I wanted to explain that this was the same model my son had asked him to buy, wanting his mom and dad to use the same one.

I opened my mouth to speak, but the taste of blood filled my airway.

I couldn't control the violent coughing fit that followed.

Reva looked up at the parents around us and said angrily, "See that? I barely tapped her, and she's putting on this whole act.

"No wonder she can seduce men. What a cheap fox! The old bag sure knows her tricks."

I coughed until my face turned red and my eyes bloodshot.

The parents in the classroom looked at me with venom in their eyes.

I quickly recovered and swallowed my frustration. With a stern face, I said, "Reva, I told you I'm not the other woman. Your behavior today is really out of line."

After all, she was to be my son's future stepmother. I wanted to avoid burning bridges and making things ugly later.

If she held a grudge, my son would be the one to suffer.

As a mother, I tried to let things slide when I could.

But to my surprise, when she heard my words, anger flared in her face.

She shoved the camera even closer to me.

"Everyone hears that? She's threatening me even now," Reva said.

"Today, I'll show you all this old bag's true colors."

With that, she pulled out another phone and opened it in front of the camera.

Soon, she displayed some photos of me and my son at an amusement park.

Reva snorted, "This old tramp has even set her sights on my son. You're old enough to be his grandmother. Have you no shame?

"To climb the ladder, you'd even go after my son. I'm warning you now. Touch a hair on my husband or son's head, and I'll rip your face off."

I frowned, suddenly at a loss for words.

I just dressed professionally and didn't like makeup. Surely, I didn't look as bad as she said for being in my thirties.

I wondered if Cole hadn't explained the photos to her.

Seeing my silence, she said coldly, "Nothing to say? Sisters, let's get her.

"Rip her face off so she can't seduce any more men."

A group of women rolled up their sleeves and closed in.

I hurriedly tried to explain. As I opened my mouth, it pulled at the scab on my lip, making me wince in pain.

"You've got it wrong. I'm the child's birth mother. Cole is my ex-husband. We divorced five years ago and have no more romantic ties. I just take care of the child most of the time," I said.

Before I could finish, Reva glanced at me and laughed scornfully.

"Birth mother? Do you take me for an idiot?" she said.

"I'm about to marry into the Hudson family. Don't you think I'd know his ex-wife died long ago!

"What kind of ex-wife are you? You're just an old nanny who looks after my son. You really think you're something. Today I'll teach you a lesson so you know your place."

I was stunned speechless.

I never imagined Cole would say I was dead just to avoid trouble.

I broke out in a cold sweat and frantically asked the parents around me to call the police.

But no one paid me any attention.

Everyone just stood there, eager to watch the drama unfold.

Someone even took a pencil case from the desk drawer and threw it at my head.

Eraser shavings covered my hair.

Reva's face darkened completely.

Anger burned in her eyes as she stepped forward to hit me.

I quickly spoke up. "How about I call his grandmother? I'll put it on speaker, and you can listen."

Reva eyed me suspiciously before tossing my phone back in front of me.

"Try anything funny and you're dead," she said.

As I dialed, Reva's girlfriends were cracking their knuckles, eyeing me like hungry tigers.

The phone rang, and my heart was in my throat.

Suddenly, the call was cut off. I'd been blocked.

My phone clattered to the ground as the blood drained from my face.

Reva let out a cold laugh.

"My mother-in-law probably thought you were making prank calls. You're still putting on an act," she said.

I thought of my son, and my eyes lit up again.

"Wait, where's my son? He can vouch for me. I came here today for his parent-teacher conference," I said.

Reva quickly stepped forward and slapped me hard across the face.

"Enough! I told you not to mention my son. Stay away from him, you old witch. You're fired!" she shouted.

From the chatter of the parents around me, I heard that all the students in the class had been taken to the office by the head teacher.

That was why the head teacher hadn't shown up yet.

She was already overwhelmed with managing those kids.

Now, there was no one to vouch for me.

I didn't even have papers with me either.

I was sweating with anxiety, but Reva didn't give me a moment to think.

With just a glance, her group of friends started smashing things in the classroom.

Their wild, out-of-control behavior forced the spectating parents to leave the room.

Reva pointed the live stream camera around the classroom, showing the desks and chairs scattered on the floor, and the white paint chipped off the walls.

In just five minutes, the intact classroom was a mess.

The blackboards at the front and back were splashed with red paint, looking eerily terrifying.

Seeing this, she laughed even more wildly and recklessly.

Facing the camera, she said, "This old hag said she would attend my son's parent-teacher meeting for me. Today, I'm giving her a memorable meeting."

I couldn't help but speak up to stop her. "You'll regret this when Cole comes.

"You don't know what you're doing. When the truth comes out, you'll be the one who's really finished."

She clutched her chest, her expression exaggerated.

"Everyone, this mistress is threatening me. I'm so scared. She stole my man and now she wants to walk all over me," she said.

With that, she stepped forward, grabbed her bag, and hit me on the head again.

Under a few heavy blows, my head was shaking so much I couldn't think straight.

The dull pain made me see stars.

She stormed out in her high heels.

Outside, more and more parents gathered. Even people from the neighboring classrooms were drawn over. Many people had their phones out, pointing at my face and recording.

My weak cries for help were drowned out by the insults.

I couldn't even get up to grab my phone and call the police.

I struggled to prop myself up, and as soon as I touched the edge of my phone, I felt a heavy blow to my back.

Reva stood in front of me with an angry face.

She was holding a mop with a disgusting yellow stain on it.

"Run? Where do you think you're going to run?" she said.

"The only one leaving this place on their feet today is me."

I was beaten to the ground, my gaze falling on the crowd of onlookers outside the window.

Everyone was cheering for Reva.

I had become the target of accusations.

The large classroom had no place left to stand.

Her friend walked up and kicked me hard.

My body felt like a pile of weak, powerless flesh.

"This is too easy on her. She wanted a parent-teacher meeting, right? Let's give her a chance."

In Reva's bloodthirsty, excited gaze, she said, "Drag her to the broadcast room and make her confess to the whole school that she's a homewrecker."

I looked at her in horror, shaking my head desperately.

Two girls grabbed me from under my armpits and lifted me.

My lower body was dragged along the ground, my skirt gradually tearing and exposing the flesh-colored fabric underneath.

As I struggled, the car keys fell out of my pocket.

Reva's eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

She angrily picked up the keys and threw them hard at my face.

The key ring stabbed into my eye, instantly turning it red.

"This is my husband's car, isn't it? I saw the vehicle information on his phone. You have quite the appetite, don't you?" she snarled.

But it was just part of the property divided during the divorce.

Reva was beyond listening to any explanations.

Her gaze grew more and more sinister.

A parent watching the drama spoke up.

"Is it the car downstairs? I think I saw her get out of it. She even drove the car straight in, not afraid of hitting a child. This kind of person is heartless," she said.

As soon as she finished speaking, Reva rushed to the railing and looked down.

I couldn't stop her in time and could only watch helplessly as she smashed the key into the car window.

The windshield shattered instantly, but that wasn't enough for her.

She swung her bag at my face with all her might, the strap snapping on impact, and the bag fell to the ground, revealing the broken brick inside.

I never imagined she could be this ruthless.

She was trying to kill me.

Her friend kept dragging me toward the broadcast room while Reva went downstairs alone.

She quickly smashed my car beyond recognition.

Still unsatisfied, she stormed into the classroom next door and grabbed a chair.

Then she used all her strength to hurl it at the driver's seat.

With no windshield, the chair got wedged between the driver and passenger seats.

After all this, she clapped her hands in satisfaction, aimed the live-stream camera at the wrecked car, and took a wide shot.

"Guys, don't hold back with a mistress. Just do what I did to make sure she's too scared to ever leave her house again.

"I don't believe this old hag has the guts to keep challenging me," she said.

Reva picked up the mop from the ground and charged into the broadcast room, where I was already pinned down in front of the microphone.

The mic rubbed harshly against my swollen lips.

And blood spread into a red stain at the corner of my mouth.

Bit down with all my strength, refusing to say a word.

Reva shoved her friend aside, snatched the microphone, and turned it on.

She shouted, "Sorry to waste your time today, folks. Let me introduce the mistress who's here to attend my son's parent-teacher conference in my place.

"My husband was kind enough to give this old woman a job as a nanny, but she took his money and corrupted my son, and now she's trying to ruin my family. So, I'm giving her the chance to become famous in front of the whole school."

As she finished, she reached out and pinched the inside of my arm hard.

The pain contorted my face, but I bit my lips to keep from crying out.

Reva leaned in close.

She whispered threateningly in my ear, "Speak up! Or I'll drag you to every classroom, strip you naked, and parade you around.

"Say it. Say you're just an old hag who loves seducing married men and won't dare do it again after I'm done with you."

Tears welled up in my eyes, my teeth chattering from the force I was using to hold them together.

The humiliation and searing pain overwhelmed my senses, pushing me to the brink of suffocation.

I finally forced out a plea through clenched teeth.

"I admit it. Isn't that enough? Please, let me go. I'm begging you," I said.

She shoved the microphone into my mouth, cranking up the speaker volume to the max.

She let out a cold laugh and shouted, "Did you hear that? The old woman admitted it herself.

"From now on, watch out when you step outside. You never know when you might run into someone like me who'll rip that old face right off."

She threw her phone onto a nearby table, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the screen flooded with virtual gifts.

The viewer count was climbing rapidly.

Crushed by a wave of humiliation and despair, I collapsed.

The next second, Reva shoved the microphone off the table.

"Since you admit it, it's time to pay the price," she said.

She grabbed the mop with both hands and began beating me mercilessly.

The pain made me writhe uncontrollably on the floor.

I didn't know whether to shield my head or my body.

She yanked out my earrings, tearing my earlobe in half as blood gushed out.

She became even wilder.

"You think you deserve to wear gold, you old hag? Spending my husband's money," she shouted.

Her eyes turned red with fury, and she lost all control, refusing to stop.

The stick kept landing on my torn earlobe, and my hearing began to fade.

The sound of sirens approached, but she remained oblivious.

Exhausted, I lay there like a corpse, letting her continue the assault.

My insides felt shattered, and my consciousness began to fade.

Just then, my ex-husband finally pushed through the crowd of onlookers and found the broadcast room.

"Hilda? Hilda, where are you?" he called out.