The force knocked me off balance, sending me sprawling onto the concrete. The vial shattered with a hollow crack, scattering the ashes I’d fought to save.
A gust of wind swept them up—gone, just like that.
"Dad… Dad…" My voice broke as I scrambled to catch them, heedless of the glass shards biting into my skin. My blood smeared the ground, but my fingers closed on nothing.
Maxwell’s voice was a whip.
"You’re breaking up with me over garbage like this? You need to be taught a lesson."
Something inside me snapped. My vision went red.
"You bastard!" I lunged, my hands clamping around his throat. We crashed to the ground. His face turned blotchy, his coughs choked and harsh.
"What are you standing there for? Get this crazy woman off me!" he rasped.
Colette’s shrill voice cut through the air.
"Pull her off him!"
Two male students wrenched my arms back.
Mr. Brown stepped forward and slapped me hard across the face.
"Student Clara Vale! Look at you—do you have any shame left?"
"If anything happens to Sir Maxwell, you’ll be expelled," Mr. Brown barked, backing away as if my fury might splash onto him. "And don’t think for a second you can drag your homeroom teacher into this mess!"