Chapter 427 - SEVEN YEARS OLD

"What happened to you?" Serefina stared at the crying little Hope before her green lime eyes demanded an explanation from Ariel. 

Today was one of those very rare days when Serefina had time to pick Hope up from her school and found the little girl was crying her eyes out until her breath turned rasps. 

Ariel, who walked her out from the school gates, was looking at Serefina apologetically and started to speak timidly. 

"I am sorry Mrs. Manson," She started, Ariel knew Serefina as Hope's mother because that was what on the paper said, as for Lana she was Hope's sister and would often drive and pick up the little girl if it wasn't Serefina herself, who did that. 

As for the man that Ariel saw a year ago, she had never seen him since their last encounter. 

Just like always, Serefina completely ignored Ariel and walked toward Hope as she still covered her face with her hands. 

"Stop crying." Serefina's voice was firm with no trace of warm laced on it. "I said stop crying." This time her voice sounded firmer than before and made Ariel flinched. 

"Mrs. Manson…" Ariel tried to talk to Serefina, but the witch refused to look at her. 

However, Hope choked twice before she stopped her sobbing and put down her hands as she stared at Serefina with teary eyes. Though her cry had stopped, but her tinny shoulders were still shaking from the after outburst. 

"Talk to me what happened." Serefina demanded, disregarded Ariel, who was still standing there.

If Serefina thought Ariel was someone not important, then she wouldn't waste her seconds for her, not even spared her a glance.

As for Ariel, the school where she was working was one of the most prestigious schools in this red river city, hence all the children there must come from prominent family, though she had never heard about Manson family, but Ariel wouldn't treat Hope recklessly, especially after she witnessed how arrogant Hope's mother was. 

"There was a boy…" Ariel tried to explain to Serefina, but the later shot her an icy glare.

"I asked her, not you." Serefina became impatient. "Tell me what happened." she shifted her eyes toward Hope again. 

"It was Drake…" Hope talked in her soft, quiver voice as she played with the edge of her shirt nervously. She didn't like it when Serefina was glaring at her. "He bullied me…"

"Bullied you?" Serefina's face turned unsightly. 

"So, it was…" Ariel tried to explain it hastily, but Serefina had raised her hands to stop her from spouting another words. 

"Why he bullied you?" Serefina frowned. How come someone under her was bullied easily?

"Because… because…" Hope fidgeted, she averted her gazes elsewhere before she answered. "Because my front tooth is missing…" she pursed her lips sullenly. 

Hope had just starting to lose her baby teeth a few weeks ago and now her front tooth was missing that made the little girl quite upset because how she looked like without her tooth.

Serefina raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Then, what did you do?"

"Hm?" Hope choke once again and blinked her eyes as a tear fell on her cheek that she wiped it immediately because she knew Serefina didn't like to see her cry. 

"What did you do to him after he mocked you about your missing tooth." Serefina elaborated her words impatiently. 

Hope shook her head. "Nothing…" she said timidly.

"Mrs. Mason, please don't be angry… I had given Drake a punishment because his rude behavior." Ariel interrupted again, didn't want Serefina to misunderstanding the situation. 

"What kind of punishment that you give him?" this time, Serefina turned her head to look at Ariel. 

Ariel bit her lips nervously under Serefina's hard gaze. This woman was always scary to look at. "I asked the boy to apologize to Hope."

"And?" Serefina raised her eyebrows. 

"And I gave him a punishment to write down ten pages of apologize for Hope." Ariel dropped her gaze as she fidgeted. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to look at the woman in front of her. Mrs. Mason has this overbearing aura. 

"And?" Serefina asked the same question impatiently, didn't even care when she watched Ariel had started to cower under her eyes. 

"I think… I think that punishment was enough for the boy. They are still children." Ariel tried to find an excuse to justify her decision. It was the right punishment as she had followed the school rules, yet Serefina made it, as if it wasn't enough.

There was an uncomfortable silence that followed afterward before Serefina talked to Hope coldly. "Next time, if there is someone bullied you like that again, punch them in their face. Got it?"

"Mrs. Mason… you can't teach your daughter like that." Ariel startled when she heard her.

Yet, Serefina didn't bother to argue with the home teacher as she ushered Hope into the car, leaving Ariel in her puzzle state. 

She could just shake her head helplessly and prayed that Serefina didn't mean her words, unknowing to her, it was really the opposite. 

"Do you remember what I said before?" Serefina glared at the little girl beside her. "If someone bullied you, you have to punch them in the face, so they will stop doing that."

Hope bit her bottom lips as she kept silence for awhile before she answered. "But, what if I don't have a friend anymore because of that?"

Hope had been struggling to have a friend because she kept seeing things that all of her friends couldn't see it. 

They thought Hope was weird as she kept talking about something that they couldn't understand. 

Only when Lana had a nice talked with her and explained one or two things that she had to know, Hope started to ignore those creatures that her friends couldn't see it. 

And Kace said she was not a weird child. Hope was special because she could see them. 

"What's the point of having friend that will hurt your feeling? You don't need to have bunch of idiot to be called as friends, you just need some who keeps you happy."