If her children had to suffer, so be it.
***
Adeline POV
The message from the boys’ homeroom teacher arrived the moment Mathias and I stepped off the curb near the kindergarten gates. Nicole was about to leave the campus. I could not let her slip away before hearing her answer for herself.
I could not let this pass unanswered.
Mathias always loved to present in situations like this. He hated when I had to sulk over an issue for too.
“She is still near the gate,” he said, while he waited at the walkway.
I nodded. “Good. She will not run.”
When Nicole stepped out of the front office, she carried her bag high on her shoulder and kept her face turned downward as if she hoped to avoid being noticed. Her steps were brisk. She intended to leave without even glancing around.
“Helper Nic
