She sneered, digging her nails deeper into my skin until I almost cried out.

Emma saw me pinned down and began sobbing, his voice breaking.

“Mom!”

“Mom, help me… I… I can’t breathe…”

His steps faltered, and he nearly fell. The Rottweiler lunged closer, its snapping jaws drawing a cheer from the crowd.

I struggled with all my strength, but the woman holding me down was stronger.

Mrs. Brown stood, her expensive stiletto heel grinding down onto the back of my hand.

She twisted it cruelly, a smirk curling her lips.

“Mrs. Foster, I warned you in the Parent Group Chat, didn’t I?”

“I told you to discipline your son. You wouldn’t listen. Now look where we are. Too late to regret it.”

The pain shot up my arm, but it was nothing compared to the agony tearing through my chest.

Tears slid down my face.

“Mrs. Brown, I was wrong. I was foolish. Please, let Emma go. He just had heart surgery three months ago—his heart could stop at any moment!”

Ms. Collins stepped forward, her cheek still red from my slap, and spoke solemnly as if she were the voice of reason.

“Mrs. Foster, you don’t have to worry. The Browns own a major sports and medical equipment company—they know better than we do!”

“This is to unlock Emma’s physical potential, push him past his limits! It’s science—there’s no harm, only benefit!”

The other teachers and parents nodded along, smiling like this was perfectly reasonable.

“Exactly, Mrs. Foster. Your son is lucky to get such an opportunity!”

“Who knows, if he pushes himself hard enough, maybe his heart will heal on its own. You should be thanking Mrs. Brown!”

“If your kid refuses to exercise, he’ll ruin the sense of team spirit for all our kids. Then what? Our kids’ bright futures get destroyed because of him? Who takes responsibility for that?”

I stared at their shameless faces and finally understood.

This was Mrs. Brown’s trap from the very beginning.

Emma, terrified for me, kept running through tears, his gaze locked on me, begging for help.

Some of the betting parents began shouting when they saw him slowing down.

“Run, you little brat! I’ve got $10k on this!”

“If he drops, bring in a bigger dog! This Rottweiler’s useless!”

Mrs. Brown let out a sinister laugh.

“No need for that. His mom’s right here.”

“Hold her down. Everyone move aside. I want her to see this clearly.”

The crowd parted, and Emma and I locked eyes.

The Rottweiler was almost on him now, its barking deafening.

Every step he took looked like torture, like he was being flayed alive with every breath.

Mrs. Brown crouched down, grabbed my jaw roughly, and yanked open the top two buttons of my shirt.

Then she slapped me across the face, hard.

Smack!

Emma froze, horrified.

“Stop! Don’t hurt my mom!”

Mrs. Brown laughed cruelly and called out to him:

“Emma! If you don’t want Mommy to get hit again, run faster!”

“The faster you run, the fewer slaps she gets. Understand?”

“Yes! I’ll run! Just don’t hurt my mom!”

I watched as Emma clenched his teeth and took off again.

I shook my head violently, crying out:

“Emma, you’re going to hurt yourself!”

But I couldn’t tell him to slow down.

If he stopped, these people might do something even more monstrous.

Slaps kept raining down on my face, but I hardly felt them anymore.

Some of the men in the crowd took the opportunity to grope at me where I was pinned, laughing crudely.

I managed to slip a hand into my pocket, pressing down on the power button to call 911.

But before I could complete the call, Ms. Collins lunged forward, wrenching my hand away and yanking the phone out of my pocket.

She stared at the lit-up screen showing the emergency number, then handed the phone to Mrs. Brown.

“Mrs. Brown, she tried to call the police!”

All eyes turned on me.

A man kicked me hard in the back.

One of the fathers snatched the phone, smashed it to the ground, and stomped on it until the screen went black.

“You bitch! You dare call the cops? I’ll deal with you right here!”

Clutching my torn shirt, I screamed with everything I had left:

“My husband is John Foster!”

“If anyone lays another finger on me or my son, my husband will make sure none of you walk away from this!”

The crowd froze.

The man about to hit me stopped mid-motion, his face twitching.

The pressure on my body eased slightly.

Mrs. Brown’s smirk faded. She looked me up and down like I’d lost my mind, then burst out laughing.

“John Foster? You mean the John Foster? The most powerful man in New York City—the man who controls politics and business with one hand?”

She laughed so hard she nearly doubled over, tears in her eyes.

“Oh, please. That’s the best lie you could come up with?”

“We had dinner with him last month—my father even sent him a gift!”

“John Foster is famously single! Everyone knows that. Where would he get a wife? Or a kid?”

She pointed at Emma, who was nearly collapsing, her voice venomous.

“No wonder your little brat has a heart condition! You’re just some crazy woman who had a kid with God knows who and now you’re trying to pass him off as John Foster’s son!”

“Pathetic!”

“Shut your mouth!” I roared, but she ignored me.

She tightened her grip on my jaw and made a call.

“If you want to see John Foster so badly, I’ll make that happen.”

Ten minutes later, a familiar figure arrived.

It was Mark Thompson, my husband’s driver.

He was wearing a perfectly tailored suit, two security men flanking him.

He carried himself like a man in power, mimicking John’s confident posture—though the greed and smugness in his eyes gave him away.

I had never seen those security men before.