Adelaide Warren was in the process of enrolling her daughter in school when she was suddenly informed that two boys had mysteriously appeared on her household registry. The school spots had been used up six years earlier by the older boy, while the younger one still occupied the seat, leaving Adelaide's daughter, Cora, without a place.

Upon investigating, Adelaide discovered this was the doing of her former tenants. She immediately demanded they transfer their registration back and return the educational spot to her. Unfazed, the tenants casually said, "Well, you could take us to court, but we’ll drag it out for years."

Adelaide, however, was not one to back down. For about $34, she managed to cancel the residency of those two boys, effectively rendering them citizens of another country. This development threw the tenants into a panic, causing them to desperately try to find her. Adelaide, however, remained unfazed, thinking to herself, "Emigrating is beneficial for my 'sons.' You, a stranger, have no say in this."

When submitting the school application, the system indicated the slot was already taken. Initially, Adelaide thought it was a system error. However, a visit to the local education authority quickly turned the situation serious. According to the staff, the primary school spot had been used six years ago and was currently being used a second time.

A feeling of dread swept over her. Her property was in a dual-grade school district, which included both primary and secondary school slots. With a faint glimmer of hope, she asked, "What about the secondary school slot?"

"It’s taken too," the employee replied, crushing her hopes. This was unthinkable — how could both slots be filled without her knowledge?

"What about my daughter?" she wondered. This was all so inexplicable. "There must be a mistake. I only have one child, Cora, who's seven and just starting first grade. How could the primary school slot have been used six years ago?" The staff, appearing unfazed by her distress, asked if she had rented out her house.

Her mind quickly flashed back to seven years earlier. Indeed, she had rented the house to a seemingly kind-hearted middle-aged couple who moved out abruptly after just a month, breaking the lease. Given that she needed to move back due to a job transfer, she hadn’t pursued the matter further. But could this couple be responsible?

Driven by suspicion, she immediately contacted Annika Schmidt, the rental agent from back then. Fortunately, Annika still worked in the business and promised to look up the rental contract. As Adelaide anxiously waited, sweat began to trickle down her brow in the cold, stark lobby.

Finally, the contract arrived. The agent mentioned, "I remember that couple well. They insisted on a house with a school slot for Cora’s school, at a lower rent, preferably from an owner without children. It took me weeks to find such a property, so when you called, I remembered them immediately."

With this revelation, Adelaide felt a chill down her spine — it was indeed them. The couple, Fletcher Hawkins and Stormi Palmer, had initially agreed to a long-term lease. Yet, despite signing the contract, they reversed their decision after just a month, claiming they needed to return to their hometown.

Adelaide had viewed them as genuine, even waiving the penalty for breaking the lease and returning their deposit. She had treated them with kindness, only to be met with deceit. She felt foolish for trusting them so easily.

To afford the dual-grade school district house, Adelaide and her husband, Makai, had poured every last cent into its purchase, taking on a hefty loan and spending an extra $130,000 compared to other properties in the area. They had lived frugally, pinching pennies for years, and she hadn't bought new clothes in ages. And now, as the last loan payment loomed, she found out her tenants had monopolized their school spots for a mere $4200 over the past six years.

The tenants' greed knew no bounds; not only did they aim to secure the secondary school spot, they also wanted to keep the primary school slot, leaving Cora's future in jeopardy. Such audacity was intolerable.

In retrospect, Adelaide realized there must have been some illegal maneuvers involved. If it was unauthorized, it could be revoked. Yet reality dealt her a harsh blow.

Piper Berry explained that all current procedures were legitimate, and they didn't have the authority to revoke them. Adelaide Warren was immediately furious.

This meant that she, who had spent her own money to buy a house in a top school district, would have to put up with this injustice, and her daughter, Cora, would miss out on an education? There was no reason in the world for this.

Seeing Adelaide on the verge of losing her composure, Piper Berry advised her. "Since you're sure it's an issue with the tenants, you might want to negotiate with them first to clarify that this is indeed their error."

Realizing that arguing with the staff was pointless, Adelaide reluctantly dialed the number on the rental contract. Her best hope was that the tenants, once approached, would acknowledge the issue and give up the school spot.

The call connected quickly, and she briefly explained the situation. However, before she could make her request, the person on the other end abruptly hung up. Further attempts to call resulted in a message saying the number was unavailable.

Stunned, Adelaide was shaking with anger. It was undoubtedly their doing, no question about it. Since they had no shame, she wouldn't hesitate to burn bridges.

Without wasting time, Adelaide went straight to the police station to report the issue. She assumed at worst it was the tenants using her school district spot without consent, but what the police revealed left her speechless.

Officer Yusuf Watson informed her that the school spot issue was legitimate because the children benefitting from her house's district were listed as her sons.

"My sons?" she exclaimed.

"Yes, according to your records, you have two boys. The older one is Krew Hawkins, aged 13, and the younger one is Zane Hawkins, aged seven."

Adelaide nearly shouted in disbelief in front of the officers. This was impossible. She had married eight years ago, gotten pregnant afterward, and had been raising her only daughter. Now, two sons had suddenly appeared.

If word got out, she would be accused of having children out of wedlock. Even if proven to be a misunderstanding, her reputation would be ruined.

The situation had spiraled out of control, and she urgently asked the records officer, Fiona Owens, for an explanation. Fiona shook her head and said, "I didn't process the original records. There might have been an error somewhere."

Adelaide couldn't hold back her frustration and slammed her hand on the table. "Since this is your error, correct it now. Remove these strangers from my records."

Fiona looked troubled. "That's against the rules. First, you must prove they're not your children."

Adelaide was exasperated. "I don't even know who these kids are. How am I supposed to prove anything?"

Seeing her agitation, Officer Watson took Adelaide aside, explaining that this was a civil matter. Whether she had agreed to the transfer of records was unknown at the time. Given the situation, the only option was for the families to negotiate.

Hearing this, Adelaide grew even angrier. How was it fair that they had sneakily attached children to her records, yet she needed to negotiate to remove them?

But she quickly regained her calm. For her daughter's education, no matter how angry, she had to endure it. Her only focus was to resolve the issue swiftly, ensuring Cora could enroll by the final registration date.