"What?" Everyone turned to Rowan in shock. She was known for her sharp, ruthless personality. How could someone like her—regardless of being a boy or a girl—have been bullied? But seeing her expression as she spoke, there was no doubt that it had really happened to her. Rowan took a deep breath before continuing. "I was bullied by my classmates starting in elementary school! They dragged me to an abandoned warehouse, where no one could see or hear me. They beat me, hurled insults, and yanked me by the hair, dragging me across the ground. When they’d had their fun, they pinned me against the wall and covered my back, arms, and hair with industrial-strength glue, sticking me there. I was left like that for an entire day and night. They shut the warehouse door, trapping me in total darkness—no light, no sound, no one around." As she spoke, Rowan’s eyes turned bloodshot. These were wounds she had buried deep within herself for years—wounds so ugly and terrifying that she had never dared to revisit them. But now, with some of the greatest figures in the education sector present, she saw this as her chance—her chance to finally fulfill a lifelong wish. Everyone in the courtyard sucked in a sharp breath, their faces filled with disbelief. My God… None of them could fathom it. The Rowan they knew—the brilliant and highly respected prodigy in science—had endured such unspeakable cruelty? Beaten, insulted, dragged across the floor by her hair, glued to a wall for an entire day and night. The mere thought of it was horrifying. A little girl, still in elementary school, trapped in a pitch-black warehouse with no escape, suffering for hours on end. How did she endure that day and night? Injured, alone in the dark… how terrified and hopeless must she have felt? "I struggled, desperately trying to break free, but the glue had seeped through my clothes, bonding to my skin. My back and hair were stuck to the wall—I couldn’t move an inch. Every attempt sent unbearable pain ripping through me. I screamed for help, but there was nothing. Just silence. No one answered. I stood there, frozen in place, afraid to sleep, afraid to even relax, because the moment I did, the pain in my back and scalp would become unbearable. Time blurred. My body weakened. My consciousness started slipping away. I couldn't hold on any longer. My eyes closed… but just as I passed out, a fresh wave of pain would jolt me awake. It happened over and over, until I lost count. Then, after what felt like an eternity, I heard voices outside. The police. But by then, I didn’t even have the strength to call out for help. I was starving, dehydrated, exhausted—completely drained. I thought I was going to die there. And just as my eyes fluttered shut one last time… the door opened."By the time Rowan finished, tears were streaming down her face. The courtyard was dead silent. The air was suffocatingly heavy. Everyone felt as if a massive weight had settled on their chests, making it hard to breathe. Each of Rowan’s words hit them like a crushing boulder, one after another, slamming into their hearts. Rowan took another deep breath and continued. "When I woke up, I was in the hospital, my back wrapped in bandages. The kids who bullied me had been arrested by the police." At this point, her eyes flashed with cold fury. "But they! They were under twelve—too young to be charged with a crime! And their parents had the audacity to brush it off as ‘just harmless childhood antics’! They didn’t even apologize!" By now, Rowan’s eyes were burning red, just like everyone else's. Sebastian couldn’t help but ask, "Didn’t your parents fight for justice?" His voice was soft, but it was enough to strike a nerve. The always-strong, always-unyielding Rowan suddenly broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. Ashley immediately pulled her into a gentle embrace, offering silent comfort. It took a long time for Rowan to regain her composure. She wiped her tears away, but her eyes still burned with hatred. Through gritted teeth, she said, "My parents... they took the seventy dollars in settlement money and medical expenses offered by the bullies' families. They agreed to drop the case—just like that, it was over. When I was discharged from the hospital, the bullies' parents showed up at our house every day, yelling at us, calling me shameless for ‘extorting’ them. They harassed us nonstop until my parents couldn’t take it anymore, we packed up and left. That was when I finally realized… school wasn’t supposed to be a place where you got beaten." Her voice grew quieter, heavy with sorrow. "But after that… my parents, convinced I had brought shame on them, began to resent me. They even considered sending me to an orphanage."