Then, a figure appeared behind him, answering all my questions.
He came with Laura.
So, she was the new teacher, who’d been isolating our daughter. The one poisoning her classmates against her.
No wonder the kids turned to look at the entrance with disgust and disbelief. One of them crossed his arms and scoffed, “What are you shouting about? That’s Miss Laura’s boyfriend. Like she said, you're really a liar! You don’t have a dad. You're just making stuff up so people will play with you.”
The other children nodded in agreement, their faces full of judgment.
Suddenly, one kid lunged while I wasn’t looking. He shoved my daughter hard, and she fell to the ground.
I rushed to her, lifting her trembling body in my arms. Her palms were scraped open, blood oozing from both hands. Her little face twisted in pain, and my heart broke right along with it.
Meanwhile, the boy who pushed her clapped his hands like he’d just won a prize.
“I helped the teacher punish the bad kid! I’m a hero!”
My fury exploded, and I moved toward him, ready to teach him a lesson myself. But before I could say a word, the director rushed over and stepped between us, plastering on a smile to play peacemaker.
Elaine's POV
“This is just kids playing around,” the kindergarten director said with a forced smile. “A simple talk should be enough.”
I was shaking from head to toe, my voice trembling with fury as I bit out, “Playing around? Your school turns a blind eye while a teacher has an affair with a married man and bullies the child of his wife. Now my daughter’s hurt, and you still call it playing around?”
Just then, Laura walked over with an expression full of fake concern.
“Elaine,” she said sweetly, “how could you take your anger out on a child?”
Milton hadn’t bothered to ask what happened. Maybe he just thought I was making a scene. Either way, his brows pulled together in a frown as he asked, “What are you two doing here?”
Disappointment and rage twisted inside me like a storm. I stared straight into his eyes and said flatly, “Mr. West must’ve been too busy playing family with his mistress to remember the promise he made to his daughter for Children’s Day.”
He froze. For once, the calm in his eyes cracked, guilt flickering across his face.
We stood there in tense silence until I felt a small hand on my cheek. My daughter was gently wiping away my tears. I hadn’t even realized I was crying.