*"Is this teacher crazy? The evidence is right there!"*
*"Where is the administration? Why are they keeping this trash around?"*
*"Georgia, don't be afraid! The internet has your back!"*
At the door, several female students were already tearing up.
"Georgia is so pitiful. She was handed over to an old man by the teacher she trusted most."
"Exactly. She doesn't deserve to be a teacher."
Georgia clutched her belly, sobbing so hard her knees buckled.
Ice settled in my veins.
Three years ago, I had traveled to Yufeng Village. I stumbled upon Georgia's parents trying to marry her off to a bachelor in his fifties just before her college entrance exams—all to secure a bride price for her brother.
She had knelt in the mud, arms wrapped around my legs, begging through her tears: *"Teacher, I want to study. Please save me…"*
My heart had cracked open.
I stopped the marriage. Promised to sponsor her tuition until graduation. She worked herself to the bone and got into a top-tier university. The day she received her acceptance letter, she called me, voice breaking. *"Ms. Matthews, I will study hard and repay you one day."*
I had been so proud.