After my message, the group fell into complete silence.

Even the other parents whose children had been criticized didn't stand up with me to question it.

Ursula's response came quickly. [The quality of the work is obvious. It's clear that the later pieces have much lower completion compared to the better ones!

[Mrs. Ramirez, if you have any issues with my teaching methods, feel free to speak directly to the principal!

[Please don't disrupt the atmosphere of this group.]

Her tone was bold, almost as if she had nothing to worry about.

Immediately, other parents chimed in.

[Ugly artwork is ugly. What's there to question?]

[Is this one of those troublesome parents you hear about online? Never thought I'd meet one in real life.]

[Being a preschool teacher is tough enough without dealing with people like this.]

I was practically laughing in disbelief at how blindly these people defended the teacher.

Ignoring their comments, I pushed forward with my own.

[Ms. Keller, whose work is this really? Is it the child's work or the parent's work?

[If it's the latter, why not just assign it to the parents directly?

[It's better than you criticizing my child's effort after she worked hard on it!]

The ripple effect was immediate.

Before Ursula could even respond, the messages from other parents started flooding in.

Everyone started tagging me.

[You didn't pay attention to your child, and now you're blaming the teacher for your child's poor work?]

[You didn't help your child, and now you don't want other parents to? I've never seen someone so unreasonable.]

[Maybe the reason your child was criticized is because of her own shortcomings. Why is it always someone else's fault?]

[Seems like jealousy, since other kids' artwork is better than hers.]

[Ms. Keller, can you kick her out? She's obviously just stirring up trouble.]

I stared in shock at my screen, my message halfway typed out. Before I could send it, the screen flashed, and I was removed from the group chat.

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened with Holly. Ursula had a habit of taking photos of poorly completed work and posting them in the group for everyone to see. But what shocked me even more was that no other parent seemed to have a problem with this approach.

I clicked on Ursula's profile and was ready to confront her, but before I could, she had already launched into a long-winded message.

The most eye-catching line read, [Our preschool is the best in the entire city. Many people can't even get in. So of course, our standards are higher. Other parents have no issues with this. Why do you have so many complaints? If you can't accept our methods, you're welcome to transfer your daughter to another school.]

I wasn't about to be led around by her, so I got straight to the point.

[So, this is your excuse for throwing my child's artwork in the trash, then?]

[Your daughter's work really lowers the average. Would you prefer we framed and displayed it instead?]

The moment she sent that, I saw her quickly retract the message, and then she went completely silent.

It seemed she had decided to ignore me.

But little did she know, I had been recording the whole conversation, from the group chat to the private messages.

The next morning, Holly had developed a strong aversion to school, so I decided to let her stay home and took the opportunity to meet with the principal, Kenneth Harding.

When Ursula arrived at the office, Kenneth was still trying to smooth things over with me, pouring tea with a nervous smile.

The moment she saw me, I could tell she realized the problem. She shot me a quick, annoyed look, then turned her gaze to Kenneth.

"You wanted to see me?"

Kenneth slammed the teapot down on the table with a loud clink, his face stern.

"If it weren't for Mrs. Ramirez coming to see me, I wouldn't have known you had such an attitude! I've always said I liked your work ethics, but this is how you handle problems behind the scenes? Apologize to Mrs. Ramirez right now!"

Ursula finally turned toward me, suppressing the displeasure on her face. She barely managed to bow deeply.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Ramirez. I didn't handle my emotions well yesterday. It won't happen again. Please forgive me."

Seeing her attitude, I crossed my arms and said nothing. It was Kenneth who stepped in to smooth things over.

"After something like this, there's no way you're getting nominated for Teacher of the Year," he said. "Tomorrow, you should apologize to Holly in front of the class. If this happens again, you won't be teaching here anymore!"

Ursula's face twisted for a moment, but she ultimately said nothing. Kenneth turned to me, his tone more diplomatic now.

"We'll make sure the teachers' behavior is closely monitored from now on, Mrs. Ramirez. What do you think?"

The meaning was clear—he wanted to drop the matter and move on. Considering that Holly had only six months left before graduating, switching schools now would be tough for her to adjust to. Plus, the apology had been made, and there were consequences for the teacher. I didn't want to push it any further.

After I was added back into the parents' group and Ursula publicly apologized, I reluctantly nodded in approval of their handling of the situation.

In the following days, when I dropped Holly off at kindergarten, I did notice a change in Ursula's attitude toward both of us. She seemed a lot more considerate, paying more attention to Holly. Holly told me that the teacher had apologized to her as well. She had been getting more praise and attention in class than usual, and it seemed like her enthusiasm for both school and drawing was starting to return. I felt a sense of relief.

Then one day, I received a push notification about a state-level children's art competition, showcasing the winning works. I clicked on it, thinking I'd admire the artwork, but to my shock, the gold medal section proudly displayed Holly's hand-drawn poster from a while back!

But the name listed under the artwork was that of a boy from her class.

I quickly found the photo I had taken of Holly's work to compare it. It turned out that it wasn't a direct copy, but the composition and elements were nearly identical—only some minor details were altered. It was clearly a blatant case of plagiarism!

I immediately recalled what Holly had said about Ursula throwing her drawing in the trash. But when I tried to reach out to her about it, she didn't respond. Instead, she continued to post in the parent group, which only allowed the admin to send messages now.

My anger shot up to my head. Without thinking twice, I called Ursula.

I barely got the chance to explain myself before she cut in impatiently.

"They're all kids of a similar age. It's not surprising their ideas would overlap. I've seen the photo you sent, and I honestly don't see any resemblance."

At this point, she sounded entirely unbothered.

"If you have an issue with the competition results, you should contact the organizers directly!" she snapped. "Mrs. Ramirez, stop bothering me for nothing!"

She seemed to think that I had no other evidence besides that photo. Before I could respond, she hung up the phone.

Moments later, another message popped up in the class group.

Ursula wrote, [To celebrate Tobias Brown winning the state-level children's drawing competition's gold medal, the kindergarten will hold a Little Artist Exhibition tomorrow. Every child will have a piece of their artwork displayed. Parents are welcome to attend if they're available!]

I could hardly imagine how heartbroken Holly would be if she saw her artwork displayed under someone else's name at that exhibition!

Feeling desperate, I immediately called Kenneth, hoping to get some clarity. But his response was as vague as ever.

"One photo doesn't prove anything. The exhibition notice has already been sent out, and changing it last minute would cause trouble. Mrs. Ramirez, don't worry. We'll look into this and definitely get back to you with an explanation."

I was shaking with anger, holding the phone tightly. Once was enough to believe such nonsense. If private conversations didn't work, then I wouldn't hesitate to make sure this exhibition didn't go ahead!

The next day, I arrived early with Holly at the kindergarten. The outdoor art exhibition had already been set up.

When Holly saw the plagiarized artwork displayed in the most prominent spot, she was about to feel proud, but before she could say anything, she grabbed my hand and pointed at the picture, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Mom, that's not my drawing!"

I gently patted her head, but before I could speak, a woman dressed in expensive clothes walked up to me and sneered.

"That's my son's state-level award-winning piece. Of course, it's not yours."

It was Tobias's mother, rumored to be married to a wealthy businessman. Both parents and teachers seemed to rush to flatter her. She had been the first to stir trouble against me in the class group chat the last time.

I pulled Holly behind me, not backing down.

"Well, winning an award with stolen work is certainly embarrassing," I retorted.

Her face twisted with anger. "What are you talking about?"

She suddenly seemed to remember something, then rolled her eyes dismissively.

"Your daughter's work was criticized openly in the group for being bad. Are you implying my son copied hers? That's ridiculous!"

At that moment, a crowd of parents had gathered around us. Before I could respond, a few voices chimed in.

"Isn't she the one who caused trouble in the group last time? Now she's making a scene here..."

"Do you have any proof of the plagiarism? Why are you making a fuss with your kid present? Gosh, I wonder what's going on in your mind."

"She doesn't even have a dad, and now she's got this mom. Poor kid."

Ursula quickly stepped in front of me.

"Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Harding already said he would give you an explanation. Can't you stop making a scene?"

Making a scene?

I let out a cold laugh and pulled Holly closer to me. I gestured for the driver to switch on the projector from the car. The picture of Holly's hand-drawn poster was displayed next to Tobias's artwork.

To make it clearer, I highlighted the time the photo was taken in bold red.

Anyone with half a brain could see it was the same design with just slight tweaks!

"My daughter's work was discarded by Ms. Keller as soon as it was submitted and disappeared without a trace. Not long after, this near-identical copy won the award. Do you still think this is a coincidence? Since the kindergarten isn't taking action, I'll take matters into my own hands and get justice for Holly."

Before I could continue, Ursula blocked the way in front of Tobias and his mother. She cut me off.

"It's just a photo. What does it prove? There are plenty of ways to manipulate it! Tobias posted the entire process of his drawing online long ago! Who copied whom is still unclear. Mr. Harding, how do we deal with this troublemaking parent?"

Kenneth, who had been playing dead until now, finally showed up. He didn't even give me a chance to speak. With a subtle signal, the surrounding security guards moved in to escort me out.

"Mrs. Ramirez, please calm down before attending the exhibition!"

The security guards were firm and unyielding. They clearly felt secure, knowing I was a woman without connections or a husband backing me up.

I was so angry I almost laughed.

Seeing Holly crying so hard that her voice was hoarse, I instructed the driver to take her back to the car.

This was a private kindergarten, part of a larger institution with a primary and secondary school. Ultimately, the final word in any matter lay with the director.

I turned back to face Ursula and Kenneth.

"Ms. Keller, Mr. Harding, trying to sweep this under the rug won't work with me! I will not back down on Holly's matter! If you can't resolve this, I'll find someone who can!"