"You're her mother—you're exactly the same kind of trash she is. Of course you can't admit it!"
"A little wretch like yours pulls something like this? She learned it from you! You worthless piece of filth!"
Claudia raised her arm and slapped my mother across the face.
My mother was small and thin. She couldn't take a hit like that.
Claudia dragged her straight down to the ground.
The other parents swarmed toward my mother like they'd all gone feral, and my father threw himself over her, shielding her with everything he had.
The screaming hit like a wall—parents howling over each other, faces twisted, veins standing out in their necks.
"It wasn't our Miriam! Our Miriam doesn't need to cheat!"
"Doesn't need to?!"
Austin Henson's fist clenched and slammed straight into my father's face.
"Ethan just told us—your little brat forced every single one of them! My son doesn't lie!"
The proctors and security guards rushed forward to intervene,
but fifty-six students' parents meant over a hundred people in the crowd.
Before the staff could even get close, the mob shoved them to the edges.
A couple of proctors went down under the crush.
"That little brat had the nerve to buy cheating devices—these two put her up to it!"
Austin's bloodshot eyes swept the crowd as he screamed at the top of his lungs.
"I could kill them! These two are the ones who ruined our children! Everyone, hit them!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the wall of bodies surged forward.
Fists and feet rained down on my parents from every direction.
Blood—bright, ugly red—was already spreading beneath them before I could even scream.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"
A clear, sharp voice cut through the chaos.
Ms. Simmons was running toward us as fast as she could.
"Stop it! I've already called the police!"
She rushed in and helped me lift my parents, then turned to face the furious crowd.
"What is wrong with you people?! Your children are in trouble and your answer is to beat an innocent family half to death?!"
"Ms. Simmons, you don't know! That cheating device—Miriam forced the kids to buy it!"
The moment Molly saw Ms. Simmons arrive,
she put on a tearful voice and grabbed hold of the teacher's hand.
"My mom's telling the truth, Ms. Simmons. Miriam forced everyone to buy those electronic cheating devices."