Chapter 59
"Sophia, Eli actually chased you all the way here. Is there a back door in this building? Maybe you can leave through that," Sophia said, eyebrows raised in surprise. She spoke quickly, clearly anxious about Eli finding Emily after striking out at the art department.
"Leave? No way. Knowing him, he's probably got someone watching the back door too, just waiting to catch me," Emily replied with a cold, mocking smile.
Sophia felt a pang of sympathy. "What should we do then? Maybe you could hide in the lab. Even if he comes upstairs, he has no right to enter. Just wait him out. I doubt Eli would neglect his company just to pester you."
Sophia's suggestion was desperate, but it might work. However, Emily wasn't keen on wasting her time on him. After all, she had more important things to do with her second chance at life.
"There's no need for that. I have a way to make him leave quickly," Emily said, pulling out her phone and dialing a number.
"Hey, Ms. Johnson! Are you calling to treat Byron?" The voice on the other end was eager and excited.
"Yeah, I'll be there this afternoon. But first, I need a favor from Mr. Reyes," Emily said calmly.
"Emily, you don't need to be so formal with me. Just tell me what you need," Isaac replied without hesitation.
"Eli is causing trouble at my school. I'm in class and don't want him disrupting things."
Isaac shook his head at Eli's antics. He realized that with someone as clueless as Eli running the Johnson Group, its future didn't look promising. He made a mental note to distance himself from the Johnson Group after their current project.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it. I'll be waiting for you at home," Isaac assured her, also reminding her to come treat Byron.
Emily didn't mind his reminder and responded briefly before hanging up.
"Emily, come down here now! Mr. Johnson is here to see you. If you don't come down, we'll come up and get you ourselves," someone shouted from downstairs, using a megaphone that made their voice echo throughout the building.
This was clearly disrupting the experiments.
Kurt, the professor, came out with a stern expression. He immediately approached Emily.
Sophia, knowing that Kurt was Emily's current teacher, feared he might get a bad impression of her. She quickly defended Emily, "Mr. Lowe, please don't blame Emily. She was finally found by the Johnson family after being missing, but they haven't treated her well. Her father is causing a scene downstairs to force her to come down. This isn't how a loving father behaves."
Kurt listened to Sophia's defense, giving her a nod of approval. "Don't worry, I won't misunderstand. You must be Emily's friend. Good job."
He then turned to Emily with a look of concern and affection. "You've been through a lot. You don't need to go downstairs. I'll handle this."
Emily tried to stop him, but Kurt, being a man of action, didn't wait for her response and hurried downstairs.
Sophia, noticing Kurt's protective attitude towards Emily, felt relieved. "It's good that Mr. Lowe likes and cares for you. Without Bianca around to bother you, your future will be much brighter."
Emily smiled faintly but remained silent. Knowing Bianca's personality, she doubted Bianca would stop causing trouble.
Downstairs, Eli was still shouting.
"Emily..."
"Shut up! Do you know where you are? This is a school! You're disrupting my students' experiments. Do you know how much damage a single mistake can cause?" Kurt scolded as he arrived.
Eli recognized Kurt. As a businessman, he knew Kurt held valuable patents and had long wanted to collaborate with him. The bodyguards, not recognizing Kurt, were about to respond aggressively, but Eli stopped them with a gesture and spoke politely, "Mr. Lowe, I apologize. I'm just trying to deal with a disobedient daughter. I understand your point. I'll have my people go upstairs quietly to get her, to minimize any disruption."
Usually, a father disciplining a child wasn't something a teacher would interfere with, as long as it wasn't excessive. Eli thought he was being reasonable, expecting Kurt to back down.
But Kurt wasn't having it. "I dare anyone to try. This is a secure building. If your daughter is disobedient, have you considered if she's been mistreated or bullied? Maybe she's got talents better suited for a different field. You're an irresponsible father, bringing all these people to grab her. Should I make this a news story? Let everyone see a father sending a mob to capture a defenseless girl."
Kurt pulled out his phone, ready to record.
Eli quickly shielded his face, his polite demeanor slipping. "Mr. Lowe, it's Emily who's been misbehaving. Before she was brought back to the Johnson family, she was always causing trouble for Bianca. She kept things from me, so I didn't know what she was doing at school."
"Do you believe that?" Kurt scoffed, recalling how Bianca, who claimed to be Emily's sister, appeared gentle but had calculating eyes. She seemed more like the bully than the victim.
"You're so biased and clueless that Emily has suffered greatly. If she hadn't switched majors, I might have missed out on such a talented student. She's a valuable asset to our country's research. Someone so dedicated to science couldn't possibly be a bad person."
Kurt saw through people. When he first met Emily, her clear, bright eyes told him she was a good kid.
Just then, Erik and several classmates approached.
Erik, wanting to apologize, stepped forward. "Mr. Johnson, you might be mistaken. Emily has always been diligent and never bullied anyone. She even helps her classmates sometimes."
"Yeah, now that I think about it, Emily hasn't done anything to make us dislike her," another student added.
Reflecting on Erik's words, the students realized that Emily's bad reputation stemmed mostly from Bianca's claims of being bullied. This revelation began to crack the positive image they had of Bianca.