Chapter 2

I could only levitate in the air while grasping the hem of my shirt anxiously. At the same time, sweat kept running down my face.

Unfortunately, no one could see me in this state.

I really, really wanted to apologize to Mom for the hundred-thousandth time, but I couldn't do it anymore…

After all, I had let her down far too many times ever since I was a kid. The word "sorry" was practically my catchphrase by now.

But I was so pathetic that I didn't get to even utter that word before losing consciousness.

Mom waited for a few more minutes. Upon noticing my lack of movement, she felt her ego taking a blow. Anger surged through her as she slammed a hand onto the window with so much force that the entire car was practically wobbling.

"Oh, you think you get to be so high and mighty now, huh? All I did was call you a piece of trash when I saw how tardy you were when I urged you to change into your uniform before the orientation program! You really think you can play dead just to get back at me, don't you?

"Ugh! I regret getting custody of you back when I was getting a divorce! If I had known that you'd grow up to be such an ungrateful piece of pathetic shit, I'd never do that in the first place!"

Everyone gasped in shock when they heard Mom. Her words were so scathing that even the scorching heat seemed to have dialed down a few degrees or so.

Even though my spirit was already icy to begin with, I still couldn't resist shivering at her words.

The thing was, I never planned on humiliating Mom time and again.

But I grew up listening to my parents fight. It was a norm for their arguments to escalate to the point they'd leave the house in a fit of rage.

Toddler me was forced to endure countless lonely nights while being plagued by terror and starvation. Because of my parents' neglect, my health grew frailer as time passed.

Even so, when I saw the way Mom insisted on taking me with her, I was very grateful to her. All I wanted was to become her pride and joy.

She didn't know that I'd practice air-playing the piano for three additional hours after she fell asleep every night for the sake of the performance.

On the day of the badminton training, I had already twisted my ankle at that time. But I still insisted on playing badminton just so I could avoid embarrassing Mom.

Today, I was already suffering from a high fever to the point that my eardrums had gone inflamed before the start of the orientation program. I couldn't hear Mr. Styke's instructions properly, so I was forced to wipe my sweat off my eyes in order to look at his actions properly.

I did everything I could in order to keep up with the rest of my peers so as to not bring shame to Mom. Little did I know that I'd end up screwing up everything instead…

Mom, I really did my best…

Since I never responded to Mom's threats, she was so furious that her entire body was already trembling uncontrollably. Meanwhile, Mr. Styke's temper flared as well, as though he wanted to seek justice for Mom.

"Out of all the teachers, I admire Ms. Miller the most. She has nurtured countless students who will become the cream of the crop of this country.

"Kate, you may be Ms. Miller's daughter, but you insist on giving her a hard time just so you can get back at her! Your actions have brought her nothing but shame!

"Well then, your peers shall be standing under the sun for as long as you lie in that very car! Let's see how long you'll last in this condition!"

But no matter how enraged Mr. Styke was, I didn't react to him at all. I just kept slumping on the backseat like a broken ragdoll.

Mom was pissed off, to say the least. She grabbed her phone and began increasing the temperature inside the car through the app installed on her phone.

"Still playing dead, huh? I'm raising the temperature to 104 degrees this time. Let's see how you'll fare!"

What she didn't know was that her app was already rendered useless.

Right now, the temperature inside the car had risen to 158 degrees. The remaining moisture in my corpse evaporated rapidly in real time.

My classmates, who were oblivious to the truth, started getting mad at me when they saw the way I was lounging on the backseat. Soon, they surrounded the car just to glare at me angrily.

"Wow, Kate! The rest of us are practically dying of exhaustion while you're lounging your time away!"

"Can you stop being so selfish? It's one thing for you to be bratty and all, but don't drag us into this mess!"

"You're the one who screwed up, and yet we're also roped into this punishment because of you! What the hell are you thinking, Kate?"

Feeling very aggrieved, I could only shed tears quietly in mid-air. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to rush through the window so that I could make my body stand up again.

But my attempts all failed in the end. The scalding hot car acted like a natural barrier that prevented me from entering.

Since I was still unresponsive, Mom stamped her feet angrily on the spot.

"Fine! You think you can just slack off in the car, huh? I'm going to teach you a lesson, then!"

She moved to the shrubs, where she caught a snake that writhed in her grasp. Then, she stuffed it into the car's external vent.

Soon, a triangular head poked out of the air-conditioning vent. It began hissing at me the moment it spotted me.