Phoebe Huxley scoffed and yanked Phoenix Golding’s collar open wider. Pointing at the hickey in the hollow of her shoulder, she bellowed, "Take a good look, everyone! How do you think she got this? Could it be that your Vernon Spann gave it to her this morning? My, he must have some strong teeth! For a bite from this morning, it still looks awfully fresh!"

Phoenix Golding started to panic, desperately trying to cover herself with both hands. But Phoebe Huxley was far too strong; Phoenix was no match for her. The cluster of hickeys on her shoulder was completely exposed, a glaring sight for all to see.

"Let go of me..."

Phoenix Golding struggled, burning with shame and fury.

A few of the younger men turned their heads away in embarrassment, but the married men had no such qualms. They stared unabashedly. One look was all it took for them to understand. Their gazes toward Phoenix Golding turned suggestive, tinged with a certain indescribable meaning.

It was obviously fresh. Any married man knew a hickey from the morning wouldn’t look like that. Only one made just moments ago would have that effect. Phoenix Golding had been at school all day and had only just returned, which made the identity of the person who gave her the hickey highly questionable.

It wasn’t as if Phoenix Golding could have done it to herself. Even if she’d wanted to, she wouldn’t have been able to reach that spot!

The women in the crowd looked on with even more contempt. They hadn’t liked Phoenix Golding to begin with, and now they downright despised her.

’Phoebe Huxley was right to call her out. What a shameless hussy, fooling around with a man in broad daylight! How the hell can someone like that be a teacher? She must have slept with the school district superintendent. How else would she have gotten a permanent position? She definitely slept her way into it.’

Tang Xiaonan’s mouth fell open, her mind reeling. ’Holy crap! So what Mom and Third Brother said was true after all!’

’This Phoenix Golding really is a promiscuous harlot!’

’No wonder she was nowhere to be seen during the day. She was off fooling around with her lover! Ptooey... Absolutely shameless!’

"A vixen like you? You think I’d entrust my daughter to you? So she can learn how to seduce men? Ptooey! We Thornes are decent people!" Phoebe Huxley spat in disgust.

"Now hold on, Aurelia," a woman shouted. "We Goldings are decent people too. Don’t paint us all with the same brush!"

"Look at this. Is this something a person from a decent family does?" Phoebe Huxley retorted, pointing at the hickeys with a contemptuous tone.

"She alone can’t represent all of us Goldings. Every family has a few bad apples!" the woman shot back, also looking at Phoenix Golding with disdain.

This woman had married into the village from Xavier Village, so she had naturally heard some of the scandalous rumors about Phoenix Golding and held her in great contempt. Most importantly, her own husband often praised Phoenix Golding in front of her. What woman could stand for that?

The woman had long found Phoenix Golding to be an eyesore. Now that such a perfect opportunity had presented itself, she wasn’t going to miss the chance to kick her while she was down.

"That’s right! She can’t represent all the women of the Golding family," other women chimed in, joining the public takedown of Phoenix Golding. "Aurelia, curse her all you want, but leave the rest of us Goldings out of it."

Phoenix Golding’s heart turned to ice, and she wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. ’It’s true, I was just with a man right after school. The school district superintendent called me. I couldn’t say no, so I had to go and ’keep him company.’ I’m counting on him to help me get a transfer to the elementary school in town!’

’But now... my reputation is ruined...’

"You’re right, I misspoke," Phoebe Huxley said readily. "It’s just terrible luck for you Goldings to have produced such a shameless hussy. You’d all better keep a close eye on your husbands from now on, or she’ll have them carrying all your belongings out of your own homes before you even know what’s happening!"

Phoebe Huxley admitted her mistake without missing a beat. She wasn’t stupid enough to make an enemy of the entire Golding family; ruining Phoenix Golding alone was sufficient. She shot a glance at Felix Thorne, and the fierce look in her eyes sent a chill down his spine.