Chapter 124 Hit Again Next Time
The homeroom teacher said, "It's fine, just part of my job. Please hurry over."
After hanging up, Arabella looked at Alexander and said with difficulty, "Becky got into a group fight and injured someone."
She had been a good kid since childhood, only ever receiving praise from teachers, and had never encountered anything like this.
Alexander wasn't surprised though. "Let's go see what happened first."
With Becky and Molly in the same class, it was impossible for them to coexist peacefully. That's why he had asked Becky last time if she needed to transfer schools. And after she gave a negative answer, he told her that if she encountered any problems, she shouldn't be afraid and should tell him immediately.
Becky's homeroom teacher was Roy's relative, so he had learned about Becky's school incident before Arabella did. Since the situation was still unclear, whether Becky had actually bullied anyone was uncertain. They needed to go there in person.
Arabella nodded. "Yes, I don't think Becky would do something like this. She must have had her reasons. At a time like this, we need to be by her side, or she'll be scared."
She picked up her bag and left with Alexander. All the way there, her mind was filled with various scenarios. Alexander noticed her unease and comforted her, "It'll be fine. Becky is a sensible child. Besides, we're backing her up—we won't let her be wronged."
Arabella thought about it and felt somewhat reassured.
They arrived at the school quickly. On the way there, Arabella had mentally prepared herself. Since Molly was also in Becky's class, she thought there might be a conflict between Becky and Molly. But when they reached the teacher's office and saw a room full of children and parents, Molly was nowhere to be seen.
Two groups of children stood separately. One group had over ten kids, both boys and girls, while the other had only three girls. All three girls had injuries to varying degrees, with one more seriously hurt—her cheek was swollen and red, and there were footprints on her body. She was crying in front of the teacher while her parents, who had already arrived, angrily demanded an explanation from the teacher.
Becky stood in the larger group of children, positioned at the front like a big sister, glaring at the crying girl with an indignant expression. Seeing Arabella enter, all her fierce demeanor immediately deflated. She lowered her head somewhat guiltily, "Ms. Bourbon..."
The panic in her eyes didn't escape Arabella's notice. Instead of going directly to the teacher, Arabella walked over and asked, "What happened?"
Before Becky could answer, the parents of the injured children noticed Arabella and angrily confronted her. "What happened? Your child organized a group to target our kids! Look what they did to our precious babies. You must give us an explanation today!"
The homeroom teacher quickly tried to mediate, "Everyone, please don't get upset. The situation hasn't been determined yet..."
The three girls' parents exploded with righteous indignation. "You can't be this biased as a homeroom teacher! Obviously our children were wronged! These three are all top students in the class, good kids. How could they possibly lie? They all said Becky was jealous of their good grades and brought a bunch of classmates to bully them. Our daughters are treasures at home. If the school can't handle this fairly, we'll have to call the police!"
The homeroom teacher quickly tried to appease them, "Please don't worry. We will definitely handle this fairly..."
"Hmph, such malicious thoughts at such a young age—who knows what she'll become when she grows up! I think we should just kick this kind of student out of school. She's turning a good school into chaos!"
Arabella wanted to ask Becky about the specific situation first, but she was worried about exactly this kind of scene—the other side kept attacking while she didn't understand the situation and didn't know how to respond. She believed Becky wasn't a troublemaker, but the situation was completely one-sided, and with Becky not speaking up, she felt somewhat at a loss.
As she hesitated whether to defend Becky first or apologize to those students and parents, Alexander suddenly spoke up. "Your children have all had their say. Shouldn't our child get to speak too? After all, you can't just listen to one side of any story."
Those parents glared at him, but Alexander remained calm. His blue eyes were sharp and piercing. Just standing there silently, he made people feel a chill down their spines. The parents swallowed the words they wanted to say.
Alexander looked at the homeroom teacher. "I need to ask Becky for her version first. Doing it here will affect the child's emotions. I'll take her outside."
Without waiting for anyone's response, he directly took Becky's wrist and led her out. Arabella followed them out.
In the office, the three girls' parents were furious, directing all the anger they hadn't dared show Alexander at the homeroom teacher. "So what if she talks? Are we supposed to be afraid of her? She's the one bullying our kids. She's just a transfer student—what's she got to be arrogant about? Does she think our kids have no backing?"
The homeroom teacher could only softly try to calm them down.
Outside the office, after hearing Becky's account, Arabella's expression grew troubled.
"Are you sure this has something to do with Molly?"
Becky nodded with red eyes. "It was her. She's a good student and formed a clique with those other high-achieving classmates in class, targeting me everywhere. I didn't really care because I have lots of friends, and I can work hard to improve my grades. I didn't lose out in the usual small conflicts either."
"But today was the midterm exam, and she actually tore up my test paper and threw it away while helping the teacher collect papers, then put in a blank paper as if I had done it. When the teacher saw my blank paper, she was furious. I tried to explain but she wouldn't listen, saying I was just making excuses. I couldn't provide proof, so in a moment of anger I..."
Arabella frowned, thinking about how to explain this to the teacher to clear Becky's name. She even considered asking the school for surveillance footage. Though it might not exist, what if it did? Wouldn't that prove Becky's innocence? But if there were no cameras, this matter would be really hard to resolve.
Alexander, who had been silent, suddenly spoke. "Come on, let's go apologize to those classmates. We'll cover all medical expenses, and if anything like this happens again in the future, you can fight them just the same."
His voice was as steady as always, with a crisp tone, as if this matter wasn't worth his concern at all. Both Arabella and Becky looked up at him in surprise.
Alexander asked, "What's wrong?"
Arabella was conflicted. "That doesn't seem quite right. At school, we should prioritize harmony. Becky is a transfer student after all—she should get along well with her classmates, right?"
Becky didn't speak, just looked at Alexander with bright, shining eyes.
Alexander first answered Arabella's question. "Isn't she getting along well with her classmates? Over ten boys and girls stood with her because she was being bullied, and even when called into the office for criticism, not one child complained about her. She just doesn't get along with those few top students. She gets along great with the other classmates."
He paused, then added, "And those few top students have long been in cahoots with Molly anyway. What's the point of her trying to get along with them? I think this is fine. You should give shameless people a taste of their own medicine so they'll think twice before trying to bully you again."
Only then did he look at Becky and ask, "Do you have any questions?"
Becky hesitated. "I thought you would blame me..."
Fighting at school instead of studying properly—wouldn't normal parents give her a beating?
Alexander smiled at this, looking at her. "Didn't I tell you before not to endure being bullied? You did very well."
Becky's face reddened and she lowered her head embarrassedly. This whole thing made it seem like fighting was something glorious.
Arabella had wanted to say something, but after thinking it over, Alexander's approach might actually be the best. Unlimited apologies could quickly end the matter, but what about afterward? Wouldn't Becky face more serious retaliation? Following Alexander's suggestion would at least let those people know that Becky wouldn't start trouble, but she wouldn't be afraid of it either.
The three of them went back in. Alexander stood in front of Arabella and Becky, looking at those parents and saying, "I've gotten to the bottom of this. During today's midterm exam, Becky's test paper was torn up by several class representatives and replaced with a blank paper. That's how the conflict started. I apologize on her behalf. "
"Becky chose an impulsive way to resolve this matter, and for the injuries caused to the children, we'll cover all medical expenses and provide $50,000 compensation to each child."
Hearing this, those parents were immediately overjoyed. Fifty thousand wasn't a small amount. The other parent not only apologized but also offered such generous compensation—clearly someone with more money than sense.
However, just as this thought entered their minds, they heard Alexander continue. "This matter ends here, but I must remind you all that if there are any more incidents targeting Becky in the class in the future, she still won't hold back. We can afford medical expenses and compensation, but our child cannot suffer even the slightest grievance. This is our solution."
He looked at those parents with a completely expressionless face. When he looked like this in meetings with his subordinates, he could scare high-level executives into not daring to breathe, let alone a few stay-at-home moms. Standing there with a stern face, his cold gaze casually sweeping over them, even the most aggressive of those parents couldn't speak.
"If there are no problems, shall we transfer the money now?" Alexander looked around and spoke methodically.
The three parents looked at each other, all somewhat unhappy in their hearts, but none dared to openly object. In the end, they were forced to accept this solution. Each received fifty thousand dollars, and the matter was considered closed.
Arabella had to use great restraint not to stop him—that was a hundred and fifty thousand dollars!
Only after leaving the homeroom teacher's office did Arabella say, "Actually, the compensation didn't need to be so much. They... probably didn't have such high expectations."
After all, the most serious injury was just the girl who got slapped a few times—it wasn't like she was permanently disabled. Fifty thousand dollars was really too much.
But Alexander smiled and patiently explained, "To end this matter quickly, we had to give them an amount that exceeded their expectations, making it impossible to refuse. Otherwise, we'd be arguing for a long time."
There was only so much non-working time in a day, and he didn't want to waste it on unimportant people.
Arabella opened her mouth but ultimately swallowed her words, only saying, "Then let me transfer the money to you."
Becky was her adopted child. He was just helping her out, and she couldn't let him spend so much money.
Alexander's eyes flickered, feeling like he'd shot himself in the foot. He said vaguely, "We'll talk about it later."
Becky followed behind them, unable to suppress a smile. She suddenly felt very happy—having people who cared for and loved her, and someone to handle things even when she got into trouble.
As they walked out of the school, Becky's gaze suddenly froze. At the end of her line of sight stood a delicately dressed, beautiful little girl—it was Molly.
She seemed shocked to see Becky come out completely unscathed and stood watching for quite a while. After they got in the car, a displeased voice came from behind Molly.
"Molly."
Molly snapped back to reality, turned around with an anxious expression, and got into a luxury car.
In the passenger seat of the luxury car sat Cassidy, wearing sunglasses with her hair loose, dressed in a loose white dress that covered her arms and legs completely. At first glance, she looked nothing like her previous pure appearance. Molly knew she had injuries around her mouth, swollen cheeks, and bruises covering her arms and legs.
She didn't dare look too much, keeping her head down as she said, "Cassidy, they paid compensation for Becky. Becky is fine."
She didn't dare say more than half a sentence in front of Cassidy now. During this period, Cassidy had become like a different person—cruel and ruthless, not only hitting and scolding her constantly but also threatening her not to tell Mr. Watson.
Mr. Watson usually stayed at the company, so she spent more time with Cassidy and had no choice but to follow Cassidy's orders. Fortunately, they had the same enemy, or she didn't know how unbearable life would be.
Hearing Molly's words, Cassidy didn't react. She looked ahead through her sunglasses. Arabella had paid high compensation for that little bastard? That truly surprised her.
She was just a cheap bastard from an orphanage—even if she died, no one would ask a single question. Would that poor Arabella really spend that money?
She had originally planned for Arabella to argue with those parents, which would definitely anger them. Then they would report the matter to the education bureau and call the police, and Becky would end up with a criminal record at the very least.
Even if that didn't happen, watching Arabella run around only to end up with nothing would be satisfying. Best of all would be sending Becky back to the orphanage—she loved seeing Arabella with nothing.
She hadn't expected that woman to resolve the problem so efficiently.
Cassidy was about to speak to Molly when her phone suddenly rang. Seeing the caller ID, she couldn't help but shrink back, but she didn't dare not answer. She picked it up and put it to her ear, "Hello, Tony."
In the past, she called him this to show her gentleness. Now when she called him this, it was with real fear.
Anthony's voice was cold and somewhat impatient as he questioned, "The housekeeper said you went out. When were you given permission to leave the villa freely?"