<b>Mandy’s </b>frown deepened as she was abruptly cut off. She nced at Ate, whose stern expression suggested seriousness. Though Mandy felt a twinge of difort, she <b>knew </b>better than to cause a scene in front of others. Casting a final look at her foster daughter, she held her tongue and quickly exited the office.
Once alone, Ate’s severity softened. She walked over to Mirabe and gently patted her shoulder, offeringfort, “Mirabe, there’s no need to be scared. This is school, and your foster mother wouldn’t dare do anything to you here.”
Mirabe looked up at Ate, slightly sighing at the sight of Ate’s nurturing demeanor. She nodded obediently. “Yeah, thanks, Ms. Ate.”
“It’s no trouble at all. Remember, you can always talk to me if you’re facing any difficulties,” Ate said, her maternal instincts surging.
“If only I had a daughter as lovely as Mirabe toplement my son,” she thought, “it would be a dreame true.”
Mirabe simply smiled in response.
ncing at her watch, Ate noted the time, “School’s almost out. You should head
back.”
“Okay.”
Mirabe returned to her ssroom just before the dismissal bell rang. She packed the day’s unfinished assignments into her bag and then strolled out with her friend Jenna, unhurried.
Stepping out of the academic building, Mirabe checked her phone and saw a message from Delh on Messenger.
Her mom wasing to pick her up, but traffic dys meant she hadn’t yet arrived at the school. She asked Mirabe to wait by the main entrance.
After leaving Ate’s office, Mandy made her way to see Morgan.
*Summer didn’te to school today,” Morgan announced without looking up from the papers he was grading at his desk.
Following the fallout from the previouspetition, Morgan had been stripped of his position as the head of the Prodigy ss and had lost his title as an outstanding teacher. Given this, his demeanor toward Mandy was notably cool.
<b>Had </b>it not been for the mess created by the Gilbert family, he wouldn’t be theughingstock of the other teachers.
Mandy sensed Morgan’s <b>chilliness </b>but <b>figured </b><b>he </b><b>was </b>just preupied with work. When he <b>mentioned </b><b>that </b><b>her </b>daughter <b>hadn’t </be to school, she furrowed her brows <b>In </b>concern and asked<b>, </b><b>“</b>She didn’t<b>?</b><b>” </b>
<b>Morgan’s </b>lips twisted slightly. “Yeah, and if she doesn’t want toe to school, she might <b>as </b><b>well </b><b>take </b><b>a </b>leave of absence.”
Mandy looked at him, slightly taken aback. “Mr. Morgan, that’s not a very appropriate <b>thing </b>for a teacher to say, is it?”
After all, Summer was among the top performers in her grade. His attitude seemed almost as if he couldn’t wait for her to leave the school.
Morgan paused, put down his pen, and finally looked up with an expressionless face. “Thanks to your family, I am no longer the head of the Prodigy ss.”
Mandy, who hadn’t paid much attention to the issues surrounding the previouspetition, was momentarily confused, thinking it might have been due to the recording incident from the night before. She tried to exin, “Um… my daughter was a victim, too.”
Morgan internally scoffed at the notion of victimhood. To sabotage someone and then y innocent – was that what was called being a victim?
Pressing his temples, he found the Gilbert family’s values consistently astonishing. He didn’t want to hear another word from Mandy, and said impatiently, “Sorry, but I’m quite. busy and don’t have time for small talk.”
His intention to dismiss her was palpable.
The air filled with awkwardness as Mandy noted Morgan returning to his grading. Her
face stiffened, and without pressing further, she left the office with a cloud of frustration hanging over her.