Aria pov
The late afternoon sun streamed through the tall windows of Silver Springs Elite Academy as I waited in the parent pickup line.
Other mothers chatted around me, designer bags and perfect highlights, discussing vacation homes and charity galas. I smiled politely when necessary, but kept my distance.
They didn't need to know me. And I didn't need their judgment when they inevitably discovered I was a single mother who'd clawed her way up from nothing.
The doors opened, and children poured out like in a wave of chaos and noise.
Then I saw him.
Noah ran toward me with his backpack bouncing, his little legs pumping as fast as they could go, his face lit up with pure joy.
"Mama!" He crashed into my legs with the force of a tiny hurricane.
I dropped to my knees and pulled him close, breathing in his little-boy smell of crayons and playground dust. "Hi, baby. Did you have a good day?"
