Chapter 57: Justice Delayed but Arrived
"Didn't people say Emily wasn't Mr. Johnson's favorite? Why's he all worried about her now?"
"Now that you mention it, has anyone seen Emily in the last couple of days? Maybe we were too hard on her, and she's scared to come back to school."
"She crossed the line, and we had every right to call her out. If she can't handle it, that's on her!"
A few students started whispering among themselves after hearing Eli's question.
Bianca felt a surge of resentment because Eli had ignored her. The chatter of her classmates only fueled her dissatisfaction. She forced a smile and tried to sound playful, saying, "So Dad didn't come to see me? Emily's not in class."
"What? What's going on?" Eli frowned. His first thought was that Emily was getting into trouble, probably hanging out with the wrong crowd and skipping school.
Bianca's eyes flickered as she schemed on how to make Eli think even less of Emily.
"Mr. Johnson, you didn't announce your visit. You're here to see Bianca, right? Bianca's been doing exceptionally well at school," said Lavinia eagerly as she approached.
Lavinia was eager to connect with the Johnson Group. She had inadvertently offended Glenn because of Emily, and the opportunity for collaboration had fallen through.
"And you are... Ms. Chambers, Bianca and Emily's teacher?" Eli rarely had time to concern himself with these matters, but he had a particular interest in Bianca, having personally brought her to the school.
Coincidentally, he had questions and didn't need to ask Bianca. He directly addressed Lavinia, "Has Emily attended class these past two days? You're her teacher; you should know."
Eli's tone was sharp as he couldn't find Emily, whom he was specifically looking for.
Lavinia, despite her displeasure, held back due to Eli's status. She seized the chance to speak, "Mr. Johnson, you might not know, but Emily has switched majors. She didn't inform you, and she had already missed several days of school before the switch. I can't oversee her anymore, so you might need to educate her properly. If only she were as easy to manage as Bianca."
Lavinia was taking the opportunity to badmouth Emily out of spite.
Eli's face darkened. He had intended to escort Emily away with his bodyguards or embarrass her if she resisted, but he hadn't known about her switch.
"This is nonsense! She dared to switch majors without my approval. And you, as her teacher, didn't inform me of such a significant change."
Eli snapped at Lavinia.
"I did tell her, but she went directly to the professor who accepted her and informed Mr. Owens. I couldn't do anything about it. She retorted that she was an adult and could make her own decisions. But don't worry about Bianca; I'll take good care of her."
Lavinia added the part about Emily claiming adulthood to shirk responsibility.
If Lavinia hadn't been biased, Emily wouldn't have bypassed her to approach Kurt directly.
Hearing Bianca mentioned, Eli's expression softened slightly.
"Tell me, which major is she in now? I didn't approve of this switch. Does she even understand the consequences? What if she can't keep up and fails to graduate?"
Eli maintained his authoritative stance.
Suddenly, he turned to Bianca, "Bianca, did you know about Emily switching majors? Why didn't you tell me?"
His tone was displeased.
Bianca wanted to say she didn't know, but Eli's goal hadn't been achieved, and he was just asking casually. He directly inquired about Emily's current major from Lavinia.
Lavinia promptly answered and offered to lead Eli there. She wanted to witness Emily's embarrassment and curry favor with Eli.
Eli hurriedly followed Lavinia with his bodyguards.
Meanwhile, the students overheard Eli's question to Bianca.
One couldn't help but ask, "Bianca, did you know about Emily switching majors?"
Bianca's face turned slightly sour as she stammered, "I... I'm not really sure."
She was nervous and lying, forgetting that many students had witnessed the office scene, including those from the arts department.
One student frowned, "I remember Bianca was there when Emily switched majors. Ronnie was there too."
"You know the details? What's the story?"
The student eagerly shared.
Bianca's face showed a flash of panic, her eyes cold.
She quickly called out, "Nash, I heard there's a design competition coming up. I haven't registered yet. Where can I get the application form?"
"You're participating? I know where to get it. Go to Mr. Reed's office. I got mine from him. Coincidentally, I saw Emily getting hers there too."
Emily had indeed gone to Mr. Reed's office, initially thinking Erik had the forms, only to find out he didn't. She then went to Mr. Reed's.
Bianca's pupils shrank. Emily was also participating? Should she join too? Others might not know Emily's skills, but Bianca was well aware. If she joined, how could she compete with Emily?
"Nash, you need to hurry. The deadline is today."
Nash reminded Bianca, who was still in a daze.
"Okay, I'll go right away!" Bianca snapped out of it and reluctantly agreed. She didn't want to stay in the office any longer in case the topic of Emily's major switch continued.
She hurriedly left the office.
Unbeknownst to her, as soon as she left, the students resumed their discussion.
"Bianca knew about Emily switching majors. Why didn't she tell Mr. Johnson?"
"Obviously, Bianca's scared of Emily finding out she badmouthed her!"
"But Ms. Chambers already mentioned it. What's she afraid of? Weird."
"Mr. Johnson didn't even know about Emily's switch. They say the family treats Emily well, but it seems they don't care at all. Are the rumors false?"
"Emily must be disappointing them. The school forum says she's always bullying the outstanding Bianca!"
"Hey, hey, hey..."
As the students continued discussing Emily, believing she bullied Bianca, and mentioning the forum, the broadcast suddenly came on.
Everyone was puzzled. Who had an important announcement at this time?
Bianca, walking outside, paused at the familiar voice, her face changing slightly.