The Unveiled Rose

Yvonne leaned back in her seat. "How did Zane provoke you?"

Jessica was filled with anger after recalling what happened this morning. "He had people spread rumors at school, saying Cody doesn't have a father and that I'm trying to find one for him." She took a deep breath, then continued, "And I targeted another student's father."

Yvonne asked, "And this student is Zachary?"

Jessica was still seething with anger. "Yes! He even said that I thought Steven was a perfect mark, and knowing full well that he was married, I still tried to seduce him!

"In just one year, I turned a happy, well-knit family into chaos. And it ended with a divorce. Finally, I took my place."

She clenched her fist tightly. "Originally, a few parents in Cody's class were close to me. But after dropping off the kids this morning, they all found excuses to distance themselves from me! Not only that, but they even had their husbands keep their distance from me! "They really think I'm some homewrecker trying to steal someone else's husband!"

Jessica gritted her teeth and continued, "I knew they must have believed Zane's words."

Yvonne could feel Jessica's anger through the phone, but after all, she worked under Zane. Naturally, she didn't dare offend him.

After hesitating, Yvonne said, "But will drawing Zane into the comic really solve the problem?"

"No," Jessica replied without a second thought. "But it will make me happy."

Yvonne remained silent for a while before asking, "Then, how do you plan to handle this?"

Jessica was caught off guard by the question.

She thought for a long time before responding, "I'll ask Steven and see if he can come up with a solution."

A child tried to approach Cody at the kindergarten and chat with him.

Other children hurriedly pulled him back. "You still dare to talk to Cody?"

The child was confused. "What's wrong?"

"They all say that Cody's mom caused Zachary's parents to divorce."

"And then Zachary's mom was kicked out of the house."

"Now, Cody's mom is with Zachary's dad."

The child was stunned and didn't dare to go near Cody again, afraid that talking to him even a little bit would mean Jessica might take their dad away. He looked at Zachary and asked, "Is what they said true?"

Zachary didn't deny it. "Pretty much."

After getting Zachary's answer, the others instinctively kept their distance from Cody. Even their looks at him felt like they were gazing at a villain. Cody tried to pretend he didn't care but still felt deeply hurt. He leaned on the table and cried loudly.

Willow glanced at him.

Humph! Couldn't he even handle being alienated by his classmates for a while? She had endured it all long before!

Willow lifted her chin, feeling quite proud. She was truly amazing!

...

Jessica felt that explaining things over the phone wasn't enough, so she had Harry take her to Steven's office.

Steven was handling some business at that time. Hearing the door open, he frowned and looked up. "Didn't I always say you must knock before entering my office?" When he saw it was Jessica, he was a bit surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"They're bullying me!" Jessica rushed into Steven's arms, telling him everything that had happened earlier that morning.

Steven felt his scalp tingle, unusually uncomfortable with the close contact.

He was confused.

Wasn't he in love with Jessica? Then, why did he feel suffocated when she got close to him? Did he want to distance himself from her?

Steven couldn't understand why, but he forced himself to embrace Jessica. "So, you want me to step in and help solve this problem?"