All Chapters of The Teacher’s Daughter: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

My mom, Helena Marlow, had two faces.With her students, she was always gentle and patient.If a student caught a cold, she brewed ginger soup and brought it to school.If a student’s grades began to slip, she sacrificed her own rest time to tutor them.Even when a student made a mistake, she only spoke softly and reasoned with them, reluctant to utter even a single harsh word.But with me, she treated me as nothing more than a tool for disciplining her students.I heard someone in the audience call out, “Ms. Marlow, you’re the pillar of reassurance for us parents!”Mom’s smile grew wider, pride shining in her eyes.Suddenly, I remembered a morning half a year ago—one just as blinding with sunlight.She had pressed a crumpled fifty-dollar note into my hand, patted my head, and spoke with a rare note of affection in her voice.“Evie, go buy yourself something nice to eat. I have a class meeting today.”At the time, I had foolishly clutched the money, believing that Mom loved

Before I could even react, Mom suddenly raised her voice. “What are you doing, Evie?”The entire exam hall fell silent in an instant, and every gaze turned toward me.“Passing notes to cheat during an exam? You’ve got some nerve!” Her voice was sharp and harsh.I lowered my head toward the floor beside my shoe. A small, unfamiliar slip of paper covered with answers lay there.“Mom, it wasn’t me…” I said, panic rising until tears nearly spilled over. I tried desperately to explain. “That note isn’t mine. I don’t know how it got there…”“Not yours?”Mom let out a cold laugh and bent down to pick up the paper. “The evidence is right here, and you still dare to argue? “How have I been teaching you all this time? “Cheating in the exam hall—have you no shame at all? “You’ve completely disgraced me!”She gave me no chance to explain and dragged me straight out of the hall.Mom took me directly to the principal, Wanda Ambrose’s office, and exaggerated the story as she r

Mom held my hand and smiled. “You’re my little princess.”Back then, she must have truly loved me.I propped myself up and looked at my reflection in the mirror.My hair was jagged and uneven, my eyes red and swollen.I thought of the whispers at school. I was fully clothed, yet why did I feel completely exposed?I was so tired.A gust of wind swept past as I followed Mom out of school.Her face still wore a smug smile.I smiled too.“Mom… the daughter who once loved is dead.”…Mom walked to the parking lot and opened the car door, ready to go home.She took out her phone again and sent me a message.[Evie, I’m home. Come back quickly.[I made your favorite barbecue pork ribs. It’s still hot.[If you don’t come back, I’ll call the police.]Call the police?I stared at the words and suddenly laughed.Finally, she remembered to call the police.Only after her award ceremony had ended. And only after her class had maintained the highest average score in the grade.

The truck driver scrambled out to check, his face pale at the sight.“Are you okay? Do you need help? I’ll call 911 right now!”But Mom seemed numb to the pain. She pushed open the twisted car door and staggered out.As blood from her forehead blurred her vision, she wiped it away clumsily with the back of her hand and ran, dazed, toward home.“No… I need to get home… Evie is still waiting for me…”She muttered to herself, each step like treading on a knife’s edge. The ground warped beneath her feet from pain and dizziness.She had no idea how far she had run, only that her chest burned with agony, her breath came in gasps, and blood from her wounds ran into her mouth, salty and metallic.Suddenly, she remembered how she had slapped me. It probably hurt just as much as she did now.Finally, the familiar stairwell appeared.I saw police officers and neighbors gathered at the entrance, their faces heavy with regret and sympathy.At that moment, all of Mom’s strength crumb

The officer sighed helplessly and stepped back, giving up on trying to intervene.Neighbors lingered at the doorway, watching the heartbreaking scene unfold, shaking their heads in sorrow. Some whispered that Helena Marlow treated her students so well—how could she be so cruel to her own daughter? Others murmured that I was pitiable, far too young to endure so much.Those words stabbed at Mom like knives. She spun toward the doorway, glaring fiercely at the neighbors.“Shut up! None of you has the right to interfere. If you hadn’t called the police, Evie could still be lying safely at home. She was only throwing a tantrum!”Her words stunned the neighbors. One of them finally spoke up, trying to reason with her, “You can’t say that, Helena. We were worried she might be in danger… who couldn’t have known—”“Enough!” Mom cut them off, tears spilling once more. “It’s all my fault… I drove her to death…”Her voice dwindled, muttering into itself. Slowly, she released my c