Something in her cracked open.
"This wasn't just about embarrassing me," she said quietly. "It was about destroying me."
Ryan's voice was steel. "Then we destroy her back."
****
The next day, Ella took the mic.
During morning assembly.
She stood on the auditorium stage with a camera crew she hired from the AV club.
Principal Aragon almost stopped her—until Ryan whispered something to her behind the curtain. Something about lawyers. Sponsors. And truth.
Ella cleared her throat.
"I've been silent for too long. I was shamed, mocked, and nearly broken by a rumor that started with a picture. A picture of two people… kissing."
The crowd buzzed.
"Since when did a kiss become a crime?"
Whispers.
"I'm not here to beg for sympathy. I'm here to say—I'm done being silent. I know who posted it. And I know the lies that followed. And if anyone else has been bullied, blackmailed, or threatened by the 'Elite Circle'—come find me."
She looked right at Clarissa.
Dead in the eye.
"You don't get to be the queen when your crown is made of lies."
Gasps echoed.
Phones captured every second.
Ryan stood in the back, proud. Smirking. Dangerous.
****
But later that night—
Ella found her dorm door wide open.
Her things—trashed.
Clothes ripped. Books torn. Lipstick smeared across her mirror:
"We warned you."
She froze.
And beside the mess… her mother's gold bracelet.
Gone.
The one her mom gave her before leaving Mexico. Her most precious thing.
That was the final straw.
No more playing fair.
No more holding back.
****
The chapter ends as Ella calls Naomi.
"We're exposing all of them," she says. "And I don't care what it costs."