Charlotte's POV

"You do realize that I can't let you leave, right?" I ask with crossed arms as I lean against my doorway


"Well, I'm not staying" Aspen declares as she grabs one of my hoodies and throws it over her tank top

It's one of the hoodies that I gave to her since it didn't fit me anymore.

She looks better in it than I ever did.


"Aspen, I can't let you leave because it's not safe" I say with a dead tone

I'm so exhausted.


Carolina and I have been working all night to try and figure out who Maddie is working for but kept running into dead ends.

The whole time Aspen has been here there's been a black van parked across the street just watching my house.

"Then how come the rest of you guys get to leave whenever you want?" She asks as she slips on her checkered vans and grabs her bag

"Because we can actually defend ourselves" I say with an annoyed tone since I haven't slept in over twenty hours and I'm stressed

I quickly realized that was a mistake when she faces me and gives me an 'are you serious right now' look.

Shit, I fucked up.

"Is that really what you think about me?!" She asks me in a pissed tone with a sarcastic laugh in between

Shit, she's going to kill me.

"Aspen, that's not what I meant" I say in a dead tone as I rub my temples

Fuck, how do I word this.

"Yes, it is" she says in an annoyed tone

"You know, if I knew you thought this badly of me I wouldn't have even agreed to be your girlfriend" she says with an emotionless tone which immediately makes my heart break

Wait what?!

Is she saying what I think she's saying?

I stand up from the wall and walk a little closer to her

"Are you breaking up with me?" I ask her carefully with an emotionless voice but I can see the pain in her brown eyes

I probably look the same.

"I don't know, am I?" She says calmly before she brushes past me and runs down the stairs

Her tone said it all.

I can't believe that she really broke up with me.

I'm frozen in my spot as I continue to look at the spot she was standing awhile ago.

Next thing I know I'm slowly sliding down my door and hugging my knees close to my body.

I'm too shocked to cry.

I expected her to punch me, hit me, maybe even tackle me.

Not break up with me.

"Charlotte, Carolina needs to tell you- Are you okay?" Collin says but stops mid-sentence when he sees me sitting on the floor hugging my knees

"She broke up with me" I say with a broken tone as tears start to slowly stream down my face

"Aspen? Where is she?" He asks with a confused tone

"She left" I say with a hiccup

"Like left the house or left this room?" Collin asks with a panicked tone

"What do you think, genius" I say sarcastically with an eye roll

"Shit, Shit, Shit!" He says with a panicked tone before starting to pace outside of my door

"Calm down, Lightning McQueen, you're creating a draft" I say as I slowly stand up since I'm feeling a little bit dizzy

Damn, I need sleep.

"What's the problem?" I ask as I cross my arms and look at him

"That black van just moved, Carolina thinks that it's following Aspen" he says which makes me tense

Of course its following her.

It's obviously not following a turkey sandwich.

"Calm down, Chucky" I say with an eye roll

"Chucky?" He asks with a confused facial expression

"You're worrying so much that you remind me of Chucky from Rugrats" I say and he nods his head

"Does Carolina have a lead on who she thinks it is?" I ask him

"I don't know" he says which causes me to rub my temples in frustration

I walk past him and down the stairs while wiping away my tears so that I don't look vulnerable and unprepared.

'A leader must show no emotion' I remember my father saying before he and my mother ditched me.

"Do you have a lead on who you think the van owner is?" I ask as I walk into the dining room and see her violently typing on her computer

Fun fact, Carolina is also a hacker which comes in handy in most situations.

"Have you been crying?" She asks without even look up from the computer

What the-?!

"No" I lie

She continues to type as she looks up at me for a second then rolls her eyes.

"Yes, you have and you're a horrible liar" She says before she stops typing and looks up at me

"What's wrong?" She asks with a motherly tone which makes me sigh as I walk over to sit in the chair beside her

"Aspen and I broke up" I say and immediately start to feel tears build up in my eyes but I force them down

"Aww, I'm sorry. Are you okay? Where is Aspen?" She says sincerely as she places a hand on my shoulder

"I'm fine and she left" I say which makes Carolina freeze

"What do you mean by 'she left'?" She asks in a hurried tone

"She went on a vacation to mars" I say sarcastically

What is up with everyone asking stupid questions today?

"You need to go speak to Aspen" Carolina says

"We literally broke up twenty minutes ago, she's not going to talk to me" I say as if it's a fact, which it is

"Fine, I'll ask Kayden to do it" she says with an eye roll and picks up her phone

"Why would I need to speak to Aspen anyway?" I ask with a confused tone

"If the owner of the van is who I think it is then Aspen needs to be watched closely" she says with a serious tone

"Who's the owner of the van?" I ask slowly, scared of what the possible answer could be

"I'm not one hundred percent sure" she says as she places her phone down

"Just tell me" I say

She pauses for approximately five seconds before turning her computer in my direction which makes my eyes widen.

There's a mugshot of Aspen's dad displayed on her screen with his name under the photo.

Henry Alexander Bailey III.

"It might be her dad" Carolina says sadly while carefully watching my facial expressions.

Shit.

It's been two days since I've last seen sunlight.

Since I've last got out of bed.

Since I've made the biggest mistake of my life.

I hear a knock at the front door but I roll over and pretend that I didn't hear it.

Next thing I know they're banging at the door which makes me jolt up in shock.

"I know you're in there, Aspen" I hear Kayden yell from the other side of the door

I reluctantly get out of bed and drag myself down the stairs and towards the door.

I unlock the door and squint my eyes as the sun hits me in the face.

When my eyes adjust I see Kayden standing there with a bright smile on his face

"No offense, but what are you doing here?" I ask him as I cross my arms over my stomach

"Ouch," he says teasingly and places a hand over his chest

"And Carolina asked me to babysit you" he says with a shrug

Are you kidding me right now?!

They sent me a babysitter!

"Are you serious?" I ask him

"Yeah, she said it was an emergency" he says

"Come in" I say as I hold the door wider for him to enter.

When he's entered the house I close the door and lock it before quickly climbing the stairs.

I have adrenaline and fury running through my veins right now.

How could they send me a babysitter?!

They kept me constantly supervised at their house!

Was that not even for them?!

"Are you okay?" Kayden asks as he follows me into my bedroom and sits in my desk chair

"I'm fine" I reply quickly before grabbing my phone and groaning when I realize it's dead

Of course it is.

"Can I borrow your phone?" I ask Kayden as I turn to face him

He looks at me with a concerned expression and presses his lips together before standing up and walking towards me.

When he reaches me he places his hands gently on my shoulders before sitting me down on my bed.

"Aspen, I don't know what you're going through, but I'm worried about you" he says seriously as he kneels in front of me

"I told you, I'm fine" I say with a serious tone but he shakes his head

"No, you're not" he states

"No offense, but your eyes are red and bloodshot, you look like you haven't eaten in days, and you smell a little ripe" he says which makes me glare at him

I see him visibly flinch at my expression as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone.

He hands me his phone which I grab with eager hands before standing up.

I quickly type in his password and go into his contacts. I click on Carolina's contact name and choose to FaceTime her.

As the phone rings I choose to pace the space beside of my bed as Kayden looks at me in confusion.

She picks up on the fourth ring. It looks like she's in the dining room.

When she looks at me she smiles guiltily.

"Hey, Aspen, What's up?" She asks calmly

Is she serious right now??

"Don't 'what's up' me" I say as I glare at her

"Why are you making Kayden babysit me?" I ask with a hard tone

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Kayden.

I hate the fact that Carolina sent him to watch over me as if I was incapable of taking care of myself.

"He wanted to do it" she says very unconvincingly

I turn to Kayden and glare at him coldly which makes his eyes widen.

He looks like he's about to break so I continue to glare at him.

"Okay, Carolina made me babysit you because she thinks that there's someone following you in a black van" he says quickly before places his hands over his mouth

"Kayden, I told you not to tell her!" Carolina screams through the phone

"You told him not to tell me that my life could possibly be in danger?!" I yell at her

Is she serious right now?!

"Aspen, it's for your own good. You wouldn't understand" she says was a sad tone

I'm getting tired of all these secrets.

I left their house so that I wouldn't be surrounded by secrets, but they somehow followed me.

"Try me" I command as I sit stiffly on my bed

I'm so furious that I can't even relax.

"I can't tell you, it's not my place to tell" she says apologetically

"Then who can tell me?" I ask with an annoyed voice

She presses her lips together and looks around the dining room before looking back at me. She hesitates a little bit before answering me.

"Your father" she says with an emotionless tone which causes Kayden to gasp as I clench my fist

"I'll call you back later" I say and go to end the call

"Aspen, don't do anything stupid" she says with a stern tone but I hang up on her and grab my phone

Wow, it only charged to ten percent.

I quickly dial my fathers number from my phone since he doesn't know Kayden's number.

My father answers on the second ring.

"Well isn't this a surprise" he says with an amused expression

"Cut the crap, Henry" I say with an acidic tone

"We need to talk" I say with an emotionless tone

You have to be careful with showing your emotions around my father.

Depending on his mood he could manipulate you just by using your emotions.

It's a disgusting thing.

"Yes, we do. Where shall I meet you?" He asks

"The museum. One hour. Be there" I command before hanging up

"The museum? One hour?" Kayden asks

Shit, I forgot he was here.

"I wanted to choose a place that was quiet and civil," I say and he nods

"One hour because I have to take a shower and change" I say

If I wore what I was wearing now my dad would figure out what happened and trigger my emotions. From there he'd manipulate me into doing whatever he wanted.

And because I feel gross right now.

"Wait, what am I going to do?" He asks with a confused tone

"You're going to spy on us. If he tries something you could easily call for help" I say

"Aspen, I'm not so sure this is a good idea" he says with a worried tone

"He's my dad, my own flesh and blood, he won't kill me" I say confidently

The only reason why he won't is because he's terrified of what my mother would do to him.

He still thinks that I don't know his weakness.

His weakness is my mom.