02.

Ashley fell into Darius' arms, shivering vigorously. “He…He—” she stutters letting the crocodile tears stream.

“What did he do?” Darius demands sending daggers at Axel.

“He tried assaulting me” She stares bursting into a new set of tears.

“The hell!” Darius curses pulling Ashley aside carefully and handing her over to one of his minions that stood beside them while the other one held a phone recording.

“You dare lay your hands on my girl. Who the hell is this guy!?” Darius demands.

"That's Axel Storm, the poorest student on campus. He can barely afford three square meals a day, and his outfits never exceed $20. Despite his financial struggles, he's a scholarship student at EUNY, thanks to his exceptional academic record and intellect," John, one of Darius' minions, explains.

Darius snickered, “You poor thing. For you to have the guts to lay your finger on my woman you think you could get away with it? Huh?” Darius states.

“Put it on live John, I want everyone to witness this or gather an audience. Let everyone see how I beat the life out of this crap for messing with me” Darius states folding his sleeves.

And just like Darius ordered, a scene was already beginning to form.

“She’s mine. Tell him, fucking tell him Ash—” Axel states but is cut off by a punch that cuts him off guard, making him stumble to the ground.

The audience cheered, “Beat him to death!” One of the members yells as yodels when on.

Darius pounced on Axel like he was some punching bag. As much as Axel wanted to defend himself, he was no match for Darius’ strength.

“This is a warning to stay away from not just my girl but every woman on the campus. You don’t belong here and I’ll make sure you never set your foot in this school” he punched his face hard enough.

Axel puffed out blood his vision beginning to blur. “Get off of me,” he says inaudible.

The crowd laughed, “Fight back you crap! Don’t be a chicken” Someone mocked causing laughter to erupt.

Axel's face twisted in rage, he snarled and snapped, trying to break free. But he was no match for Darius' strength, and he was unable to defend himself. His attempts at fighting back were weak and futile, only earning more laughter and mockery from the crowd.

"You think you can take on me and my crew?" Darius sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. "You're nothing but a pathetic little worm, Axel. And you'll stay away from Ashley, or you'll face the consequences."

The crowd cheered and chanted, their voices fueling Darius' anger and Axel's humiliation. Axel's vision began to blur, his consciousness slipping away as the beating continued.

Just as all hope seemed lost, a figure appeared, pushing through the crowd and shouting for them to stop. The beating ceased, and Axel was left lying on the ground, battered and broken. The figure stood over him, a look of anger and concern etched on their face.

"Leave him alone, Darius," Asher said, his voice firm and pleading.

"This isn't over," Darius states walking away.

Soon the crowd walked away alongside Darius leaving only Asher and Collins to cater for their almost lifeless friend.

Axel growls in pain trying to lift but Asher beats him to it helping him up.

“Get away from me” Axel states with rage.

Asher sneered, “Fuck you man. You have a lot of explanation to do.”

Collins nods in agreement, “Yes. Since when were you involved with Ashley”

Axel's blood raged. He didn’t have time to entertain their piety, it was the last thing he wanted after the humiliation Ashley had caused upon him.

Never has he felt more ashamed than he feels now. He has been too gullible enough for Ashley to toy with his feelings.

A tear rolled as a frustrating groan slipped. He was burning with anger, deceit, and hurt. He couldn’t point out exactly what he felt at the moment but he so badly wanted to rip his heart out maybe the pain of betrayal would cease and he wouldn’t have to suffer a day knowing that he mistook deceit for love.

“Get a hold of yourself man” Collins tries to reach out yet again but a glare Axel sent to him has him flying his two hands up in defense as he steps back.

“You fucked up man. I mean what were you thinking? Linking up with Ashley? I thought we all hated her?” Collins says in disappointment.

The trio had come to terms with never getting involved with either of the queen bees of the school talk less of the main Bitch.

Ashley was bitch to be sincere but after she had stepped up to Axel and managed to talk him off with her sweet words and charming self, Axel had to question his judgment about Ashley.

He thought that maybe they had judged her too soon and she was the total opposite of what she hey had thought she was, but if only he had known that it was part of her devious plan to deceive him.

Axel had helped her a lot academically, she had improved a lot more than she had before and now that Axel’s purpose had expired, she was of no use.

“That girl is a snake. I thought I had warned you the other time I saw you guys at the library. You clearly stated that you were only tutoring her, what then changed? How did you let her get the better of you?” Asher questions with frustration lingering in his tune.

“Yeah, man! You should have seen this coming. Girls like Ashley roll with guys like Darius, you never stand a chance—” Collins trailed off.

Axel took him off guard after throwing him a weak punch on his lower jaw.

“Shut the fuck up! I don’t need you guys parenting me. I fucking own my life, my decisions and mistakes are my crap to deal with not yours, so stay out of this” Axel warns barely able to keep his composure.

Asher makes a move to punch Axel but Collins beats him to it, “Leave it! He can go fuck himself up, for all we care” he states glaring at Axel that doesn’t seem to care one bit.

Asher nods, “C’mon let’s go,” he says and they both share a last glance at Axel before walking away.

Axel stood there helpless as he watched the only people that had ever been on his sidewalk away too.

He has made enough losses today.

First, it was his lover or so he thought, and now his two best pals.

Axel struggled to his feet, his body aching from the beating. He took a deep breath and began to walk away, his legs trembling beneath him. As he stumbled through the campus streets, he couldn't shake off the feeling of humiliation and anger.

He so badly wanted revenge.

His mind kept wandering back to the moment he shared with Ashley, the way she smiled at him, the way her eyes sparkled with love or so he thought.

He growled softly to himself, his frustration boiling over.

How could she do this to him? How could she pretend to care about him, only to reveal her true intentions?

He thought about the way Darius and his minions had taunted him, the way they had laughed at him as he lay helpless on the ground.

All of what he thought was fake. If only he had seen it coming.

Axel's eyes narrowed as he walked, his fists clenched at his sides. He couldn't believe he had been so blind, so naive.

He thought Ashley was different, that she saw something in him that no one else did. But it was all a lie, a clever manipulation to get him to let his guard down.

But why? Why did she do this to him? What was her motive?

There was more to this.

He growled again, the sound echoing through the empty streets. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have let himself fall for her tricks?

As he walked, the anger and frustration built inside him, until he felt like he was going to explode. He wanted to scream, to shout at the top of his lungs, to let the whole world know how he felt.

But he didn't. He kept walking, his feet carrying him farther and farther away from the as though the walk was the only way he would feel better.

He didn't know where he was going, but he knew he had to get away, he didn’t only want to go away but to rip his soul out maybe the pain would go away.

Finally, after what felt like hours of walking, Axel stopped. He looked around, realizing he was at the edge of campus, the streets empty and dark. He took a deep breath, his chest heaving with exhaustion.

He noticed a cliff that stood at the distant end his brows furrowing as he took steps close to it.

Upon reaching there he knew that he had two choices at the moment.

One is to walk back in shame and humiliation to the campus, living every day in his life filled with misery as the taunts of Darius and his crew which he wouldn’t want.

And the other option was, to jump off the cliff and forget everything, the pain, sufferings, and every dilemma he has gone through in all his lifetime.

Everything will vanish and no one would even notice he’s gone. He won’t have to wake up every day in search of what to eat, money to make, and pay for his necessities.

He won’t have to run through shift after shift just so he can afford the life he always dreamed for himself.

It was a hard choice to make but he knew he had to make it now, it was now or never.

Jump off the cliff or walk away?

His heart rate escalated as he struggled to come up with a conclusion.

He is going to jump off the cliff.

Yes! He is going to do it.

He has to, it’s the only way he can escape all this.

He shut his eyes momentarily taking slow steps with his heart beating raggedly against its ribcage.

“Stop!”

Axel paused a step away from letting go and jumping off.

He turned to face the person who had halted his action.

Axel turned coming in view with a man draped in a mask with a gun pointed at him.

“You don’t have to jump off and make my job here easier. The boss said to make sure you die a slow and painful death” the man says.

“What do you mean? Who are you and what do you want? Who sent you here?” Axel asked in one go.

The man laughed.

“Darius sent you?” Axel declared.

“Yes. You got that right. Now enough with the conversations” he states pulling the trigger “Come with me” he orders.

“No!” Axel protest. “I’d rather jump off the cliff than come with you”

“Don’t mess with me, let’s go”

"Stand down!" a voice boomed unexpectedly, and a few guards emerged from the shadows, all dressed in black and armed with guns. "Put the gun down and step away from the young master!" one of the men, with a nerve-racking physique, ordered, pointing his gun at the man who had initially threatened Axel.

The man was caught off guard, but it didn't stop him from pulling the trigger and shooting Axel in the chest, right at the spot where his heart was. Axel's eyes widened in shock as he stumbled backward, clutching his chest in agony.

“No!”

Axel reached to the ground almost falling off the cliff but one of the guards held him before he reached the ground.

The scene was chaotic, with Axel lying on the ground, struggling to breathe, and the guards trying to apprehend the man who had shot him.

The voice that had initially given the order to stand down came closer, and Axel saw a figure in a black suit, with a stern expression, kneeling beside him.

"Hold on, Young Master," the man said, applying pressure to the wound. "We've got you. You're going to be okay."

Those were the last words he heard before darkness evaded his vision.