Chapter 5 Betrayed by the Ones Meant to Teach

Elara was only eleven when the betrayal came again.

Her uncle was gone - finally, the dark shadow that haunted their home had disappeared. She had hoped that maybe life would start to heal, that school would be her escape. But instead, school became another prison.

It started with a teacher.

He smiled in front of the class, praised her answers, and called her "special." But behind closed doors, his kindness turned into something ugly.

He would find reasons to keep her after lessons, when the halls were empty and the classrooms silent. He would lock the door and come too close, his hands straying where no hands should ever touch. He touched her body without permission, whispering threats disguised as promises in her ear. His hands bruised more than her skin - they bruised her spirit.

Elara was terrified but too trapped to speak.

Who would believe her?

At school, she was already seen as a stubborn, rude, and struggling student. Her teachers whispered that she was hopeless - a girl too rough, too broken.

At home, her mother's anger rained down like punishment. There was no safe place. Not even for her broken heart.

Every time the teacher violated her, Elara felt smaller, as if her soul was slipping away.

And every day, she wore a thicker mask: tough, cold, distant.

No one could see the little girl inside, crying silently for someone - anyone - to notice that she was drowning.

She learned a bitter truth:

Monsters don't always hide under beds. Sometimes, they stand before you in broad daylight, with a smile on their face and authority in their voice.