Chapter 33 Being Apologized To

Chapter 33 Being Apologized To

"Governor Thomas, what do you mean by this?" Dominic stood frozen for a long moment before snapping back to his senses. He was about to rush forward when the SWAT officers behind him grabbed him. He roared furiously, "Do you know who I am? You must be new here and have no idea what's going on!"

The room went quiet. Ethan paused for a moment but still didn't turn around. He carefully finished pouring water for Evelyn, then asked in a tone that was half request, half question: "Could you give me a moment? I need to handle something first."

Evelyn gave a slight nod.

Governor Thomas responded with a cheerful "sure," then straightened up and turned to face Dominic. The smile on his face was completely gone, replaced by a dark, grim expression.

He walked up to Dominic and spoke with a smirk that wasn't quite a smile. "The Black Hand Gang's boss Foster, the beloved son-in-law of the biggest casino owner in California — how could anyone in this state not know you, Dominic?"

Dominic let out a cold snort. "Good. Now let me go, hand over this girl, and I'll be the bigger man and forget about your little attitude problem."

Ethan crouched down and said quietly, "I know who's behind you, and I know how the last governor died. But trust me — the person behind her is someone you really don't want to mess with."

Dominic's expression shifted. He stared hard at Ethan, but the man's face showed no sign of joking.

Dominic muttered almost to himself, "That... that can't be right... She's just an ordinary middle school student."

"But this ordinary middle school student — you can't afford to touch her!"

After saying that, Ethan stood up and walked back to Evelyn's side, his respectful manner fully restored. "Miss Grant, I'm new here. How about you do me a favor — let them apologize to you, and we call it even."

Evelyn raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh? And what kind of apology are we talking about?"

"Just a moment." Ethan smiled and nodded, then turned back around. "Dominic — clean up your own mess!"

With that, he waved for the SWAT officers to let Dominic go.

Dominic wasn't about to accept this. He thought to himself — sure, he couldn't do anything about these SWAT guys, but did that mean his father-in-law couldn't?

He immediately made a call, but the response hit him like a bucket of cold water. "Who the hell did you piss off? The Department of Defense is auditing the casino now!"

The... Department of Defense?!

Dominic's hand shook so badly he dropped his phone right on his foot. But he didn't even register the pain. He scrambled over to Evelyn and dropped to his knees with a loud thud.

"I was wrong. Please, be the bigger person and forgive me." He knocked his head hard against the floor.

A gasp rippled through the crowd. Every student watching erupted into chaos, and no amount of effort from the principal or teachers could restore order.

None of them could believe their eyes. The head of an actual gang was on his knees, bowing to that chubby girl they'd always looked down on.

But clearly, this wasn't enough for Evelyn.

She sat there, expressionless, holding her teacup. She said nothing and didn't even glance at Dominic.

Cold sweat began dripping down Dominic's forehead. He suddenly remembered something and immediately called his wife.

"Bring our son to the principal's office at California High School right now. Now!"

Then he turned to his men. "Go get my wife and son. If they won't come... drag them here."

Luke and his mother were brought over in under ten minutes, tied up. Before they were even dragged through the door, the screaming and crying could already be heard from outside.

The two of them had been in the middle of receiving treatment at the hospital. Luke especially — Evelyn had snapped his leg, and he'd been about to go into surgery when they grabbed him.

"Dominic, do you have someone else on the side? Is that why you're doing this to us? That's your own son!"

"Dad, it hurts, it hurts so much..."

Dominic pressed his fingers to his temple but forced himself not to soften. He slapped his wife hard across the face.

"Shut up!"

He glared at her through gritted teeth, then looked at his son. "Get on your knees."

When Luke didn't move, Dominic kicked the wheelchair. "Kneel!"

The wheelchair toppled over and Luke tumbled to the floor. But he didn't dare cry out. Meeting his father's cold, vicious eyes, he choked back tears and bowed his head to the floor in front of Evelyn. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Dominic then shoved his wife to the ground and pushed her head down three times in a row.

Evelyn watched them coldly. After a long pause, she said quietly, "You don't owe me an apology. You owe one to my brother."

All three of them scrambled to turn toward Gabriel, bowing their heads to the floor together. "We're sorry, we were wrong, we'll never do it again, please forgive us."

Gabriel frowned as he looked at them, then gently tugged at Evelyn's sleeve. "That's enough."

Evelyn stood up. "Let's go. I'm taking you to the hospital to get an X-ray and make sure nothing's damaged inside."

Without another glance at anyone in the room, she walked out with Gabriel.

The two of them rode in Owen's sports car and arrived quickly at a private hospital under Dupont Corporation. Owen had connections, and as soon as the scans were done, he went off to pull some strings for Gabriel.

Evelyn and Gabriel sat on a bench in the hallway, waiting for the results.

Gabriel couldn't hold back any longer. "Evie, I feel like you're different from before."

Evelyn was quiet for a moment, then said softly, "I know what you're thinking, Gabriel. But you can't just let people walk all over you your whole life, right?"

"There are some things I don't know how to explain to you yet. I promise I'll tell you everything eventually. But right now—" She turned to look at him, meeting his eyes directly. "Just tell me — do you think the person I am now is good?"

Gabriel stared at her. After a long moment, he nodded firmly.

The Evelyn in front of him was confident and bold, with real skills to back it up. Even a gang boss couldn't touch her. Of course she was good.

"Then that's all that matters. Don't worry — I'm going to give you and Mom and Dad a good life."

Gabriel was deeply moved watching her say it so seriously, but almost immediately felt a wave of guilt.

"I'm supposed to be your older brother. I couldn't even protect you — and now you're the one protecting me..."

Evelyn smiled and raised an eyebrow. "I don't need you to protect me. Actually, once we find a place and get settled, how about I enroll you in a proper football academy?"

Gabriel blinked. "A football academy? So I'd actually have a shot at going pro?"

"Exactly. Work hard, and someday you can be the one giving me the good life."

"Deal!" Gabriel could barely contain his excitement. And quietly, he made a promise to himself — he would work harder than ever, make something of himself, and take care of his family.

......

While the siblings were having their heart-to-heart at the hospital, things were far from calm back in the principal's office.

Principal Quinn tried several times to figure out what kind of connections Evelyn had, but all he got from Governor Thomas was a cryptic "treat this one with respect."

Truth was, Ethan wasn't entirely sure himself.

So the moment he stepped out of the principal's office, he eagerly called the Department of Defense.

"Secretary Moore, everything's been taken care of... No trouble at all, no trouble... It's just — this Evelyn, who exactly is she? What made you step in personally?"

There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by a single sentence:

"Someone with a very bright future ahead of her."