Chapter 1: The School’s Phone Call
The phone call came in the middle of a Tuesday.
It was the kind of ordinary workday that usually passes without incident. Emails, coffee, half-finished reports, and the quiet hope that nothing urgent would interrupt the rhythm.
Then the school’s number flashed on my screen.
My stomach tightened before I even answered.
“Mrs. Carter?” the principal said.
His voice was sharp and trembling.
“Yes?”
“You need to come to the school immediately.”
I stood so fast my chair rolled backward and hit the wall.
“Is Emma hurt?”
There was a pause.
Too long.
“Your daughter is physically fine,” he said. “But something happened. She’s at the center of it.”
My daughter, Emma, had always been a beacon of light, even after the tragic loss of her father.
But in that moment, every fear I had spent years burying came rushing back.
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