Aurora could not believe her eyes. "What is happening? Why is mother writing to me?"
The letter contained a single, brief sentence, and it was penned in her mother's beautiful handwriting, which exuded its customary elegance, confidence, and pride.
As she read the words, she jolted and glanced towards the window, a shiver running down her spine at the unsettling thought that her mother might be watching her.
How did she know where she worked? And how did she know she was in England?
It had been fourteen years... Fourteen years of exile from her family. All because she had fallen in love with someone she was forbidden to love.
Abruptly, the letter began to glow with an intense, otherworldly light, and a searing pain pierced her head, causing her to stumble.
Her eyes dilated, and she struggled to maintain her balance, breathing heavily. `What do you mean, return home?`
`Oh no darling, you heard me. Or.. Have you gone deaf?` The voice she knew so well, echoing with pride just like her elegant handwriting, suddenly resonated in her head.
Aurora tightened her hold on the glowing letter, fighting the urge to scream in frustration. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.
`It has been years, mother, you can not expect me to...`
`Those children of yours will be shot dead without a second thought if you do not return home right this instant.`
Aurora tensed up. That threat...! `What?!`
`I am not fond of playing bluffs. You know this my child. Now head over to the parking space. Your belongings are in the carriage with the chauffeur. You will return back home with him.`
`Wait—what?` Shivering, Aurora pressed her hand to the window, looking in her own reflection. Her ocean blue eyes were filled with horror. A sweltering wind blew across her face, brushing her blonde hair to the side.
`You have a time limit, Aurora. Do not waste any more time. Do you know how stressful it is using this spell at such a long distance? Your mother is eager to see you.`
And then the spell went off. The glow faded.
"There is no way this is happening." Aurora inhaled deeply, trying to gather her thoughts.
Crunching the paper in her hand, she stuffed it into her coat pocket and rushed back into the office, where she found Mr. Wimpole shouting at the workers like an insane person.
She silently strode by him, picked up her bag, and gave him a glare.
Startled by her boldness, Mr Wimpole stopped to look back at her. "What kind of behavior is this? Do you want to lose your job?"
Aurora moved in closer to him. "Do you really believe that you are so high and mighty?"
The other workers were astonished, wondering if she had been drinking something that was making her spew such fearless words.
"What are you..." Her bravery shocked Mr Wimpole greatly.
Aurora settled her bag over her shoulder. She kept her composure, but she did not want to hold back speaking her thoughts. "There is nothing wrong with being a single mother. So stop saying it like It is an insult. You do not have to reveal how miserable you are." And she walked past him, huffing angrily. "I QUIT!"
She walked out of the office, the wind blowing her hair as she made her way to the parking space, which was crowded with carriages. Fortunately, she was well acquainted with her family.
At the end of the queue, she spotted a sleek black carriage pulled by four horses, attended by a sturdy man in a tailored black suit and sunglasses, his eyes obscured by the dark lenses.
"Of course." She twisted her lips and walked up to him.
The moment he sighted her, he gave a polite bow.
"Young mistress."
Aurora squinted at him and shoved her bag, which he grabbed right away. "It has been a while, Theodore," she said.
He muttered, "Yes, it has, Young mistress." with a small smile on his face.
"All right, shall we..."
"Your children?" Theodore asked, handing her a letter. "This is from the school headmaster."
Aurora frowned deeply. How dare he interrupt her? "Oh."
The letters from the school were always unnecessary to read. The reason was always the same, and it arrived at the right moment.
....
Walking into the office with a faint smile on her face, she cringed internally at the crook smile on the middle-aged headmaster's face.
"I am a very busy woman. Please explain why you have called me here." Saying that, she sat down with her legs crossed, not waiting for him to extend an invitation.
"Aha!" The headmaster's face darkened. "As you are aware, ma'am, this is your fifth visit to our office this week. We need to take more decisive action than just suspending them. At the absolute least, do you not think it is time to start taking them to therapy sessions? Are you not tired of dealing with their issues, too?"
"Your advice is unnecessary, sir." Aurora tried to keep her expression neutral.
The headmaster, obviously offended by her remarks, cleared his throat. "You are a young woman. Taking care of children like that... With such personalities..."
"Please bring me my children." Aurora scowled deeply and got up, slamming her hands on the table.
The headmaster jolted in fear. "You... You.. That is school property!"
Aurora glared at him furiously. "Did you not hear me?"
The headmaster got to his feet, his face now displaying anger instead of fear. "Your children are being expelled for assault and causing damage to school property! We had no choice but to beg the victims' parents to stop complaining to the authorities!"
His words were getting on Aurora nerves. She just wanted to pack up her children and move on. "You can have them expelled. Just bring me my children."
The headmaster narrowed his eyes, but his crooked smile swiftly returned. "You know, there is always something you can do to get what you want."
Aurora twitched her lips, staring at him in utter disdain. "Thank you, but no. I am old enough to be your first child."
"Wha.. what.." His face flushed with shame as he tried to come up with a response for her.
Aurora was disgusted by him and ripped her eyes to her pocket watch.
"Hey! Do not run in the hallways!" A woman's voice bellowed out of the office, furious.
Abruptly, the door pushed open, tearing off its hinges and thumped to the floor, revealing the quadruplets.
"N.. no!" Startled, the headmaster yelled.
Aurora stared straight ahead at her four gremlins as they charged in. Little bloodied scratches adorned their faces, which did not surprise her.
"We did nothing, Mama! That kid was punching Lucien!" Adrien reported, clutching her dress.
Aurora never thought their circumstances were fair. Her children were always the targets of bullies, but whenever they fought back, they became the bullies.
Shifting her attention to the headmaster, who was still staring at the door lying on the floor as if he had seen a ghost, she took Lucien into her arms.
"Thank you for expelling my kids. You made my day much easier."
Then she turned around to see her children's teacher stunned and frozen at the door.
She had dark bags under her eyes. Her skin was dry and nearly cracked open from exhaustion, and her hair was completely untidy.
"Those demon children are leaving?" She asked, her eyes twitching.
Aurora simply smiled and walked out of the office, her children close behind.