Chapter 90 Mandy is Dead
The next morning, after Arabella and Naomi finished breakfast, they went to school.
She was mentally prepared. When Daniel had meddled in this business before, he'd been targeted and threatened by those delinquents. Her bringing Naomi openly to find teachers probably wouldn't put her in a much better position than Daniel.
Her only advantage was that she was an adult and could take more measures to protect herself compared to Daniel.
However, to her surprise, as she walked into the school with Naomi all the way to her homeroom teacher's office, they didn't encounter anyone causing trouble.
She found this strange. Actually, regarding Naomi's situation, she'd always felt it wasn't ordinary school bullying. What would make a group of high schoolers repeatedly bully an elementary student? What kind of grudge could get Naomi into such trouble?
Though she hadn't interacted much with Naomi, she could sense that this little girl was gentle, kind, and polite—the type of child who should be very popular.
She collected her thoughts and knocked on the office door.
The door was open, and seven or eight busy teachers inside all looked up. Arabella said politely, "I'm Naomi Powell's guardian. I'd like to speak with her homeroom teacher about her being bullied at school."
A medium-built woman stood up with a very enthusiastic attitude. "Hello, I'm Naomi's homeroom teacher."
Arabella walked over holding Naomi's hand. The homeroom teacher brought her a chair. "Please sit. You said Naomi encountered bullying at school? That shouldn't be right—Naomi has always been a model student at school, with excellent grades and many talents. She's very popular with her classmates."
Arabella could tell this homeroom teacher was responsible in her work, so she explained how Naomi had been bullied by high school delinquents. After listening, the teacher was shocked. "There's such a thing?"
She looked down at Naomi and asked gently, "Naomi, tell me—do you know those people? Why would they target you?"
Naomi shook her head with tears in her voice. "I don't know them, and I don't know why they want to bully me."
The homeroom teacher hesitated. "How about this—I'll contact the high school teachers to see if we can identify those students..."
She was also conflicted inside. Naomi was a student she really liked, but when facing school bullying, teachers had very limited authority and means. She could only do her best to help Naomi.
But whether it would work was uncertain.
Just then, the phone on the desk rang. The homeroom teacher answered, "Hello... Oh, it's the principal. What are your instructions?"
Not knowing what was said on the other end, her expression immediately became serious. "Alright, alright, I understand."
After hanging up, the homeroom teacher looked at Arabella seriously. "Naomi's guardian, please rest assured. The school has already established a special investigation team to look into this matter, and the education bureau has also sent a disciplinary committee to supervise. Those high school students have been found, and the next step is punishment."
After a pause, she added quietly, "When this kind of thing happens in high school, the school handles it severely to ensure student safety on campus. I can guarantee that those people won't have another chance to threaten Naomi's safety. The principal also specifically asked me to tell you that the school will pay more attention to Naomi and do everything possible to protect her."
Arabella was somewhat confused. After learning that Naomi was being bullied, she'd brought Naomi to find teachers without taking any other measures. Why would this matter be handled personally by the principal and even alarm the education bureau? And the school's attitude seemed too accommodating...
Of course, the matter being handled so extensively and resolved so quickly could only benefit Naomi.
Perhaps the school had already been watching those delinquents—otherwise she couldn't understand why things had gone so smoothly.
Either way, the result was good. After thanking the homeroom teacher, Arabella crouched down to Naomi. "You heard your teacher—you'll be very safe. No one will bother you anymore. You can attend class with peace of mind. I'll leave you my phone number. If you encounter anything you can't solve, you can call me, okay?"
Naomi nodded obediently and looked at her gratefully. "Thank you."
Arabella smiled and shook her head, ruffling her hair. "Be good and go to class."
Naomi thoughtfully said goodbye to her teacher, hugged Arabella, and went to her classroom.
After thanking the homeroom teacher again, Arabella left the school.
In the teachers' office, Naomi's homeroom teacher opened her computer while sighing, "Lucky that Naomi has backing—otherwise this matter would have been really hard to resolve."
In school bullying cases, those who suffer are mostly ordinary children without support.
A curious teacher asked, "Does Naomi's family have connections? She looks so quiet and gentle—doesn't seem like it."
The homeroom teacher took a sip of water. "Do you know what kind of background those high school delinquents who got caught have? Their families are all either rich or powerful. If there wasn't pressure from above, how could the principal handle them so quickly? It just shows Naomi's family keeps a low profile. We should all pay more attention to her from now on—we absolutely can't let this kind of thing happen again."
The other teachers all agreed. Setting aside everything else, as teachers, they really couldn't stand seeing children get bullied, regardless of their background.
Arabella was completely unaware of these behind-the-scenes events. As she walked out of the school gate and was about to leave, she suddenly spotted a familiar figure standing by a wall corner not far away.
She paused and walked toward that direction instead.
Daniel had his usual rebellious look, a cigarette dangling from his lips, one hand in his pocket, glancing at Arabella sideways with attitude. "What? Don't come lecture me again—I don't buy into that stuff."
Arabella curved her lips, looking at him. "Are you here because you were worried I'd be in danger?"
A flash of annoyance crossed Daniel's face as he said irritably, "You really overthink things. I found the high school too strict and came out for some air. You can relate everything to yourself—have you no shame?"
Arabella didn't argue with him, just looked at him and said, "Don't worry. Naomi is fine now. The school principal personally handled this matter. Those high school students will be severely punished, and the education department sent a disciplinary committee to supervise. Both you and Naomi are safe."
Daniel stared at her in amazement.
Arabella felt that only at times like this did he seem like an underage child. She couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry—your troubles are resolved."
Daniel snapped back to reality, curled his lip with a dismissive look. "Stop showing off. If it's resolved, it's resolved. You expecting me to thank you?"
He turned and walked away.
After just two steps, he heard Arabella hesitantly speak: "Daniel, I believe you're a good kid who can distinguish right from wrong. You... even if you can't get into college in the future, your life definitely won't be too bad. Your mom... she loves you. Maybe her way of loving you isn't right, and you can hate her behavior, but you can't deny that she loves you."
Daniel, with his back to her, paused briefly and sneered disdainfully. "You don't know shit."
He walked straight away.
Arabella had expected this result and sighed helplessly before turning to leave.
Shortly after she left, Daniel, who had been hiding around the corner, came out. He still held the cigarette, but his expression was somewhat dazed.
She said he was a good kid.
She said even if he couldn't get into college, his life wouldn't rot in the mud.
This wasn't the first time he'd heard such words from Arabella, but before, he'd thought that with the Watson family backing her, how could she understand what desperation and struggle meant?
But after she left the Watson family, divorced without taking much property, she'd reestablished herself in the workplace within three months. Her handling of Naomi's school situation was so swift—she was countless times stronger than him.
He'd always looked down on this stepsister, always thinking she was out of touch with reality and didn't understand life's hardships.
But he could see clearly that after divorcing from the Watson family, Arabella's life hadn't been easy.
Maybe he really should try harder? If a woman like Arabella knew to work hard, why should he let himself continue to degenerate?
He irritably threw the cigarette on the ground and crushed it viciously.
Actually, he didn't like smoking at all. Not one bit.
At the other end of the city, on the top floor of a landmark building, Alexander's expression darkened after hearing Roy's report. He looked up and asked, "Dead?"
Roy nodded. "Yes, Mandy used a nail clipper to cut her major artery in prison. Although she was discovered in time and sent to the hospital, she died before reaching there."
Alexander's gaze was cold. "Where did her nail clipper come from?"
Cold sweat appeared on Roy's forehead as he answered tremblingly, "She was searched before being locked up—even the metal buttons on her clothes were removed. By all accounts, she shouldn't have had the opportunity to hide that nail clipper..."
Alexander gently placed the pen in his hand on the desk. "So, from when she went in until the incident, someone gave her that nail clipper."
Roy quickly said, "I'll have people investigate immediately."
Alexander curved his lips slightly. "Too late. The other party won't leave any traces for you to find—investigating probably won't turn up anything."
Roy asked tentatively, "Then what should we do..."
Alexander looked down, and after a long moment said in a low voice, "Stay the course and adapt to changes. The other party will make moves sooner or later. As long as we're still investigating that matter, they can't completely disappear. They're in the dark while we're in the light—let's wait."
Roy said, "Should I arrange protection for Billy?"
"No need," Alexander said indifferently. "With Mandy dead, the things he knows can't be corroborated—the other party won't waste effort on him anymore."
After a pause, he added in a low voice, "Take good care of Billy's wife and daughter. Don't let Ms. Bourbon worry about it anymore."
Roy quickly responded, "Yes."
After speaking, he didn't leave. Alexander looked up at him. "Is there something else?"
Roy smiled somewhat awkwardly. "Well, your grandmother just called. She said you're too busy, and if you don't have time to bring her granddaughter-in-law to see her, she'll come find you herself. She's not picky about the environment—she can stay a few more days in your little broken house."
Alexander immediately felt a headache coming on. His grandmother was like a child, always wanting to play with her granddaughter-in-law every few days. But how could he dare bring Arabella to his grandmother every day? With his grandmother's attitude, they'd be exposed sooner or later.
Arabella hadn't even gotten over her last marriage yet and had no intention of finding someone new. If he really let his grandmother run wild, he guaranteed Arabella would stay far away.
To protect his hard-won "wife," he could only endure his grandmother's constant message bombardments every few days.
Alexander picked up his calendar and flipped through a couple pages, pondering, "It's been two or three weeks since the last Tucker family banquet."
It was probably reaching his grandmother's limit—time to show her some progress. Otherwise, if she really got anxious and Chloe ran to their house, that would be quite a scene.
Thinking this, he said to Roy, "I'll call her back later. You don't need to worry about it."
Roy breathed a sigh of relief and quickly turned to leave.
Alexander took out his phone, opened his chat with Arabella, and after careful consideration, sent a message:
"Are you free tonight? Grandmother hasn't been feeling well lately. I'd like to go see her."
Arabella received the message while checking this month's work hours. She handed the signed documents to Gillian and replied to Alexander: "Sure, I can get off work at five tonight. Is that convenient for you?"
On the other end of the phone, Alexander's lips curved up, his eyes holding a tenderness he hadn't even noticed himself. "Convenient."
Arabella glanced at it and didn't reply further because Theo had already walked up to her.
She stood up with a neither humble nor arrogant attitude. "Mr. Bell, did you need something?"
Theo smiled cheerfully. "Arabella, come to my office for a moment. I have something to ask you."
Arabella nodded and brought her work report along. Theo noticed but didn't say anything.
In the office, Arabella was about to report on her work when Theo raised his hand to stop her, still smiling cheerfully. "No rush. I just want to chat casually with you."
Arabella was stunned. Theo was her supervisor, and they'd had unpleasant encounters before. If Mandy hadn't suddenly been investigated and the matter of deducting her commission had fallen through, she would have definitely sued Theo along with her.
She and Theo had no friendship whatsoever—his attitude was overly familiar.
Theo seemed to see her confusion and smiled as he had her sit down, even personally making her tea.
Arabella held the cup, waiting for him to get to the point.
Theo walked around to behind his desk, looked at her for a while, then smiled and spoke: "Actually, it's nothing much—do you know that Mandy is dead?"
Arabella naturally heard the probing in his tone, but right now she couldn't be bothered to figure out Theo's intentions. She just asked in shock, "Ms. Gomez is dead?"
Theo looked at her, his brow furrowing slightly. She didn't know? Could this matter have nothing to do with her?
He'd originally thought Mandy's suicide was Arabella's doing for revenge, but looking at Arabella's reaction, he'd been overthinking...
Maybe it was coincidence, or maybe there was another reason?
He'd originally planned to bring this matter into the open to see if he could get support from whoever was behind Arabella to secure the vacant CFO position that Mandy had left. Now seeing that she was completely unaware, he calculated that there was no need to waste energy on her.
He waved at Arabella and returned to his usual superior demeanor. "Nothing else. You can go out first."
Even sitting at her workstation, Arabella still felt like she was dreaming. Mandy was dead? How did she die?
Her sixth sense told her there was definitely something fishy about this, but she couldn't figure out what.