Chapter 380
Mandy’s frown deepened as she was abruptly cut off. She glanced at Annette, whose stern expression suggested seriousness. Though Mandy felt a twinge of discomfort, she knew 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, Annette’s severity softened. She walked over to Mirabella and gently patted her shoulder, offering comfort, “Mirabella, there’s no need to be scared. This is school, and your foster mother wouldn’t dare do anything to you here.”
Mirabella looked up at Annette, slightly sighing at the sight of Annette’s nurturing demeanor. She nodded obediently. “Yeah, thanks, Ms. Annette.”
“It’s no trouble at all. Remember, you can always talk to me if you’re facing any difficulties,” Annette said, her maternal instincts surging.
“If only I had a daughter as lovely as Mirabella to complement my son,” she thought, “it would be a dream come true.”
Mirabella simply smiled in response.
Glancing at her watch, Annette noted the time, “School’s almost out. You should head
back.”
“Okay.”
Mirabella returned to her classroom 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, Mirabella checked her phone and saw a message from Delilah on Messenger.
Her mom was coming to pick her up, but traffic delays meant she hadn’t yet arrived at the school. She asked Mirabella to wait by the main entrance.
After leaving Annette’s office, Mandy made her way to see Morgan.
*Summer didn’t come to school today,” Morgan announced without looking up from the papers he was grading at his desk.
Following the fallout from the previous competition, Morgan had been stripped of his position as the head of the Prodigy Class and had lost his title as an outstanding teacher. Given this, his demeanor toward Mandy was notably cool.
Had it not been for the mess created by the Gilbert family, he wouldn’t be the laughingstock of the other teachers.
Mandy sensed Morgan’s chilliness but figured he was just preoccupied with work. When he mentioned that her daughter hadn’t come to school, she furrowed her brows In concern and asked, “She didn’t?”
Morgan’s lips twisted slightly. “Yeah, and if she doesn’t want to come to school, she might as well take a leave of absence.”
Mandy looked at him, slightly taken aback. “Mr. Morgan, that’s not a very appropriate thing 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 Class.”
Mandy, who hadn’t paid much attention to the issues surrounding the previous competition, was momentarily confused, thinking it might have been due to the recording incident from the night before. She tried to explain, “Um… my daughter was a victim, too.”
Morgan internally scoffed at the notion of victimhood. To sabotage someone and then play 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.
