Miss Calloway is lookin for this one, and I have no idea but it sounds like it might get crazy!
She asks:
Can’t remember if the setting was in HS or college but the leads are still students.
The heroine came from a poor family living with only her mom whom was constantly leaving her as a kid alone starving for days in their apartment. Her dad is a powerful man (not sure if mafia type) who shockingly abuses her sexually.
She finally escaped that life when she grows up and become a working student in their school. I think she’s then living with her aunt or a friend who works in a club/bar.