Chapter 3

Many female students were frightened to the point that they were already screaming at the top of their lungs. Even some of the male students went pale from fright.

Upon realizing that I was still not reacting to the snake's presence, Alicia quickly gripped Mom by the arm.

"Ms. Miller, could it be that something's wrong with Kate? She's terrified of snakes, after all. Even if she can handle the heat, there's no way she has the guts to let a snake get so close to her."

Mom frowned instantly, having sensed that something was off with me. But that was when Mr. Styke let out a cold chuckle.

"Of course, Kate's terrified of snakes! Look, she's already tearing up out of fear! But she's still gritting her teeth and standing her ground just so she can keep rebelling against Ms. Miller!"

Everyone could see droplets oozing out of the corners of my closed eyes clear as day. The thing was, those weren't tears at all—those droplets were the last bit of moisture that was forced out of my body!

Mom's temper flared even more at Edwin's words. She turned to point at the group of male students with bloodshot eyes.

"I want you all to catch some snakes and stuff them through the air vents! I'd like to see how long will that stubborn brat last in the car this time!"

My poor classmates could feel their legs trembling in fear the moment they saw the snake in the car. Naturally, they dared not move an inch at that moment.

Seeing as my classmates refused to carry out her order, Mom got so mad that she caught a few more snakes and stuffed them through the air vents.

"What are you all scared of? These are harmless snakes! Even if you get bitten by one of those snakes, it'll only sting for a few days! In any case, someone as useless as Kate needs to be taught a painful lesson like this!"

Mom kept stuffing more snakes into the air vents very roughly, as though she was hoping that those things could tear me up at any given moment.

I could only curl up in a small ball while trembling in fear.

Seriously, Mom, I was terrified of those snakes!

I remembered the first time Mom brought me hiking up the mountain when I was five years old. It was very rare for her to smile at me back then, so I cherished the precious moments I got to see her smile.

But Mom spotted a worm halfway up the mountain. She insisted on making me grab the worm with my bare hand in an attempt to train my bravery.

Frightened, I kept screaming at the top of my lungs as I bolted away from the worm, which attracted the attention of the tourists near us. Because of that, Mom felt her cheeks burning in shame.

Out of anger, she threw me into a snake's nest that was buried deep inside the bushes. Her logic was that she wanted me to be brave no matter what.

The primal fear that was deeply ingrained in me by the touch of cold scales against my skin was the reason I blew up with a fever for the next three days after going home. Since then, snakes became my biggest nightmare.

To think that my own mother decided to use her knowledge of me to attack me in my weakest, most vulnerable spot…

When my classmates spotted the snakes approaching me, they screamed in terror once again.

The chaotic clamor attracted the attention of Michael Tate, the university's president, who was in the middle of his rounds. The moment he noticed me inside the car, his expression froze as well, though he quickly moved to grab Mom.

"What on earth are you doing, Ms. Miller? It's already very hot as it is! That poor girl is already suffering from the sweltering heat, and yet you're still stuffing snakes into the car!"

Mom was so mad that her eyes had gone bloodshot at that time. All she did was swat Mr. Tate's hand off her arm.

"Don't worry, Mr. Tate. I'm Kate's mother. It's not like I'd actually hurt her. Whenever Kate is met with challenges, all she does is fake her illness just so she can avoid confronting them. How can she possibly become successful with that attitude of hers? I'm just trying to save her!"

Bitterness flooded my senses at that moment.

But Mom, I wasn't faking my illness… I was dead for real…

There were so many snakes surrounding me in the car. Some of them had already crawled on top of my body while hissing at me.

Because of that, Mr. Tate still wanted to stop Mom from tormenting me further. That was when Mr. Styke decided to put Mr. Tate's fears to rest.

"Don't worry, sir. Ms. Miller knows when to stop the punishment. The reason why youngsters nowadays possess fragile mindsets and egos is that society has stopped using extreme authoritative disciplinary actions to intimidate them!

"Ms. Miller is selflessly making an example out of her own daughter so that she can nurture more students into becoming successful in the future! Mr. Tate, if you continue to stop her, you'll be letting her and the other teachers down!"

Now that Mr. Styke had the moral high ground, Mr. Tate couldn't rebuke at all. In the end, he could only let out a sigh.

"Fine. Ms. Miller, since this student is your daughter, I trust that you know when to call it quits."

Upon noticing the way I kept tearing up as more snakes started coiling around me, Mom finally showed a hint of sympathy toward me.

She thrust a can of snake-calming agent into Mr. Styke's hand before making her way to the nearby tent that was meant for respite.

"I'll leave Kate to you, Mr. Styke. Spray some of this agent into the air vents. That way, the snakes won't attack her. All they'll do is scare her.

"Then again, if Kate still refuses to admit her mistakes, then she can forget about leaving the car. She might as well spend the rest of her life with those snakes!"

But as soon as Mom turned and left, Mr. Styke threw the can into the dumpster immediately. His lips curled into a cold smirk as well.

"If you give her hope, you'll be cutting off her chances to develop properly! Look at the way she's playing dead despite her fear of snakes! This is what happens when you dote on children too much—they'll just end up becoming spoiled brats!

"Today, I'll show all of you how Kate breaks out of her cowardly, frightened shell and transforms into a successful student when faced with extreme danger!"

Then, Mr. Styke ordered all the students to peer through the windows unblinkingly so that they could witness what would happen next.

"Now, witness what happens when you rebel against people of authority! The moment Kate yields to me is the moment all of you get to leave!"