Chapter 3

The crowd burst out laughing.

They started fawning over Oswald and Hazel even more, crushing me and my daughter into the dirt.

"See? That's what you get for being trashy. Should've known who you were messing with. Serves them right," someone sneered.

"They had no shame, trying to stir up trouble for a family. Now they've learned their lesson. Even if they end up with a concussion, it's their own fault," another person scoffed.

"You've already got your money. If you know what's good for you, get lost!" someone shouted.

I called a cab for my daughter and told her to go to the nearest hospital to get her wounds treated.

Ever since this started, my daughter kept looking at Oswald with pleading eyes, hoping he'd speak up for us. But he never responded, not even once.

Her eyes grew dimmer with every passing second. Before she left, she hugged me, and her words broke my heart.

"Mom, from now on, I don't have a dad anymore. It's not that he doesn't want us. It's that we don't want him," she said.

Oswald looked a bit anxious when he heard that, then gave me a blaming look.

I ignored him, my gaze sweeping coldly over the crowd.

They were yelling the nastiest insults, trying to shame us and force us out.

Suddenly, I spoke up, my voice icy.

"Alf Morrison, the food supplier for Greenlake High. Larry Nguyen, the textbook distributor. And Darren Bishop, the construction contractor..."

As I slowly called out the names of the ones who had been the most vocal, everyone froze.

Because I didn't miss a single name.

Greenlake High was the city's top private school for the elite, famous for its deep pockets. Even a small project from them could keep a mid-sized company afloat.

All of them owed their entire business to Greenlake High.

Then, I announced, each word deliberate and cold, "From now on, Greenlake High will cut off all business with you."

Their faces froze for a second, then they laughed even harder, almost mocking me as they sucked up to Oswald, lining up behind him.

"Mr. Bond, she's obsessed with you to the point of delusion. First she says she's your wife, now she's acting like she runs Greenlake High," one of them sneered.

"Seriously, with Mr. Bond here, who does she think she is? Is there a doctor around? Someone needs to check if she's totally lost it!" another jeered.

Oswald's gaze grew darker and darker. He roughly pulled me aside, his voice low and threatening.

"Nydia, everyone at Greenlake High answers to me now. Do you really think I'm still that loser I used to be? I'm done letting you push me around. Just get out of here!" he said.

I just gave him a mocking look and a cold laugh, didn't bother to reply. Then I turned to the bootlickers around us.

"There's something you all seem to have missed. Sure, Oswald is the principal of Greenlake High, but if I say the word, he could be replaced in a heartbeat," I said.

Hazel was stunned for a moment, then snapped back with a curse, "Please, you're insane!

"I've worked at that school for years, and everyone treats Oswald's word like gospel. Who even knows who you are, anyway?"

I just gave her a knowing smirk and ignored her.

She'd find out soon enough when my people showed up.

Just then, my daughter called me on video. I put it on speaker, and she was crying her heart out on the screen.

From her broken, sobbing words, I finally pieced together what had happened.

The reporters at the scene had already posted everything online.

They'd put up high-res, unblurred photos of my daughter, and even leaked her phone number and what class she was in at school.

My daughter sent me screenshots of the comments flooding the internet, full of filth and nastiness. Some sickos were even calling her nonstop, asking if she wanted a sugar daddy.

I instinctively glanced at Hazel, and sure enough, she had that smug, victorious smile on her face. She mouthed at me.

"Do you like the surprise I gave you?" she mouthed.

On the video call, my daughter was losing it, screaming her lungs out in fury and pain.

She was holed up in her hospital room, too terrified to even step outside.

Some creepy internet weirdos had tracked her down and were banging on the door like maniacs.

The crowd that had been sucking up to Oswald earlier got even more fired up, swarming around me and pointing fingers.

"Serves you right. The netizens are just serving justice. You two are a disgrace to society, like rats that everyone wants to run out of town!"

"Still mouthing off, acting like she's running Greenlake High? Mr. Bond's way too soft. If it were me, I'd have kicked her out of the city ages ago."

Someone flashed a sleazy grin. "Look at how smooth she is at scamming people. Bet she's been chasing rich guys for years.

"She's got some looks, and her daughter's pretty fresh too. Maybe if they team up, they could actually land a few sugar daddies."