My autistic daughter was being harassed by a boy who wouldn't stop making dirty jokes. Her teacher called me, sounding thrilled, to tell me someone was finally going to "save" my daughter. When I rushed to the school, I found a bleached-blond boy cornering my daughter against the wall. "You put a rubber band on my finger yesterday and told me it was 'ultra-thin.' Aren't you going to explain yourself?" My daughter’s face was beet red. It took her a long time to squeeze out a single sentence. "I... I didn't!" Floating text—like a livestream chat—suddenly erupted in my vision. [See? I told you the male lead would cure her!] [Go, Jace! Make the mute girl speak!] 01 When I got the call from the teacher, my stomach dropped. "Hello? Mrs. Higgins? Is Maya okay?" You can't blame me for panicking. Although my daughter is sweet and gets straight As, she has severe autism. I can never be 100% at ease. Terrible thoughts flooded my mind: scissors cutting her hair, glue poured on her clothes, or being cornered in the bathroom. I immediately asked, "Is my daughter being bullied?" To my surprise, Mrs. Higgins’ voice was bubbling with joy on the other end. "Oh, no! Maya’s autism is finally going to be cured! You need to come to the school and see this." I hung up, completely confused. Suddenly, a row of bullet comments floated across my vision. [Poor Maya finally met her salvation!] [Yeah, I heard autism is miserable. Thank god for the Male Lead, or her life would be over.] I rushed to the school. Mrs. Higgins grabbed my arm the moment I arrived and chattered the whole way down the hall. "Your Maya is great, but that autism... she's just too quiet." "How will she survive in society? But good news! A transfer student just joined. He’s rich, outgoing, and hilarious. I arranged for him to be Maya’s desk mate." Desk mate? To give Maya the best environment, we specifically enrolled her in a school that guaranteed single desks. Where did a desk mate come from? We reached the classroom during a break. Maya’s desk had been shoved together with another one. In the corner, a boy with bleached blond hair had her pinned against the wall. "You put a rubber band on my finger yesterday and told me it was 'ultra-thin.' Aren't you going to explain yourself?" Maya’s expression shifted rapidly. Finally, she spoke her first sentence of the day. "You're lying. I... didn't." Mrs. Higgins covered her mouth, moved to tears. "Look, Ms. Sanders! She spoke!" The floating chat was celebrating. [I knew it! The chatterbox Male Lead finally provoked her into speaking! They are my OTP!] [This girl's mom is useless. Couldn't cure her for years, but our little ball of sunshine Jace did it in a day.] My face turned cold. I cut their celebration short. "Maya. Come here." 02 The chat exploded. [What is wrong with this mom? Can't she read the room?] [Our precious boy finally decided to help the heroine, and she’s blocking it?] [No wonder the girl doesn't talk to her mom.] Mrs. Higgins looked awkward. "Ms. Sanders, don't be so agitated. It's just a joke between classmates." "You saw it yourself. Maya is even talking now." I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "Mrs. Higgins, when we enrolled, we made it very clear. Maya needs space. Why did you assign a desk mate?" "And more importantly, you think sexual harassment is a treatment?" I laughed coldly. "So, the hundreds of thousands I spent on therapists is less effective than a boy making condom jokes?" With every sentence I spoke, the classroom atmosphere grew heavier. Someone muttered, "What a Karen. Making a big deal out of nothing." Mrs. Higgins looked ready to apologize just to shut me up, but suddenly, I felt a tug on my sleeve. I turned around. Maya was looking at me with puppy eyes. I looked into her eyes. "What is it?" "Don't. Scold him." The chat went wild. [Maya is so cute! She's protecting her hubby already!] [Exactly. This old witch is single for a reason. She's probably jealous her daughter gets attention.] [Ew, competing with her own daughter? Disgusting.] My heart seized in pain. Raising an autistic child as a single mother has been incredibly hard. She rarely responds to me. Today, she spoke her first complete sentence to me. And it was to defend a boy who was sexually harassing her. I fought back the urge to scream. I calmly asked for leave and took Maya home. In the car, I asked her, "Do you really like that boy?" "Are you okay with them spreading rumors like that?" Maya had retreated into her own world. She didn't react. The chat defended her. [She's pressuring Maya again. Unlike Jace, who heals her.] [This mom is incompetent. She needs to exit the story so Jace can take care of her.] Since Maya wasn't listening, I didn't push. I started making dinner, but I was so distracted I sliced my finger. Blood dripped into the sink. I texted the housekeeper to come early, then went to the utility room to bandage myself. There, I saw a photo of Maya as a baby. 03 The year Maya was diagnosed, my ex-husband divorced me without hesitation. He needed a "healthy male heir." Since then, it’s been just me and Maya. I worked, I parented, I fought. We saw countless doctors, spent a fortune, trying to find a "cure." Finally, I accepted the brutal truth: Maya would likely be on the spectrum for life. The doctor told me calmly not to fixate on a cure, but to find her potential and guide her behavior. I accepted everything about Maya. I accepted she wasn't the "perfect child" society wanted. I just wanted her to be happy and find her own path. Everyone who meets her says I raised her well. Even the doctors praise her progress. We found her hobbies. Her brilliance. Even if she never lives like a "normal" person, I’ve saved enough money for her to live comfortably forever. But now? I'm being told that a boy making disgusting jokes is the cure? That all my efforts mean nothing compared to a bully? It was absurd. And what about her future? Is she supposed to stay lucid only by being constantly sexually harassed? I sat in the utility room, hugging my knees, devastated. 04 "Mom. Bandage." Maya found me. She put a Band-Aid on my finger. After years of therapy, Maya has good language skills, but she often gets lost in the colorful thoughts in her head and can't react to the outside world. I took her to do Math Olympiad problems. Sometimes, when we have friction, we use this activity to de-escalate. All correct. Savant syndrome in mathematics appears in a significant percentage of autistic individuals. Maya is one of them. Just on her math talent and the trust fund I built, she is set for life. After handing her a Rubik's cube as a reward, I asked again: "Do you really like that boy?" "Why won't you let Mom stop them from lying?" She silently solved the cube, scrambled it, and solved it again. I waited patiently. Again and again. Night fell. Time for bed. I asked one more time. Still no response. Midnight. Thunder and lightning. I woke up with a start and ran to her door, knocking gently. "Maya, don't be scared. Mom is here." The door was locked. Maya is terrified of thunder. To make it easier for me to comfort her, her door is never locked. [Give up, old witch. Only the Male Lead has the key to Maya's room now.] [If it weren't for you, Jace would be holding her right now. It would be a sweet, romantic night, not scary.] [Why do moms always block their daughters' happiness?] I sat by the door for a long time. Looking at the Band-Aid on my finger, I didn't give up. That is my daughter. I know she has a good heart. She wouldn't be normal yesterday and a stranger today. Something must have happened to cause this change. I just needed patience. Suddenly, the door clicked open. Maya walked out, trembling. "Scared..."
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