Chapter 6: Consequences

As expected, I didn’t rush to speak. I just watched Zoe’s reaction.

She showed no remorse at all, just stood there like this was someone else’s life.

“Parent of Zoe, I’ve warned her many times, but she never listens. If this keeps up, I’ll have to give up on her. And her relationship isn’t just about her—it influences other students. If everyone copies her, our school’s college acceptance rate will plummet.”

Zoe glared at me. “Did you tell the teacher about my boyfriend? Last time you caught me with him, Dad, how can you be so disgusting? You say you won’t care about me, but you get others to control me. Because of you, the whole school criticized me. How am I supposed to show my face?”

Her voice trembled with rage, but I caught something else—fear? Shame? Or just the same old blame game?

Seeing how unreasonable she was, I almost laughed. She really thinks everyone else is blind. The voices in my head still praised Zoe for being brave and daring to love and hate. What kind of author writes a heroine like this? How can she be the main character?

I didn’t even look at her anymore. For someone who won’t listen, anything I say is pointless. As for Zoe, I’d just pretend I didn’t have a daughter.

I stood up and apologized to the teacher:

“Sorry, ma’am. We can’t control this kid anymore. You can handle her however you see fit—detention, suspension, whatever. She doesn’t want to go to college anyway, so there’s no point in us worrying.”

Both the homeroom teacher and Zoe stared at me in shock. I continued, “From now on, don’t report these things to me. My company is very busy—I really don’t have time for these trivial matters. I have things to do, so I’ll be leaving.”

Zoe said to the teacher with pride, “See? My dad doesn’t care about me, so you can give up. I’ll decide my own future.”

The chorus in my head exploded:

That’s our big heroine! Even if she slacks off now, she’ll ace the SATs, get into Harvard or Stanford, and become a powerhouse with the male lead.

Why does it feel like the villain is acting weird? He didn’t break up the couple. But this is good—we don’t need more breakup drama.

I looked at the imaginary comments and actually laughed.

Zoe has always had poor self-control, a lower GPA than her peers, and is lazy. If I hadn’t spent years supervising her studies and pouring money into tutors, would she ever have made the top ten?

Now, with no one managing her, can she really become what the voices claim?