear I'll never make the mistake of coming to a place like this again once I manage to get out of here.

Wearing this long, backless gown makes it difficult for me to walk through the crowd, and I feel incredibly uncomfortable with those men clearly seeing my bare back. I can only blame Chloe for this; she insisted I wear this awful gown, even though I refused. If I had just worn my hoodie and baggy pants, I wouldn’t be feeling this way right now, and I’d have an easier time moving through the crowd.

I just wish someone would come and rescue me from this place right now. I wouldn’t care who it was, even if it were an angel.

I kept bumping into people, and it felt like I was never going to escape this crowd.

"Heyyy!" a man suddenly shouted as I collided with him, spilling his drink all over his white shirt. My eyes widened in panic.

"I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you, and I'll clean your shirt," I said quickly, hoping the man wouldn't get too angry with me. If he did, I was in trouble, especially with Chloe nowhere in sight to help.

The club's red and blue lights made it hard to see his face clearly.

"You’re going to help me clean this up! Do you have any idea how much this shirt cost, huh? You jerk!" the man shouted again, his words slurred from too much alcohol. Could today get any worse? Everything was going wrong, all because of Jaxon. He would definitely regret turning my day into this and for hurting me, I swear.

Being in this situation is only intensifying my anger and deepening my hatred for him. My feelings of love have been completely eclipsed by resentment, and I no longer feel any affection for him in my heart. All I want is for him to regret everything he’s done.

It’s clear that this man isn’t going to make this easy for me, so I need to save myself and get away from him before it’s too late. He doesn’t even seem interested in my apology.

"Are you just going to stand there and say nothing, you bitch? Do you even know who I am? I'm..." His words slurred as he continued, but I could feel the danger in his words. At this moment, I knew he was capable of hurting me, so I quickly hiked up my gown and took off running.

I collided with people as I dashed through the crowd, not stopping to apologize. I was desperate to get away, especially since he was right behind me. I had no clear destination in mind, but I was determined to escape him at any cost, so I kept running into the unknown.

"Goodness! Big sis is definitely going to hear it from me when I get home!" I gasped, breathless until I spotted a door. Without a second thought, I flung it open and hurried inside.

"Oh, finally," I sighed, exhaling deeply. Now I just had to wait here until the man forgot about me and stopped his pursuit.

The room was shrouded in darkness, the lights switched off, but I didn’t mind—I assumed I was alone but my heart nearly leaped out of my chest when a familiar voice, one I didn't want to hear ever again, echoed through the room.

"Finally, Molly, we meet again," the voice said, and as the lights flickered on, I couldn’t help but collapse to the floor in shock and fear.