Chapter 4

Cracks in the Mask

Days turned into weeks, but the pain inside me never faded. I moved through life like a ghost—silent, hollow, and weighed down by a secret too heavy to bear. Each morning, I plastered on a fake smile, pretending I was fine while the truth gnawed at me from the inside.

But I wasn't fine.

Every time I closed my eyes, I was back in that dark room—helpless, vulnerable, broken. The voices I had overheard haunted me, their words echoing in my mind no matter how hard I tried to block them out. Someone I knew had planned this. Someone I trusted.

And the more I thought about it, the more my suspicion grew.

Olivia.

I couldn't shake the memory of her laughter in the stairwell, her cruel words playing over and over in my head: "That prude deserved it." I wanted to believe I was wrong—wanted to believe no one I called a friend could be capable of something so vile. But deep down, I knew.

I started watching her more closely. At school, she was the same Olivia everyone adored—loud, confident, always