I Thought My Niece Was Just ‘Going Through a Phase’ – Then I Saw the Messages Destroying Her

“Yeah, Aunt Laura. I’m fine.”

“Nothing’s wrong… just tired,” she said, but her voice cracked on the last word. When she opened the door, her eyes were bloodshot and puffy.

Her hands were shaking so badly she had to grip the doorframe to steady herself.

“Bad day at school?” I asked softly.

She shrugged. “School’s school. I really need to help Dad with his exercises now.”

She brushed past me before I could say anything else, leaving me standing in the hallway with a sick feeling in my stomach.

The next afternoon, while Mia was in the living room helping Tom stretch his left arm, I made a decision that would either save my niece or make her hate me forever.

Her room was neat, almost obsessively so.

Bed made with hospital corners, books arranged by height, homework stacked in perfect piles. But I wasn’t looking at the organization. I was looking for answers.

I found her phone under the bed, plugged into a charger.

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