Chapter 1

Stella's POV

I walked into the classroom holding my midterm exam paper. My right cheek was swollen like a bun, with a trace of blood at the corner of my mouth.

The classmates around me whispered, “Stella got hit again, just because she didn’t get a perfect score in math. How awful...”

Layla Sweeney rolled her eyes.

“What’s so awful about that? Her mom’s the homeroom teacher.

“She has all the best resources and still couldn’t get a perfect score. Who else should get beaten if not her?”

I paused for a moment as I swallowed the sting in my nose. Then, I walked into the classroom.

Just a moment ago in the teachers’ lounge, my mom, Sophie, had slapped my face until it swelled up, right in front of all the teachers and students.

“148 points? Should you have lost those two points? Tell me!”

Sophie’s furious shout still rang in my ears. My right ear was ringing nonstop from the slap. I could barely hear anything.

But Sophie did not stop punishing me.

“If you make another low-level mistake like this next time, I’ll slap your left cheek until it’s swollen too!”

With that, she turned to the students behind her.

“You lot who also lost points because of carelessness, did you see that?”

I had no idea how the other students reacted. I just kept my head down. My fingers dug into my palms so hard they almost drew blood.

After the other students had left, Layla stepped forward with a smile and cooed at Sophie.

“Ms. Nash, I didn’t mean to be so careless. I won’t do it again next time.”

Sophie smiled at her affectionately.

“You’re always like this! No more of that next time, you hear me?”

Layla playfully stuck out her tongue.

I pressed my lips together, digging my fingers even deeper into my palm.

“All right, you two can go now!”

Sophie waved us off. Only then did I dare to slowly turn around. I gave a well-practiced tug to the hood of my sweatshirt over my head and secretly rubbed my face, which had gone numb from the slap.

Just a second before leaving the office, I heard a teacher from another class say admiringly to my mom.

“Layla really lives up to being Ms. Nash’s favorite class representative. She wouldn’t even lift a finger to her.”

“Ms. Nash, you really are good at raising your child. Your daughter just let you hit her so obediently! She never makes a sound!”

Sophie looked smug.

“Layla isn’t stupid. She just doesn’t use her smarts in the right way!

“As for my daughter, she’s been so well-behaved since she was little. She never talks back.”

Sophie had no idea that the only ones who did not fight back when hit or cursed at were either dogs or dead.

Because Sophie used me to assert her authority, no one in my class dared to be my friend.

I endured the pain in my face as I returned to my seat. Then, I pulled a little notebook from my sleeve.

[I scored 148 on the math test and got my face slapped until it swelled up. -1.]

I wrote it down silently.

Before I knew it, I had reached 99 deductions.

That meant Sophie had used me to assert her authority exactly 99 times.

Just one more time, and I would be free.

A warrior’s life-or-death decision was made in the blink of an eye.

But I was no warrior. I was just an ordinary person who was pathetic and cowardly.

I carefully tucked the little notebook back into my sleeve and took out my math test.

Even though it was recess, I was not allowed to play with anyone else.

As I listened to the sounds of my classmates laughing and roughhousing around me, the wound on my right cheek seemed to hurt even more.

Layla walked over to me and sneered contemptuously.

“Stella, Ms. Nash treats me like her own daughter. You must be some orphan Ms. Nash picked up off the street. You’re just a punching bag, at best.”

I clenched my fists tightly and glared at her.

Then, I said coldly, “Someone had a mother to birth her but not one to raise her. That’s exactly the kind of person who likes to steal other people’s moms.”

Layla’s mother had run off with someone else when she was four.

That was not a secret in our class.

As soon as those words left my mouth, Layla’s eyes widened. Then, she flew into a rage.

“Stella Nash, just you wait!”

“I’ll be waiting,” I said coldly.

All she had to do was go to Sophie and whisper in her ear. Then, I would just get another beating.

That was fine. It would be the last favor she did for me.