"I don't know, the kindergarten didn't disclose that. Anna's teacher said that the child came from a foreign country with his parents," Joe replied.
This kindergarten was an upper-class kindergarten, and all the children were from respectable families so it was completely normal that the kindergarten would not disclose the parents’ identity so easily.
Henry pondered. "Then can you ask the teacher to contact the child's parents and inform them? If they are willing, I'll bring Anna to meet them and apologize in person."
"Okay," Joe responded.
After he hung up, Joe immediately went to the kindergarten teacher to pass Henry's message along.
The teacher nodded after listening. She then found the phone number Yvonne had left and made a call.
Yvonne was processing the documents Lisa had sent her at the hotel. When she heard the phone ring, she turned her head around and glanced at it.
When she saw that the call was from Theo’s teacher, she thought that something had happened to Theo. She quickly dropped the pen in her hand and grabbed the phone before putting it to her ear.
"Hello, is this Theo's mother?" the teacher asked
gently.
Yvonne anxiously replied, "Yes. Why did you call? Is there something wrong with Theo?"
The teacher glanced at Joe and looked apologetic. "No, no, Theo is fine. But..."
Joe noticed the teacher's embarrassment as she was scared that the child's parents would get angry. Joe sighed and waved, "Just be honest."
Anyway, if she didn't say it now, the child’s parents would find out sooner or later.
If the parents found out late, they might get even angrier.
So why not just be upfront now?
The teacher settled down after hearing Joe’s encouragement. She mustered the courage to speak u p again, "So, Theo was ostracised by a little girl in his class. That little girl has a somewhat strong personality, and she grew up spoiled since she was a child. She couldn’t accept it when Theo ignored her. She then got the other children to discriminate against Theo and called him..."
"Called him what?" Yvonne narrowed her eyes, and her voice was as cold as ice. She clenched her hand that was holding the phone tighter, almost crushing it.
The teacher noticed the change in her attitude and she was fuming. She smiled bitterly, bit the bullet, and continued, "They called Theo a mute and freak!"
Boom!
Yvonne flipped over the coffee cup on the table. Her tiny face was filled with anger.
"Mute? Freak?" She gritted her teeth and repeated. Her eyes reddened. "Was this how Theo was treated in school?"
She thought that Theo might not be able to make friends in kindergarten because of his autism and his lack of speech, and other children might not play with him.
But she never thought that Theo would get ostracised by the other children and be given such a terrible nickname!
"Theo's mom, please calm down." The teacher knew how angry the woman was, so she hurriedly said that t o calm her down.
However, all Yvonne thought about was how Theo was bullied, and she could not calm down at all.
Apart from the Smith family, Theo was the only other person she cared about and loved the most in this world.
She treated Theo like he was the only thing that mattered. She had never beaten or scolded Theo. She valued Theo more than anybody else, and if she could, she would give Theo everything in this world.
But this child that she carefully cared for and loved was bullied, and she did not even know about it. How could she possibly be calm!
"How long has it been since the bullying and namecalling started?" Yvonne asked coldly.
The teacher shivered when she heard the coldness in her voice. She quickly replied, "Um... it has been several days!"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Love Comes Secretly After Their Contract Marriage