The next morning, I woke Willow ten minutes early again.

Willow clearly had a good sleep, as her spirits seemed high. She opened the door, looking rather eager. "I've been waiting for this moment for so long!"

Then, she trotted to Zane's door before knocking. "Daddy, time to get up and go running with us!"

As Zane opened the door, he couldn't help but smile and pick up Willow. "Okay."

Willow wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling discreetly.

The intensity of the morning run was the same as the day before. When Willow started her run, she was still cheerful, but by the time she finished, she couldn't even smile anymore. She returned to the living room, looking worn out.

Since I was observing her expressions the entire time, I couldn't help but want to laugh.

Willow waved at me. "Mommy."Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

I sat down next to her.

Holding my hand, Willow kept encouraging herself, saying, "Running isn't tiring at all. I can stick with it!"

Zane was also amused by her determination. He sat down on the other side of her before asking, "So, do you want to eat at the kindergarten today or at home?"

"At home," Willow replied without hesitation. "Daddy, let me rest a bit before I eat."

Zane nodded. "Alright."

Since Willow was a child, she was able to recover pretty quickly. After lying down for less than five minutes, she was already fine, happily going to the dining table to enjoy her breakfast. After she was done with her meal, Zane and I took her to the kindergarten together.

...

After she entered the school building, Zane planned to meet with the teachers. However, Zachary suddenly blocked his way. "You want to know why Willow is being alienated, right?" Zane said nothing in response.

Zachary then said slowly, "I know the reason."

Zane could tell he wasn't lying. "Is that so?"

"Recently, some of the kids in the class have been saying I'm pitiful for not having a mommy," Zachary explained seriously with his head down.

"They're also saying Willow is a bad person for taking other people's mommies and should be hated. They're all afraid their mommies will be taken by Willow, so they won't play with her."

Zane didn't know who was spreading these kinds of rumors, but he was sure that the person had to be a malicious child.

He asked, "Do you know who said this?"

Zachary shook his head. "I don't."

Having gotten the information he needed, Zane already had a good idea of how to solve the issue. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Zane said while sneaking a glance at me. He then clutched his clothes and walked into the school with his head down.

Zane was always calm and restrained, but knowing that someone used such tactics against Willow still made him furious. Not wanting his feelings to affect me, he took the initiative to say, "Wait here for me for a moment." "Okay."

He was gone for about three or four minutes before returning to my side.

"What did the teachers say?" I asked while looking at him.

Zane shook his head. "They said they'd like to handle this after school since they're worried it might affect the children's mood to study.

"As for during class, they'll try to guide the other kids to treat Willow normally."