Chapter 9. Disobedience Has Consequences

Aurora’s POV

Monday. The very mention of the day always left a sour taste in my mouth, but today, it was worse than most. It had started off badly—with me waking up on the living room floor after my father had smashed a bottle on my head; I had to skip breakfast, and to top it all off, I had just gotten an F on a test that I thought I had done well in.

I should have known the day would spiral further into disaster when Mr. Hemming fixed his cold, scrutinizing gaze on me the moment I entered his classroom.

The man had always unsettled me, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe it was the way his lips curled up in a way that never quite reached his eyes, or the way his fingers would drum against the wooden surface of his desk, slow and deliberate. He was unpredictable—one moment calm, the next sharp and biting. Today, he seemed particularly keen on making me his target.

I stood there, clutching the torn paper in my hands, the remnants of the