Chloe was miserable. Any time she found a slight chance of happiness, Helen destroyed it.

Once Chloe's father gave her a pink hair ribbon and tied her hair up nicely. Chloe was very happy at that moment.

But the next day, Chloe found out that her hair ribbon was all torn up. She was certain that it was Helen, though she had no way of proving it.

Another time, Chloe found some beautiful wildflowers and picked them. She took them home and placed them in her mother's favourite vase.

However, she found the vase broken and the flowers trampled on the next day. Her father had been horrified, for the vase was an engagement gift, but Helen just smirked when she saw the spoilt flowers.

Chloe was very thankful that school would be starting again soon, as it meant that she won't have to see Helen so often. But she was also nervous as she would be starting sixth grade. Still, it couldn't be worse than home.

Chloe's father was very busy with work, so it was usually just Helen and Chloe. Helen always forced Chloe to clean up the whole house, even if the house was already fairly clean. If Chloe made any minor slip ups, Helen would beat Chloe with a belt.

Whenever Mr Ella questioned about the marks and bruises, Helen always convinced him that Chloe was just clumsy. It hurt Chloe to know that her father was too busy to notice her.

The night before her first day of school, Chloe was locked in her room as Helen claimed that Chloe had been very naughty and disobedient. As usual, Mr Ella didn't think to listen to Chloe's side of the story.

Chloe cried for her mother. She wanted to be safe in her mother's arms again.

Helen had already destroyed most of Chloe's mother's possessions. Chloe had to make sure that she kept her mother's fairy tale book hidden at all times, in fear of Helen destroying that too.

Chloe opened the book and flipped to Cinderella. She felt like she was Cinderella now, only without stepsisters.

Chloe loved all the fairytales in the book. She wondered how the characters managed to stay positive in such situations. Chloe wished that she could live in a world like that.

Chloe wanted to be a fairy tale princess and live happily ever after. It didn't have to be with a prince. Just living happily ever after would be enough for her.

Chloe settled down in bed and started to read Cinderella all over again. She would find a way someday. In the meantime, she would have to make do with reading fairy tales.