[We did nothing wrong. Why should we apologize?]

After replying, I angrily shut off my phone.

When my husband, Anthony, came home and learned about what happened, his expression darkened.

He yanked at his tie irritably. “It was just a pair of shoes. Why did it blow up like this? Where does that leave my reputation?”

I looked at him coldly.

“So now you think this is all my fault?”

Anthony’s tone grew impatient. “Fiona has worked for our family for two years. Even if she hasn’t done anything remarkable, she’s put in effort.

“You shouldn’t have humiliated her like that in public.

“Today, you were in the wrong. You should apologize.”

I stared at the man I once loved deeply, unable to believe what I was hearing.

“How can you side with Fiona and criticize me? She was clearly the one who started it!” My voice trembled with grievance.

“Francesca, I never thought you’d become this unreasonable.”

With that, he slammed the door and walked out.

My heart clenched painfully.

I decided to leave the house for a while and take Leo out to clear our heads.

Soon after, photos of Leo and me out at sea were posted in the parents’ group chat.

The caption read: [Rich mom and son skip school to travel the world, while ordinary kids keep studying.]

In her livestream, Fiona accused us openly.

“When the rich skip school, it’s called freedom. When the poor ask for leave, it’s truancy. Parents, justice speaks for itself!”

She successfully stirred up anger, and more than half the parents jointly demanded that the school punish Leo.

On the morning of the seventh day, I walked Leo toward the school field.

Parents around us pointed and whispered.

The homeroom teacher hurried over, looking uncomfortable.

“Ms. Francesca, because Leo missed training, he won’t be able to participate in today’s soccer match.”

Leo’s head dropped instantly, and his eyes filled with disappointment.

In the distance, Fiona was holding up her phone, livestreaming. The camera was pointed straight at us.

She smiled, full of provocation.

“Miss, I know missing training was wrong…” I knew I was at a disadvantage, yet I still tried to fight for my son.

“But you know how much Leo loves soccer. He’s been looking forward to this match.”

Just as the teacher was about to respond, Fiona suddenly appeared beside us.

“It was your fault to begin with. Now you regret it? Too late. Hmph!”

Her livestream camera swept over me from head to toe.

“Everyone, take a look at how she’s dressed. So revealing, with heavy makeup too.”

She even reached out and tugged at my collar.

“Oh my, look how low this neckline is. You can practically see everything.”

Humiliated and furious, I shoved her away.

“Stop spreading nonsense!”

Fiona smiled maliciously.

“Isn’t this exactly how you seduced your husband in the first place?

“Instead of staying home to serve your man, you dress like this and parade around. Who are you trying to entice?”

Her gaze flicked meaningfully toward the male parents nearby.

I stared at her in shock, never expecting her to say something so vile.

There were plenty of fathers who came daily to pick up and drop off their children. This was blatant incitement, pushing female parents to turn on me.

The livestream comments surged like a tide, each one sharper than the last.

[This woman is so calculating!]

[My child goes to this school too. I’ll never let my husband do pickups again!]

[She’s absolutely vicious!]

The surrounding parents quickly followed suit, and hostility closed in around me.

“Slap!” A female parent rushed up and struck me across the face. “So shameless!”

Another spat at me. “You cow! Get out of our school!”

They shoved me so hard that I stumbled and fell to the ground.

The skin on my palm scraped open instantly. Sand ground into the wound, burning with pain.

“What kind of mom dresses like this to pick up her kid? Trying to hook a sugar daddy, huh?”

“Tsk. Probably looking for a new long-term meal ticket.”

Fiona kept her camera trained on me, her words growing more outrageous by the second.

I couldn’t take it anymore. Struggling to my feet, I grabbed her and pulled her close, lowering my voice.

“I’m wearing a completely ordinary blouse and skirt. Stop twisting the truth.

“Spreading rumors in front of children—you’ve gone too far.”

She took advantage of the moment, stepping backward as if I had pushed her.

Instantly, she turned to the livestream, crying, “Everyone, look! She dresses like this and still doesn’t want people talking?

“Can a woman like this really raise a child properly? What kind of example would she set?”

The comment section exploded, flooding the screen with accusations of indecency, malice pouring down like filthy water.

Fiona turned the camera toward herself, adopting a saintly expression.

“Honestly, wouldn’t it be better if I raised Leo instead as his stepmother? What do you all think?”

For a moment, I thought my hearing had failed.

In front of a field full of parents, teachers, and elementary school students, Fiona was actually shouting about becoming my son’s stepmother?

I finally snapped.

I didn’t care about the livestream anymore and swung my hand out before I could stop myself.

“Smack!”

The sharp sound cut through the whistle on the field.

Fiona staggered back from the slap, her thick high heels sinking into the grass.

Yet she was smiling.

She pressed her tongue against her swollen cheek, eyes gleaming.

“Ms. Francesca, you’re nothing. Whether I become his stepmother or not is up to your husband.”

The parents immediately erupted.

“I’ve disliked her for a long time. Dressing always like she’s on a runway, whoever marries her is doomed!”

“Just a washed-up poor woman pretending to be rich.”

I laughed coldly, sweeping my gaze across their fence-sitting faces.

“I, Francesca Decca, have never spent a single cent of a man’s money. But as for all of you…

“I thought that as mothers, if another woman wanted to become your child’s stepmother, you’d at least feel some empathy.”

I strode straight toward several parents I had once been close to.

“Shouldn’t we be standing together against a greedy woman like her?”

Instead, those women recoiled in unison, stepping back with looks of disgust.

“You can’t even be a proper mother yourself, and you won’t let someone else take your place?”

“That’s right! Fiona is clearly the best candidate to be Leo’s mother!”

They lifted their chins, voices shrill enough to pierce the air.

I stepped forward sharply and pointed at them. “You’re all blind, snobbish trash!”

Looking at their faces, my last shred of hope died.

All the past warm interactions and party invitations had all been fake. They only stayed close because my family company could offer business opportunities.

I pointed at the parent who had been gossiping the loudest. “Your husband’s forty-million contract last quarter? I was the one who connected him with the manufacturer.”

“And you…” I turned to another woman.

“I was the one who contacted that school’s principal to allow your child to transfer to a private school next semester?

“So tell me. Is this gratitude or revenge?”

The crowd fell silent for a few seconds. Then the backlash came even harder.

“Hmph! Those resources came from your husband. Who do you think you are?”

“Exactly! Without your husband, you wouldn’t even be allowed onto this school field!”

Fiona, drunk on triumph, suddenly opened her photo album to the livestream.

Bed photos, car photos, close-ups of a ruby ring—a full nine-grid collage.

She even shared it directly into the parents’ group chat.

“Everyone, take a good look. Anthony has already put his token of love on my hand.

“Every photo is proof of our love.”

The comment section exploded in celebration.

[First wife hits someone on the school field!]

[Stepmother’s comeback moment!]

The parents instantly switched sides, congratulating her one after another.

“Congratulations, Fiona, on finally becoming stepmother!”

Fiona swayed toward me with a smug grin, her tone dripping with provocation.

“Anthony already proposed to me.”

What? I didn’t even know I was divorced!

Seeing me silent, Fiona smiled even wider.

“Oh, sorry. We forgot to notify you.

“But it doesn’t really matter whether you knew or not. This is your fate.

“No one’s going to support you anymore. You’re a stray dog now.” She laughed loudly.

Seeing I had lost all standing, the parents surged forward.

Fingers jabbed at my forehead like raindrops. Each poke came with an insult. Fingernails scratched my skin, drawing bright red lines.

High heels slammed into my calves, deliberately aiming for the thinnest bones.

I stumbled in pain, only to be met with harsher abuse.

Someone grabbed gravel from the ground and hurled it at my head.

Grit and dust poured into my collar and eyes, burning fiercely.

They jeered as they threw.

“B*tch, get out of our school!”

“Shame on you! Hurry up and give Leo up!”

I clenched my teeth and forced myself upright, only to be shoved down again by several hands, and collapsed to my knees.

In their eyes, I was nothing more than a rat crossing the street.

I didn’t fight back, only lowering my head and staring at the photos in the parents’ group chat.

The pain in my body was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

In the photos, Anthony was asleep, bare-chested, with a lipstick mark spelling “Fiona” stamped across his chest.

My stomach churned violently.

This was the man I had loved for ten years.

I never minded his poor background, as I believed love was enough.

To marry him, I had been expelled from the Decca family, no longer their principessa.

I lived off my savings and my mother’s secret support, maintaining a seemingly glamorous life.

Hoping only that he would work hard for our family, I opened a company in Anthony’s name.

Everyone thought he was the one supporting me. When in truth, everything he had was given by me.

Even Fiona knew nothing about it.

All it would take was a single move from me, and none of this would belong to him anymore.

I took a deep breath, laughing silently to myself.

Now it was clear that he was nothing but a complete freeloader!

‘Anthony, did you really think you had become part of the elite?

‘And poor Fiona… When you learn the full truth, will you still be able to smile so arrogantly?’