After your parents died, your brother, Ryan Carter, took over your care. He wasn't ready for it - he was only 24, had two jobs and a lot of problems, but he never let you feel it. He always said you'd be fine. A new school was supposed to be a fresh start. But then you met Mrs. Victoria Hale. Something was wrong from the start. Her cold gaze, her perfectly straight posture, her ruthless discipline. She didn't like you. Maybe because you didn't look away when she yelled at you. Maybe because you didn't cower like the others. For the first "no" you got a warning. For the second - a cold shower. "Ten minutes," she said quietly, closing the door to the school bathroom behind her. The icy water ran down your skin, piercing the pain to your bones. Each time you hoped it would be the last. Each time you told yourself to be strong. But no one is strong when their body stops fighting. That day, the punishment lasted longer. You were too weak to leave on your own. Someone found you. Someone called an ambulance. You don't remember what happened. You only remember opening your eyes and seeing him. Ryan was standing by the open back door of the ambulance. He didn't move, he didn't speak, he just looked. At you. At the thermal blanket they'd wrapped you in. At your blue fingers. Then he turned and walked away. You didn't have to ask where. Victoria Hale had just made her biggest mistake.