His Unveiled Passion

Before Naomi entered middle school, she had always been on the receiving end of bullying.

Quentin loved playing cruel pranks on her. He would slip bugs into her backpack, lace her milk with laxatives, and use scissors to chop the hair off all her dolls, leaving them bald.

Benjamin was always busy and rarely ever at home.

At first, every time Quentin bullied Naomi, she would run to her mother, Mary, in tears. However, as his stepmother, Mary had little authority to discipline him.

In the name of familial harmony, Mary chose to turn a blind eye to Quentin's childish pranks. She never told Benjamin what was happening.

With his stepmother protecting him, Quentin grew increasingly reckless.

Poor Naomi was bullied for so long that she came to believe that even her own mother would not protect her. She became quiet and withdrawn soon after.

That personality only made things worse for her in middle school. Her classmates, especially those who had no interest in studying, began to target her.

Since no one had ever helped her, she believed that telling a teacher or her parents would make no difference. No one would stand up for her. So she endured it silently for more than a year.

This continued until the second semester of eighth grade.

One afternoon, a group of classmates cornered her and forced her into a narrow alley just outside the campus.

school, some students liked to

pulled her textbooks and homework from her bag and threw them all over the ground. Two of them grabbed her by

The more she resisted, the worse the beating became. Eventually, she broke down and

people passed by and saw what was happening, but no

and

tugging at her clothes, a voice

you think you're

the group aside, and stepped in front of Naomi to

looked up at her

the very boy who had bullied her

was already 18, standing

presence alone made the girls fall silent. They glanced at each other nervously, unsure

stood in

was sharp and cold. "All of you. Hand over

carried their name, student

were not stupid. They knew that handing over the badges

so did most

dared bully Naomi because she