The Last Chance

Chapter 10 - A New Beginning

 * Author's Note: New chapter is up! I hope you guys like it! =) I enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you guys enjoy reading it just as much!

Thanks for staying loyal to this story, and taking the time to read it! I appreciate it so much!

This chapter is dedicated to Forevermoi for reading this story and being my french buddy! Merci beaucoup mon amie! 

On with the story!

~fr3e2dre4m

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Lindsey’s Point of View

I stood there, in the pale shadows of the tall redwoods, watching through misty eyes as Jeff held Katie to his chest, her golden hair fanning over his body. He loved her like any father would love daughter, completely and without abandon.

The deep red of the sun blistered in the sky, dying pale white clouds a bloody red, and the ground glowed with red. It was like a fire, consuming me, even though I knew we were safe here, in this beautiful park, where the fire couldn't reach me.

It was my escape night all over again, when I had discovered the baby inside of me, the danger I was in. My screams through the night, as the flames had nearly taken my life.

I could remember every detail up until the last moment, when I had passed out. The rundown apartment I inhabited was not fit for human, and one small kitchen accident had set the building on fire. Flames had licked the scarred edges of the walls, turning them a charred black color.

I had been the first out of the building, coughing and hacking from the smoke, and I clutched my stomach, and looked up fearfully, before I fell into blackness.

But I had made it out alive, with Katie, and I had promised myself to never get involved again, to never have to go through that type of pain. False promises echoed in my head, of love, of comfort, of safety.

Jeff had turned his back on me, when I had been carrying my beautiful daughter, stomach round as the moon. Katie had been called a bastard child, illegitimate, with no father. I was a whore, a prostitute who had the misfortune of becoming pregnant after the condom broke.

Oh how wrong they were; I had had sex a grand total of fifteen times, all with Jeff, and my daughter was the baby of the most influential CEO in the U.S.

In a time of need, I had broken down; I had almost drowned myself out of desperation. The last thing I needed in my life was Jeff to complicate things, to mess up the ideal life I had finally created for myself.

But now I had a life. I worked hard, everyday, to ensure Katie lived in a good home. To ensure that no one could take her from me. We no longer lived in a poor neighborhood with rundown apartment buildings, but rather a decent home in a modest neighborhood.

Looking up, Katie had almost fallen asleep, her lashes making shadows on her cheeks as the pale lids of her blue eyes drooped in exhaustion.

“Jeff, I can take it from here,” I murmured. “Thanks for everything.”

“Lindsey, don’t shut me out again.”

“It’s too late. What’s done has been done,” I shrugged. “Besides, you’ve already put me through enough pain. Anymore, and I’ll be dead. A woman can only handle so much.”

With that I extracted Katie from his arms, and held her to my body. Over the years, I had learned to adapt to harsh conditions, and I was now slim as a reed, fat nonexistent.