Bully HUMILI ATED her in front of everyone, not knowing who she really is…

Victor hated waiting. Every minute wasted here was a minute less to prep for the fight that night, the fight that could change everything if she won. But looking at Max, at the cruel satisfaction in his eyes, at the bloodthirsty crowd, Anna realized something.

She was tired of hiding. Tired of pretending to be weak. Tired of letting people like Max Thompson think they owned the world.

«No,» she said simply. That single word hit the gym like thunder. No one said no to Max Thompson.

No one refused when he’d already cornered and broken them. «What did you say?» «I said no.» «I’m done with your games.

I’m done being your entertainment. I’m done pretending that power is everything here. You think you have a choice?» Max laughed, but it sounded forced.

«You think you can just walk away?» «Yes.» Anna stood fully, and something in her posture made the nearest students instinctively step back, because «here’s what’s going to happen. I’m walking out of this gym.

You’re going to let me pass. And tomorrow, everyone pretends nothing happened. Pause.

Or… I’ll stop holding back.» The words hung in the air like a challenge. Max stared at her.

For the first time, really. He saw her on her toes. Saw the relaxed but ready position in her arms.

Saw eyes that had seen violence far beyond schoolyard posturing. «You’re bluffing, Anna.» She smiled.

But it wasn’t a happy smile, not a fearful one, but the kind 47 opponents had seen right before waking up in the ER. There’s only one way to find out. Max felt the crowd’s energy shifting.

They’d come for a show and got one, but not the one he’d planned. The invisible girl wasn’t breaking, wasn’t begging. She stood like she actually believed she could beat him.

His reputation wouldn’t survive this, even if he won, which he was still sure he would. The mere fact that she thought she could challenge him was cracking the foundation of fear he’d built for years. «Fine,» he said, cracking his knuckles.

«You wanna play, fighter girl? Let’s play. But when it’s over, you won’t just bark, you’ll beg.» He lunged at her with the technique that had won him three state wrestling championships.

Low center of gravity, arms wide to prevent escape, the same takedown that ended every real fight he’d ever been in. Anna saw him coming with the cold calculation of someone who’d faced men twice his size in places where the ref’s job was just to make sure no one died. She had two options.

Let him take her down and hope someone intervened before it got out of hand. Or go full exposure and deal with the fallout. Her brother’s face flashed in her mind, pale and thin but still smiling, still believing his big sister would find a way to save him.

Victor’s fights paid. Twenty dollars per win, eighty for a title defense. The two-thousand-dollar prize at tonight’s tournament could save their lives.

If she exposed herself here, it all vanished. But if she let Max Thompson slam her into the gym floor, something else would vanish—the last part of her that remembered how to stand tall. The decision made itself.

Max was less than two feet away when Anna moved. To the crowd, it looked like magic. One moment she was still, the next she was spinning past him like a matador with a bull.

Her hand brushed his shoulder as he went by. Just a touch, but applied at the perfect angle to amplify his momentum and send him crashing into the crowd. Students scattered.

Max hit the floor, rolled twice before stopping. When he looked up, his expression had shifted from rage to something close to astonishment. «Wrestling’s good,» Anna said casually, like they were discussing sports over lunch.

«It’s great for controlling opponents your size, but it has big gaps when fighting someone trained in multiple disciplines.» She saw the moment he got it. Saw the realization dawn in his eyes that she wasn’t the weird girl who’d gotten lucky a few times.

This was something else, something dangerous. «Who are you?» he asked, rising more cautiously. Her phone buzzed a third time.

Victor was losing patience. She needed to end this now. «Hey, that’s Ghost!» A voice came from somewhere in the crowd.

A sophomore guy, holding up his phone with a YouTube video. «Look! Same height, same build, same movement style. That’s Ghost from the underground fights.»

Everything froze. «Ghost!» The name spread through the crowd like wildfire. Everyone had heard the rumors.

The undefeated fighter in illegal arenas. 47 wins, most by knockout. No one knew the real identity because they always fought in a hood and mask.

But the videos were legendary—brutal, efficient, terrifying. «No way,» someone muttered. «Ghost is short and all muscle.

Angles, idiot. Look at the footwork, look how she moves.» More phones came out, loading more videos.

Side-by-side comparisons between Anna’s moves in the gym and shaky footage from abandoned warehouses where people paid cash to watch rule-free violence. Max went pale. «You’re Ghost.»

Anna didn’t deny it. No point. The proof was on over 50 screens…