Ella:

Mary released my hair forcing me to look in her direction and slapped me hard across my face, the sound ringing in my ears for a good few seconds. “How dare you lie to our faces and stab our backs like this after all the things I have done for you?” she barked.

I normally would’ve cried under such circumstances but she had physically abused me on so many occasions over the years that my tears had dried up now. I wanted to slap her right back but, I still needed a roof over my head until I saved enough to move out, so I was under a certain...