Meanwhile, during the night, Elora Daniels was watching a singing competition on television. Outside, the crickets from a distance chirped rhythmically; they gave her a sense of the familiarity of the nighttime. Although she wasn't exactly fond of the TV show, it gave her comfort after a long day at work. She enjoyed an iced chocolate as she sat on the sofa. The richness of cocoa and the sweetness of sugar and marshmallows melted in her mouth. Just as she was about to unwind, the TV screen went dark because all the electricity in the house was abruptly shut off. A soft blue light emanated across the room as the dim glow of the television appeared.

Great! She thought sarcastically. Her eyebrows furrowed. Two small vertical lines were etched between her eyebrows on her forehead. She suddenly remembered that she wasn't able to pay her electric bill on time. It was because her income was meager. She and her colleagues were also frequently paid late.

Elora had always wanted to be a teacher since she was a child. Growing up, she thought teaching was a noble profession. However, her relatives attempted to discourage her. They informed her that teaching is a low-paying profession. But she didn't seem to mind. She wished to educate children so that they would be well-educated and well-mannered citizens. She thought that children were the country's future. So she stuck to her fantasy. She studied education, passed the required national teacher examinations, and became a certified teacher. She'd been a teacher for ten years. Nonetheless, she was underpaid and undervalued. She was stuck in this unappreciated job.

She sighed, disappointment carved in her face. "Well, I guess I will just eat outside then," she muttered to herself.

She got out and went to a cheap eatery. She placed an order for a porridge. She didn’t order a beverage because she already had one. She ate the warm and flavorful porridge and drank her chilly and pleasantly sweet homemade iced chocolate. Elora was just eating alone at the eatery. The server felt bad for her. Elora noticed that the server was looking at her with pity, so she consumed her dinner quickly. The server looked away and continued serving his other customers.

After having a quick dinner, Elora paid for it and left the eatery. She went home and slept. She just ignored the heat in her room due to the fact that the electricity was out. She fanned herself to sleep. She dismissed the discomfort her body felt.

Ring! Ring! Ring! It was 5:30 a.m. Elora had been awakened not by her phone's alarm clock but by a phone call.

"Hello?" Elora spoke in her sleepy voice. It was too early, and she was still sleepy.

"Hello, sis," mentioned the caller.

"Martha!" Elora uttered the name of her older sister. "How come you called so early? Is there something wrong?" Elora asked. She rubbed her eyes.

"Can I borrow some money from you, sis? It is really urgent! Martha implored.

Elora rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, please. I know what you're going to do with the money," Elora replied. It was for buying drugs, Elora thought darkly. Elora replied in a skeptical voice; she worried where the money might go.

Please, sis," Martha begged. "It's not what you think it is! My child is sick.”

"What? Where are you?" Elora bombarded her sister with questions. She was suddenly wide awake.

"We’re at the Archangel Gabriel Hospital," Martha answered. Elora knew that hospital. However, Martha and her daughter were two hours away from where Elora was living.

To add, she was going to teach her students at 7:00 a.m. She couldn’t afford to take a leave. Her students need her. Plus, she needed the money.

"What happened to Abby?" Elora inquired.

"She has dengue, and she’s confined in the hospital," Martha tearfully replied.

Elora asked her sister how much money they needed. Her sister answered her. Elora replied, "All right, I’ll send the money. I will visit you and Abby at the hospital after school."

"Thank you so much, sis!" Martha exclaimed.

"Okay, I’ll see you later. I love you. Bye," Elora responded. She hung up the phone; feelings of worry and determination mingled.

Elora used her phone's money-transfer app. She entered the total cost of the hospitalization and medications. The money was successfully transmitted to her sister's phone after she clicked the "send money" button. They now had enough money to pay for the hospital and the medications. Elora exhaled a sigh. However, her small bank account savings decreased. Her heart sank, but at least she was able to help her sister and niece.

I hope Martha doesn’t squander the money I sent her, Elora thought. It’s all I can give.

Suddenly, Elora had an idea. She required Martha to send some screenshots on the phone of the whole transaction in the hospital.

"Is that necessary?" Martha texted on the phone. "Don’t you trust me?"

"Sorry, Martha. But when it comes to money, after what you did, yes, I don’t trust you,” Elora texted back.

"Fine!" Martha replied.

Elora had to wait for the screenshots. She took a bath and brushed her teeth while waiting. Elora checked her phone afterwards. White towels were wrapped around her hair and body. Elora saw screenshots of medical payments, medicine receipts, and even photos of the hospital and Martha's daughter lying in bed and supported by dextrose. Martha was completely honest. Elora felt bad for having doubted her sister. Elora wore her uniform and black heels. Then she brushed and blow-dried her hair and applied light makeup. She went to school and taught her students.

The whole day, Elora focused on teaching her students. At lunchtime, she ate her brunch in the canteen. She ate chicken curry and rice and drank a bottle of iced water. Elora wasn’t her usual joyful self. Her voice was dreary, the lessons were dull, and there were no fun and playful activities. It was because, at times, she couldn’t help but think about Martha’s daughter in the hospital.

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I hope she’s okay, Elora thought. After school, she visited Martha and her sick daughter in the hospital. Elora brought a basket of fruits. The two sisters hugged each other. Little Abby was sleeping in the hospital bed.

"The doctor said that Abby would be okay," Martha told her sister. "She just needs to rest for one week. Then after that, we will come home."

"I’m glad to hear that," Elora replied.

Elora Daniels was born into a middle-class family. Her father was Frederick, and he was a police officer. Her mother was Rhoda, and she was a hairdresser. She only had one sister, Martha. She was a year younger than Martha. The two sisters were very different from each other. Elora had fair skin and brown hair. Martha had brown skin and black hair. Elora loved studying, reading books, drawing, writing, and singing. Martha loved cooking, dressing up, and socializing. Elora was an introvert, and Martha was an extrovert. But even though they were polar opposites, the two sisters used to get along with each other.

Growing up, Elora was seen by her peers as the boring one, and Martha was the cool one. It was mainly because Elora was so studious; she was always alone, and she always stayed in the school library, reading a book at break times. She only had two friends in school, and her friends were quiet geeks just like her. On the other hand, Martha liked to get dolled up, go to parties with the popular crowd, and have many friends. Martha was the queen bee in school. But she hated studying, which is why her grades were mediocre. Elora, on the other hand, was a huge nerd. She was always at the top of her class.

The two girls envied each other. Elora resented Martha's popularity. Elora's intelligence and abilities made Martha envious. However, they never told themselves this. They ceased being close after Martha started hanging out with the cool kids. The two sisters began to view each other from different angles as a result of envy. Martha was viewed as a bimbo by Elora. Martha considered Elora to be a loser. They would yank each other's hair if they could hear each other's thoughts. Ever since Martha hit adolescence and grew enormous breasts, she has become more popular. She dated many boys and switched boyfriends every three months. Her partners were also wealthy, attractive, and desirable. Elora rolled her eyes every time a guy gave Martha flowers and letters by her locker, and the couple walked and flirted in the hallways.

One Sunday afternoon, Elora confided her envy about her sister to her favorite uncle, who was just staying temporarily with them because he was looking for a job. Uncle Herbert told her that she shouldn’t be envious of her sister because she was beautiful, smart, and kind. His words uplifted Elora, and she smiled and hugged him.

But one cruel night, Uncle Herbert sneaked into her bed and pointed a knife at Elora. He said, "Don’t scream or tell your family about this, or else I will kill them." He forced himself upon Elora. She was just thirteen at the time. Uncle Herbert continued to rape Elora. Elora didn’t tell anyone about it because she believed her uncle’s threat.

But a few months later, Elora’s dad caught Uncle Herbert inhaling cocaine. He kicked him out of the house. Uncle Herbert went back to the province. When Uncle Herbert was gone, Elora realized this was her chance to tell the truth. Elora told her parents about the cruel crime he committed against her. Martha heard her. She was depressed because she wasn’t able to protect her sister. Their parents were angry, and they sued Herbert. He was imprisoned and convicted. They never saw Herbert again. However, their father always blamed her mother for bringing her drug-addict and rapist brother into the house. Their parents argued all the time. Soon, their father left them and chose to live with a young and beautiful mistress.

Martha started drinking, smoking, and doing drugs with her friends and boyfriend. She only did it to forget about all the crap that happened.

However, Martha stopped using drugs after becoming pregnant by her boyfriend, Dante. She was concerned about the baby's health. Martha became drug-free for nine months and two years. Dante left her for another girl. He justified his decision by stating that he was tired of their relationship and did not want to be a father. However, since Martha became a mother, she didn't have the time to dress up because she was caring for the baby. Dante perceived Martha as ugly and haggard, and he assumed that she simply let herself go. Martha was devastated and depressed after her boyfriend left her. She relapsed. She resumed her drug use. Martha was caught by her mother inhaling cocaine in Martha's room. Her mother was taken aback and disappointed. She had no idea Martha had been using drugs for quite some time.

She committed Martha to a rehabilitation facility. Martha had recovered and flushed the drug from her system. However, anytime a major crisis made her depressed, she resorted to using drugs over and over again. She was in and out of treatment. She borrowed money from Elora the majority of the time. She lied about needing money for everyday necessities at home. Elora gave her cash. But she soon discovered Martha using drugs at her house. She also observed Martha handing money to a suspicious-looking man. Elora addressed Martha and told her to cease using drugs for the sake of her child. She even threatened Martha with another stint in rehab. Martha didn't want to be separated from her daughter again.

She promised Elora that she would no longer use drugs. She kept her word. Until now, Martha has been clean.

Martha was still a student in college. She had been held back because she became pregnant at the age of sixteen and had to stop studying for two years to care for her child. She was also in and out of rehab for a year and four months. She was a college freshman. Martha was embarrassed by herself and her actions. She felt she had been extremely irresponsible. She envied Elora once more for being a responsible adult, graduating on time, and pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher. Elora, she thought, was perfect. Martha thought, I peaked in high school.

But Elora wasn't perfect. Elora had been keeping a dark secret for quite some time. She was particularly close to a male student last year. Atticus Campbell was the name of the male student. Atticus was a handsome, intelligent, gifted, and athletic student. He was slim and tall, with short blonde hair that was stylish, and he had emerald-green eyes. Despite the fact that he was a voracious reader, he never wore glasses because he had 20/20 vision. He enjoyed reading books and newspapers, playing tennis, singing traditional songs, and playing the piano. Elora enjoyed conversing with Atticus because he was intelligent and mature. Atticus seemed like an old man trapped in the body of a young boy. Atticus taught Elora a lot. He was more knowledgeable than her.

As the two grew closer, Elora realized she was falling for her high school student. She was initially disgusted by her own emotions. But then she realized that Atticus was extremely mature for his age, and she had never felt this way about a man before. In fact, she came to the conclusion that Atticus was more mature than men her age! Elora believed that in an ideal world, there would be no laws prohibiting an adult from having a romantic relationship with a minor. She thought, what is the point of having such ridiculous laws? She believed that people of all ages should be together. She told her favorite student about her feelings. He admitted to having feelings for her as well. They began dating each other.

They went on dates in secret. They always dated at her house or at her late grandfather's beautiful cabin in a small rural town. She inherited the cabin because she was Grandpa Ernest's favorite granddaughter. She did whatever she wanted with it. They had a candlelit dinner together. She prepared aphrodisiac foods such as steak, lobster, lab, turkey, and chicken in a variety of delectable variations. They always drank wine. They discussed books they had read over coffee and hot chocolate with marshmallows. The hot chocolate was a hit with Atticus. They made love many times in her house and her grandfather's cabin. The student had lost his virginity to his favorite teacher. They continued their illicit relationship. She was twenty-one, and he was thirteen.

If only Martha knew her sister’s secret illegal activities, she would feel disgusted. Her admiration for Elora would turn into hatred.