4.
The call cut off, and the next second the phone lit up with calls and texts pouring in like a blizzard.
All from numbers I didn't know.
I answered one. A woman's voice came through.
"You're Mercedes Floyd, aren't you? How can you be such an ungrateful snake? Dr. Edwards helped you out of the goodness of her heart, building up your baby's health so your kid could be stronger."
"And this is how you repay her. The second your kid gets better, you kick away the ladder. Dr. Edwards kindly asks you to be her assistant and you just stand her up."
"You'd better pray I never find out where you are. Because if I do, I'll kill you."
The venom in her voice was thick. I hung up fast.
I opened the texts that had come in. Every one of them cursing me.
Then a local short video popped up.
It was Barbara giving a talk, someone had recorded it.
Except her opening, of all things, was about me.
Very pointedly, she said I was supposed to come and be her teaching assistant.
Half an hour of waiting, and still no one showed.
Barbara started to cry.
"I never imagined that mom would back out at the last minute. If she didn't want to come, she could have told me ahead of time."
"It's all right. I can still go on."
The parents in the audience were already worked up.
"Teacher Edwards, don't be sad, we all believe you."
"Who is that mom, exactly? Tell us and we'll get justice for you."
"Teacher Edwards..."
My information got dumped online.
The calls kept coming, and people were even tracing my number to add me on a messaging app.
Vivian messaged me right then too.
【Barbara's talk was ruined. Happy now?】
【If you didn't want to do it, why agree in the first place? Get back here and apologize to Barbara, or you can forget about ever coming home.】
But I never agreed. I never did.
I went back through the video, and in one image post I saw a chat with my profile picture on it.
Barbara had posted it.
【Teacher Edwards, I'll come to your talk after all. You've helped me so much.】
【Great.】
Someone pounded on the door from outside.
The bang, bang jolted my daughter awake.
She looked at me in a panic, on the edge of tears but not quite.
I carried her to the door, and I clearly heard the voice of the front-desk clerk who'd checked me in.
"That's right, this is it, I'm the one who checked that mother and daughter in."
The pounding got louder.
"Open up, you bitch. Hurting the one teacher we trust most, get out here right now."
"How can you be so shameless? I'm going to tear that lying mouth of yours right off your face."
"Open the door!"
The pounding made my heart race, fear rising in my throat.
The handle turned, and I was afraid.
The next second, angry shouts broke out at the door.
"Who do you people think you are? Who gave you permission to barge in like this?"
"Move, move, move. This is a normal guest. You're all mothers, all grown adults, and not one of you has any sense of the law? Don't you know doxxing someone and breaking into their room is a crime?"
Someone still wouldn't back down.
"We're here to teach her a lesson. So what if you're cops, cops can't stop us. Arrest us if you dare."
"You arrest us, we'll sue you."
Those few lines were the last straw.
The officer swept his hand out. "Take them all in for questioning. Find out who started the doxxing."
The noise outside gradually died down.
Then someone knocked on the door again.
My heart lurched, but this time the voice that spoke was one I knew.
"It's over now. But this place isn't safe anymore. You should take your daughter and move somewhere else."
"I'll head out first."
I quickly called out to stop him.
"Wait."
"What you said last time, does it still stand?"
