“I really have a lot of respect for you, Teresa,” Lysander said, patting her shoulder. “When I first saw your photo, I thought you were absolutely stunning. Honestly, you caught my eye the very first time I saw you.”
Teresa coolly brushed his hand away, her fist clenching at her side. “Thank you, Mr. Carrington. Whether I get a permanent position or not doesn’t matter to me. What matters most is being a good role model for the students. Don’t you think so?”
Lysander chuckled, clearly understanding, and looked at her as if she were a helpless bird. “You’re pretty tough, Teresa. Are you sure you don’t want a permanent spot? Take a look at this.” He pulled a gold toad from his drawer. “A parent gave me this. It’s worth sixty thousand. If you like it, I’ll give it to you. I can get you even more expensive things—whatever you want, we can work something out.”
“I’m not interested in that kind of stuff. My husband already buys me plenty. We have lots at home.”
“Lying sets a bad example for the kids, Teresa. Your résumé says you’re single, remember?” Lysander’s eyes lingered on Teresa’s figure. “It’s not easy for a woman to make it on her own, is it? These days, what woman doesn’t like money? With me around, you’d never have to worry about that.”
Before he could finish, Teresa raised her phone. “Mr. Carrington, I thought you called me here for work. Turns out you’re just harassing me. I’ve recorded everything you just said. If you keep this up or try anything worse, I’ll call the police. You won’t be able to keep your job.”
Lysander softly laughed. “Call the police? I don’t think you have the guts—unless you don’t want to work in Everport anymore.”
“Then I won’t. I’m not afraid of you.” Teresa turned and walked out.
Back in the office, Teresa acted like nothing had happened, but she was furious. She’d just started working at this school and already encountered this kind of nonsense. She used to think shady deals and unspoken rules were a business-world phenomenon. Turns out, such tricks exist wherever people gather. It’s the same everywhere.
Her coworkers said Lysander’s family was influential. Otherwise, with his lack of qualifications, there’s no way he’d be in charge. Teresa told herself she wasn’t scared, but she was just putting on a brave face. This was Everport, not Nareigh. If she were back in Nareigh, she wouldn’t be worried at all.
But here she was, in a strange city, unsure of how things worked, and on top of that, a single mother. She was glad she’d listed herself as “single” on her job application and hadn’t mentioned her child. That was definitely the right call.
Her child was her biggest weakness. She was terrified someone might use her child to threaten her. She didn’t care what happened to herself, but if anyone dared to use her child against her, she’d fight back with everything she had.
She was thinking about this when she unlocked her phone to check the home security camera. Michael was standing in front of it, talking. “Mom, why didn’t you wake me up? Why didn’t you take me to kindergarten?”
She could hear everything happening at home through the monitor, but he couldn’t hear her.
So Teresa called to comfort him. “Sorry, sweetie. You were sleeping so soundly, I didn’t want to wake you. There’s food in the pot—I made some corn porridge. If you’re hungry, have some, okay?”
Just as she was speaking, Tina, the sixth-grade language arts teacher, walked in from her office. She smiled and asked, “Who are you on the phone with?”
“No one,” Teresa said, hanging up.
“Really? I thought you were talking to your boyfriend. Teresa, you’re so pretty. Do you have a boyfriend?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” Teresa replied, putting her phone away.