Chapter 1

I was instantly on alert as I thought something serious had happened. So, I quickly returned the call.

"Hello, what's—"

"Ms. Lawson, you're not dead, are you?" A sharp, impatient female voice interrupted. "I have something urgent to tell you! Are you deaf? Why didn't you pick up your phone?"

I glanced at the screen. All the missed calls were from Zoe Street's mother, Christina McSpire. Why was she using different numbers?

After a sleepless night, I could feel my frustration building. I asked, "Mrs. Street, what exactly is so urgent?"

To my surprise, Christina sounded even more impatient than I was. "Didn't I tell you everything last night? Say it back to me now."

I stayed silent, assuming I must have misheard her.

She let out a cold laugh, her voice growing more insistent. "Go grab a pen and paper. Make sure you write everything down.

"Zoe needs to get up at exactly 5:00 am. She has only ten minutes to freshen up and five minutes for the bathroom.

"Now, I'm going to test you. What time does she need to start her morning reading?"

At this point, even a saint would've lost their patience.

I tried to explain, "Mrs. Street, you might not be fully acquainted with our school schedule yet. Zoe just transferred, after all.

"Regardless, our morning reading starts at 7:00 am. Asking her to wake up at 5:00 am is simply too early."

After years of teaching, I had dealt with my fair share of difficult parents. I'd already given Christina all the respect I could. I wasn't about to keep tolerating her demands.

"If you're worried about Zoe adjusting to dorm life, I'll make sure to keep an eye on her. But right now, it's my personal time. Please don't disturb me again."

With that, I ended the call. As soon as I arrived at school, I went straight to Zoe's former homeroom teacher, Maria Hernandez, to discuss the situation. I had taken over this class just over a month after the semester had started.

On my first day as their new teacher, it was hard to believe I was already dealing with something like this. And to be honest, I was at a complete loss.

Maria had claimed she was suffering from heart palpitations, rendering her unable to carry out her duties. As soon as she heard Zoe's name, she couldn't help but shudder. "Good luck, Ms. Lawson," she muttered.

Before I could ask anything further, she quickly excused herself and left. I didn't think much of it and headed to the classroom.

It was breakfast time, so most of the students were still absent. To my surprise, I found Zoe sitting in the front row, her posture straight and composed.

Aside from the surveillance camera installed in the corner, another camera was mounted near her desk. Every move she made was being recorded.

I noticed Zoe's method of memorizing vocabulary was a bit unconventional. She would deliberately read each word out loud three times.

With only ten minutes left before the next class, she finally set her book down and, without a word, took a piece of bread from her desk drawer before devouring it.

Noticing she was having trouble swallowing, I grabbed a glass of water and handed it to her.

"Take it easy. You don't want to choke."

She thanked me, but she showed no sign of slowing down.