Six years later
In one of the apartments inside a commercial building, a figure was on the bed, still, a duvet covering every part of her body.
She only began to stir when a dream-shattering sound came from the phone beside her.
She slipped out a hand, pushed her golden blonde hair back, and sat up when she saw the caller ID.
"Hello, this is the vice principal of Queensland Kindergarten. Can you confirm if I'm speaking with Dahlia Warren?"
At the sound of the familiar voice, every trace of sleep vanished from Dahlia's eyes.
Pushing the duvet aside, she pulled the phone closer and almost sighed when she saw the time.
It was barely 1 p.m… three hours before she needed to pick the twins from school. So why was the school calling?
"Good afternoon. This is she."
"Ms. Warren, I'd like you to head down to the school immediately. It's regarding your sons."
The words were barely out of the woman's mouth before Dahlia's heart leaped out of her chest and she hurried to get dressed.
"I've told you! This boy is too rough to remain in this school. Look what he did to my gentle son!"
The moment she stepped foot into the vice principal's office, the angry voice of a mother reached her ears.
At the same time, two little boys of about six years old, with similar blonde hair, rushed to hug her as soon as they saw her.
They were roughly the same height and looked identical, but one had spiky hair while the other's was relaxed.
"This woman must be their mother. Tell me… do you not cut the nails of your sons? What kind of mother are you?"
Dahlia glanced at the woman, her eyes falling to the veins popping out on her neck and the ones threatening to burst at her temple as she breathed heavily.
She was angry.
Retracting her eyes, she lowered them to the little boy hiding behind her, his face bruised and his clothes dirty.
Behind the desk, a middle-aged woman wearing medicated glasses, stood and pushed up her glasses with a finger.
"Welcome, everyone. I'm Juliet Vince, the vice principal of the school, and I've called you here to discuss what happened with your sons."
"Discuss? Are you senseless!" the other woman trembled in rage, first pointing a shaky finger at Juliet before redirecting it to the twins.
"Those wild animals attacked my gentle son when he wasn't looking and did this to him! What is there to discuss besides their expulsions?!"
At this, the younger of the twins looked up at Dahlia with his clear, bright eyes and slowly shook his head. "Not true, mommy. He hit me first."
"Shut that lying mouth of yours, you distasteful little brat!" the woman shot back immediately, and the little boy flinched at the sudden noise, clinging to his mother's leg.
Dahlia immediately frowned, watching silently as the woman reached behind her to push her son forward.
Pointing at the injuries on his face and his dirty uniform, she lifted her chin and harrumphed irritably.
"You claim my gentle baby hit you first, but how come he's the only one with a dirty uniform and a bruised face?"
"That's because he got scared when he saw me and tried to run off, but tripped on something and fell on his face," the spiky-haired boy calmly retorted before Dahlia could speak.
Gasping, the woman turned to the vice principal again. "My baby got scared when he saw him and tried to run off."
"What more do you need to expel him after hearing him admit to being a bully who bullied my son to this state?!"
"Are you trying to be biased here?" Dahlia finally realized what was going on and scowled.
The woman was taken aback and hissed, "Excuse you?"
Dahlia calmly ran a hand through her younger son's hair before speaking, "Your son bullied my younger son, and my elder son came to his rescue."
"Then your son got scared and ran, but tripped and fell on his face. So how does my son become the bully in this situation?"
The woman rolled her eyes. "You think I'll believe the words of those brats over the son I birthed and raised until now?!"
"You think I believe the words of your son over my boys whom I birthed and raised until now?" Dahlia shot back with a small scoff.
Having her own words thrown back at her was the last thing she expected, and for a moment, the woman was rendered speechless.
Realizing she couldn't win, the woman marched up to Dahlia, squaring up with a bitter smile.
"Don't think I don't know who you are, Dahlia Warren. You somehow found a way to keep your bratty children in this school for so long, but don't think no one knows what you're up to. And I will make you pay for this!"
Then she dropped the issue and stormed out with her son, enraged.
"Sorry about this, Ms. Warren. The camera in their classroom got spoiled yesterday, and we already scheduled a maintenance guy to come look at it," Juliet Vince said with a sigh.
Folding his arms across his chest, the twin with spiky hair huffed and turned his face aside arrogantly. "Hmph! Once you check the footage, you'll see it was that bratty Marcus who started it!"
No sooner had he said that did his younger brother smack the back of his head.
"Don't puff, Rhys."
Since the footage would be reviewed tomorrow, Dahlia merely smiled at her and turned to leave with her children.
Once she settled into the driver seat of her car, she rubbed the space between her brows contemplatively. "Well, you can't go back to class after what happened."
Rhys Warren folded his arms behind his head and leaned back with a relieved smile. "Mommy, that place is a lousy place to be in anyway. Not that Finn would agree."
Ignoring his older brother's jab, Finn Warren leaned forward with a bright smile.
"Whatever you say, mommy."
"Mommy, look. The company you work for is in the news," Rhys suddenly pointed out after picking up his tablet.
Finn leaned toward him curiously. "Yeah, you're right. It says the president, Malachi Archer, will be returning in a few days."
Dahlia merely shrugged and began driving out.
They had made that announcement a few days ago, but it was probably public now since the company was part of a conglomerate and was being watched with much scrutiny.
At a red light, she waited. Once the light turned green, she stepped on the pedal, but a Mercedes from the other side of the road suddenly turned into her lane, its bumper being knocked off by her Range Rover.
Despite it being a busy road, the car stopped, and the driver's window rolled down.
At the sight of a grown man with spiky hair in the driver's seat, a frown eased into her expression before she could stop it.
He had his head turned toward her, one hand on the steering wheel while the other held a phone to his ear.
The parent's loud and brash voice from the school was enough for the day. The last thing she wanted was for her children to listen to some pompous rich heir whine about how she had damaged his expensive car even though it was his fault.
So without thinking twice, she reached into the compartment for her chequebook, scribbled a number, wrapped the check into a ball, and tossed it into the car.
Feeling it fall onto his lap, the man was dumbfounded and forgot to answer the person he was on a call with.
After a while, the person called out worriedly, "S-sir? Mr. Archer, is everything okay over there?"