Chapter 2
In the principal’s office, he poured us water.
I didn’t touch the water he offered, only reassembled the torn paper on his desk.
Then I pulled my daughter’s hand forward, displaying the deep red scratch marks on her wrist before his eyes.
He stared at the paper and the wounds for a long time before looking up at me, speaking each word
deliberately, “This is our fault. Please give me three days. The school will thoroughly investigate and handle this seriously. In three days, I guarantee we’ll give you and your child an explanation.”
I looked at his face, a mixture of apology and shocked anger, then looked down at Lily, who was
drowsy in my arms.
“Alright,” I said. “I’ll wait three days.”
I took time off work to stay with Lily, who didn’t cry or speak but just sat in the corner, staring
motionless at a spot on the wall.
When I pushed the bowl to her lips, she would open her mouth, chew, swallow–all without
blinking once.
I stared at my phone, unlocking the screen every few seconds to confirm there were no missed
calls.
All my hope was pinned on that phone call that would never come.
On the third afternoon, the school didn’t call, but I received a call from the company’s HR Director. “Susan, come to the office immediately.”
In the office, both my supervisor and the director were there.
A printed email was pushed in front of me, its title glaring: “Regarding Your Employee Susan Manning’s Moral Misconduct and Malicious Defamation of Our School’s Teachers.”
I read it word by word.
In the email, I had become a “crazy woman” who barged into offices, verbally abused teachers, and
threatened the principal.
The scratch marks on my daughter’s wrist became evidence that I had coached her to “self–harm
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for sympathy.”
At the end of the letter, the school “kindly” reminded the company that an employee with such “moral corruption” would damage corporate reputation.
The edges of the paper crumpled under my grip.
“The email was sent to the public complaint inbox. The entire corporation received it,” the director said without a trace of warmth. “We take employee character very seriously.‘
I felt ice–cold all over, my voice shaking. “This is false accusation! They bullied my daughter…”
“Enough!” My supervisor impatiently cut me off. “I don’t care about your family drama! Your personal problems have affected the company’s image! Completely unprofessional!”
I looked at him without speaking.
Uncomfortable under my gaze, he shifted as the director cleared his throat and pushed a document
toward me. “Given the negative impact you’ve caused the company, sign this.”
I reached out but couldn’t seem to grasp the paper as it slipped from my fingers and fluttered to the
floor.
I returned home in a daze.
When I found certified mail from the school in the mailbox and tore it open, an expulsion notice fell out, claiming Lily was psychologically unstable, had conspired with parent to fabricate facts, maliciously attacked teacher, and disrupted educational order.
My phone lit up with a class group chat message.
Linda had posted a new photo of the Advanced Mathematics Competition class, her and the children
smiling brilliantly.
Caption: [With the troublemaker removed, we’re an excellent group again! Victory belongs to you!]
Below were parents‘ uniform praise and likes.
[Linda, you’ve worked so hard!]
[Support Linda! No rules, no order!]
I laughed.
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This was their explanation to me.
Holding the termination letter and expulsion notice, looking at that glaring photo, I laughed until
tears came, laughed until my whole body shook, my abdomen cramping with pain.
“Mommy?” Lily stood behind me, looking at the two papers in my
hands.
Her gaze moved from the expulsion decision to my tear–streaked face.
Her body swayed, and she had to grab the doorframe to steady herself.
“Mommy,” she asked softly, her voice hollow, “is it because of me that you lost your job too?”
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