Chapter 2

The next afternoon, I went to pick Sophie up from school. The moment I reached the classroom, I saw her standing alone in the corner. Her eyes were red, and it was obvious she'd been crying.

My heart tightened. I rushed over and threw my arms around her. "Sophie, what's wrong? Who hurt you?"

The moment Sophie saw me, she burst into tears, sobbing hysterically as her little hands gripped my clothes tightly. "Mommy, I'm so hungry… Cody took my lunch…"

Hearing that made my head buzz. I packed Sophie's lunch with exactly the right amount of food every day. If she hadn't eaten at noon, that meant she'd gone hungry for an entire day.

More importantly, with her medical condition, skipping meals could easily trigger low blood sugar or stomach cramps.

Suppressing the fury burning inside me, I turned to find Nicole.

Nicole was laughing and chatting with a few other parents, but the moment she saw me approaching, her face hardened.

"Madison, perfect timing. I was just about to talk to you. During lunch today, Sophie was incredibly stubborn. Cody just wanted to try some of her food, but she absolutely refused to share and threw a tantrum until she made him cry.

"I've already talked to Sophie about it, but you need to teach her some manners at home. Children shouldn't be this selfish."

I could hardly believe my ears. My daughter's lunch was stolen from her, and somehow she was the one in the wrong?

"Ms. Turner, the lunch my daughter brings to school belongs to her. Why should she be forced to give it to someone else? Is this how you handle things as a teacher?" I snapped.

My voice boomed down the hallway, drawing the attention of all the nearby parents.

Nicole seemed embarrassed, but her tone sharpened.

"What's with that tone? It's completely normal for children to share food! Besides, Ashley reached out to you in the group chat yesterday. You didn't want to cook for him, but was it really such a big deal for Cody to take a couple of bites today? Where's your sense of community?"

Shaking with rage, I jabbed a finger at her face. "Don't you guilt-trip me! My daughter's lunches are specially designed to be allergy-safe. You stood by and did nothing while Cody stole her food, and now you have the nerve to call my daughter selfish? Let me be clear. This is far from over!"

With that, I scooped Sophie into my arms and left.

As soon as we got home, I whipped up a fresh meal for Sophie. Watching her scarf it down made tears stream down my face as my heart ached for her.

I took out my phone and tagged both Ashley and Nicole in the group chat.

"You both owe me an explanation for what happened at lunch today. Since when is it okay for a kid to steal someone else's food? I'll be at the kindergarten tomorrow morning. If you don't apologize to Sophie, this won't end here."

The second my text went through, Ashley fired back a reply.

"Oh, look who's playing the victim and pointing fingers! You should take it as a compliment that Cody's willing to have a couple of bites of your food. Don't be ungrateful. You want to meet tomorrow morning? Fine by me! I'm not scared of you."

The group chat was unusually lively that night. Following her arrogant outbursts, Ashley started working the room and turning the other parents against me.

"Everyone, look at how ridiculous this woman is! She's just a single mother who couldn't even keep her husband, and she has a horrible temper to boot.

"Cody only felt sorry for her daughter and wanted to be friendly, which is why he had a few bites of her lunch. But here she is, causing a massive scene in the group chat.

"A child raised in a broken home is bound to have issues. If I were you, I'd tell your kids to stay far away from her daughter so they don't get corrupted."