Aggrieved
Due to Benny’s health, although he felt better after taking his medicine, Roxanne was still worried, so
she got him excused from school to rest at home. Archie also stayed home to accompany him.
Meanwhile, having not seen the two brothers in kindergarten for two days in a row, let alone Roxanne,
Estella became very depressed.
Originally, with Archie and Benny acting as examples, the children in the class would take her along to
play. However, because of her aversion in the past two days, they also began to alienate her again.
After class, Estella often sprawled on her desk, pouting while staring at Archie and Benny’s seats, hoping
they would suddenly appear in their seats.
“What are you doing, Estella?” A kid could not suppress his curiosity anymore, so he came over and
asked her.
Estella, however, seemed to have not heard his voice and carried on clawing at the table.
“Come and play with us!” he invited.
On the side, someone called out to him in a childish voice, “Ignore her, Yoel. Estella won’t play with us!”
Yoel looked at Estella with some hesitation.
As early as before Archie and Benny came, he often invited Estella to play with him.
At that time, although Estella did not pay much attention to him, she would still have some reactions
when she heard him speak, and sometimes, she would write and chat with him.
However, these two days, no matter what he said, she still acted as though she could not hear his voice.
The boy felt that her behavior was very strange and was a little worried about her.
Seeing his hand reaching over, Estella finally reacted, frowning and dodging it in displeasure.
Yoel’s eyes lit up. Thinking that Estella was playing with him, he reached out again to grab her arm.
Estella slapped his hand away with a loud smack.
Many children around heard the noise, and when they saw Estella hitting Yoel, they all gathered around
and reprimanded her in outrage, “Children can’t hit people. Estella, apologize to Yoel now!”
Estella didn’t react until after hitting him, but she also felt very aggrieved.
By dodging his hand earlier, she was already telling him that she did not want him to touch her.
Yet, he still wanted to come over and touch her. She only hit him because she felt uncomfortable with it.
The back of Yoel’s hand was all red, and he was momentarily stunned. I just wanted to play with her.
Why did she hit me?
“Estella, apologize now, or we’ll go tell the teacher!” someone warned while standing with arms akimbo.
Very soon, others chimed in.
Estella looked at the aggressive looks of the children around her before shifting her gaze to the empty
seats of Archie and Benny, feeling aggrieved with reddened eyes.
If they were here, they would definitely speak up for me…
Thinking of the days when she was protected by the brothers and remembering how distant Roxanne
was from her and her father during that period, she felt a sense of fear that Archie and Benny might
never come back.
At that thought, Estella cried out in anguish.
When they saw her crying, the children were startled and fell silent, looking at each other in bafflement.
They only intended to seek justice for Yoel. Moreover, apologizing after hitting someone was the right
thing to do. However, they did not expect Estella to cry as though she had been wronged.
Everyone felt puzzled, but seeing that she was crying so hard, they did not dare to say anything.
The class bell rang, and the children returned to their seats, feeling guilty. Nevertheless, Estella’s tears
continued to flow uncontrollably, looking distraught.
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