Chapter 520

Before Naomi entered middle school, she had always been on the receiving end of bullying. Quentin loved playing cruel pranks on her. He would slip bugs into her backpack, lace her milk with laxatives, and use scissors to chop the hair off all her dolls, leaving them bald. Benjamin was always busy and rarely ever at home. At first, every time Quentin bullied Naomi, she would run to her mother, Mary, in tears. However, as his stepmother, Mary had little authority to discipline him. In the name of familial harmony, Mary chose to turn a blind eye to Quentin's childish pranks. She never told Benjamin what was happening. With his stepmother protecting him, Quentin grew increasingly reckless. Poor Naomi was bullied for so long that she came to believe that even her own mother would not protect her. She became quiet and withdrawn soon after. That personality only made things worse for her in middle school. Her classmates, especially those who had no interest in studying, began to target