Chapter 1144 Clearing Hannah's Name
Lassie listened intently, her eyes fixed on Lisa. "So, it's you? You're the one accusing your own daughter of selling herself for money? Seducing men all over the place?"
Lisa, unfazed and unapologetic, shot back, "Of course I know her, she's my daughter! That's exactly who she is! Back in the countryside, she was always chasing after men. Her grandmother spoiled her rotten."
With Lisa's words, the crowd felt even more justified in their judgment.
"Did you hear that? Even her own mother says so! What are you still arguing about?"
"You're just being unreasonable!"
"Why are you defending her? What's your angle?"
"We all saw it, how could it be fake? You must be in cahoots with her; that's why you're defending her."
Lassie was so infuriated by Lisa's words that she laughed bitterly, tears streaming down her face.
Hannah, worried that Lassie might get hurt or bullied because of her, walked over and tugged at her clothes, saying softly, "Ma'am, thank you for helping me! You should leave. I don't want them to hurt you."
Her maturity was heartbreaking.
But such a sensible child was being bullied like this.
If Lassie hadn't shown up in time, who knew what would have happened to Hannah?
Lassie held her hand tenderly. "Sweetheart, stay behind me! Today, no matter what, I'm going to get justice for you! These people are bullying you without knowing the full story! If we don't teach them a lesson today, they'll only get worse!"
Hannah started to cry.
She never expected a stranger to stand up for her, while her own mother sided with others to bully her.
She felt an unprecedented warmth from this woman.
Lassie wiped her tears and stepped closer to Lisa. "You say her grandmother spoiled her? Then tell me, why was she raised by her grandmother? What were you, her mother, doing at the time?"
Under Lassie's sharp gaze, Lisa felt guilty for the first time, her eyes darting around. "I, I was busy with my career with her father, we didn't have time to take care of her, so we left her with her grandmother!"
"And your career? You neglected your daughter for your career, so you must be very successful now, right? What do you do? How much do you earn? You must be making a lot of money, right?" Lassie's questions were clear and piercing.
"I, I, I..." Lisa was at a loss for words.
Lassie pressed on, "You say you were busy with your career and had no time for your daughter, but you had time to have a son the next year? How come you had time for that?"
Lisa's face turned red.
Unable to answer, she snapped angrily, "What business is it of yours? This is our family matter, it has nothing to do with you."
Lassie's eyes were full of scorn. "You favored boys over girls. When you found out your first child was a girl, you wanted to get rid of her. You didn't want to take care of her! Her grandmother took pity on her and raised her in the countryside.
A person who has no compassion for their own daughter, what right do you have to say her grandmother spoiled her?
An elderly woman, afraid of her granddaughter being abandoned by her mother, chose to raise her despite her age. How could she not raise her well?
It was only after the old woman passed away that you took your daughter back.
From start to finish, did you ever fulfill your duty as a mother?
Your character is clear from this incident alone."
Lisa stared in disbelief. "How, how do you know this? How do you know so much about my family?"
Seeing her reaction, Lassie couldn't help but think of the harm Lisa had caused Hannah, feeling so angry she wanted to tear her apart.
Lassie pulled Hannah out from behind her and, in front of everyone, rolled up Hannah's sleeves, revealing the scars on her arms.
When the crowd saw the skin hidden under Hannah's clothes, they gasped.
"Oh my God, what happened to her? She's covered in scars!"
"Yeah, and it looks like some of them are old wounds!"
"This is old wounds not healed before new ones were added! My God, how can someone so young have so many scars?"
"They look like they were made by a feather duster. One stripe after another."
"Not just that, judging by the size and shape, some look like they were pinched."
"Beaten with a feather duster and pinched, it couldn't have happened at school, right? No teacher would dare abuse a student like this."
"If it were a teacher, the parents would have noticed! The injuries are so obvious."
"Yeah! I notice even the smallest scratch on my daughter when she comes home. How could they not see all these injuries?"
Lassie, worried they hadn't seen enough, knelt down and rolled up Hannah's pant legs.
The injuries on her legs were even more numerous and shocking than those on her arms.
"Is there no uninjured part of her body?"
"And this is just her legs and arms. If the visible parts are this bad, how terrifying must the hidden parts be?"
"This clearly looks like long-term domestic abuse, not something a teacher would do."
"Could it be school bullying?"
"School bullies wouldn't specifically target hidden areas. I've seen bullied kids with visible injuries. This looks like someone was trying to hide it."
"So this really is from domestic abuse?"
"Obviously!"
"Oh my God, to beat their own daughter like this. How cruel must they be?"
"I can't even bear to touch my daughter with a finger, let alone abuse her. This is just psychopathic."
"Yeah, I can't even bear to touch my daughter, let alone beat her like this. There's not a single uninjured spot on her body."
Lassie listened to their comments with a cold expression, then sneered, "You all know you can't bear to touch your daughters! So who would go around saying their daughter sells her body for money? Even if it were true, you should try to hide it and educate your child, persuade her to change. Not join in the public shaming. Is that something a normal mother would do?"
Her words made everyone pause and look at each other.
Lassie continued, "You all say she seduces men and sells her body? Who saw it with their own eyes? How did these rumors start?
As a mother, no matter how incapable, she would want to protect her child.
If your daughter were in this situation, what would you do?"
The crowd suddenly realized.
"She's right! If it were my daughter, I'd first find out what happened before making any judgments."
"Yeah, she didn't even ask what happened, just started scolding her daughter?"
"If it were my daughter, even if it were true, I'd apologize first, then take her home and patiently teach her. I wouldn't let her be publicly shamed while I stood by! Even if I knew my daughter was wrong, I couldn't do that! I'd protect her."
"Exactly! I'd do the same! People are selfish, even if my daughter did wrong, only I can scold her; no one else can bully her."
"Yeah, yeah, I'd do the same."
"So, her mother's reaction is really off! Her daughter is being bullied like this, and she just stands by."
"Not just stands by, she joins in bullying her own daughter."
"If my mother treated me like that, I'd feel life wasn't worth living."
The more they talked, the more they felt something was wrong. Lisa's reaction was off, and their gazes towards her changed.
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