Chapter 23
Sophia somehow found out that Oscar and Nina were about to attend Happy World Preschool, and her mind started scheming again.
In the principal's office at Happy World Preschool, the principal looked at the check Sophia handed over, barely able to contain his delight.
He pretended to look troubled, but his hand quickly snatched the check from Sophia's hand. "Ms. Johnson, this really isn't fair. The two children are definitely old enough to go to school."
Sophia just gave him a cool glance and spoke with a half-smile. "I heard that Happy World Preschool has been short on funds lately and is worried about not having money to replace equipment. I'm willing to donate two hundred thousand dollars in my personal capacity. What do you think about that?"
This casual remark immediately dispelled the principal's concerns.
The principal took the check and flicked it lightly with his finger. Hearing that crisp sound, his face wrinkled up with a smile. "Ms. Johnson, since you put it that way, naturally, I can't admit those two children. After all, allowing children of unknown background into the preschool poses certain risks to the other kids."
His righteous-sounding words were impossible to fault.
Sophia nodded with satisfaction, reached up to adjust the sunglasses on her nose, and turned to leave.
The principal took the money and did the job. Not long after Sophia left, he called Evelyn and rejected Oscar and Nina's enrollment application.
"What? Didn't we already agree? And they're just two kids - what trouble could they possibly cause the preschool?" Evelyn looked at the artists practicing in the studio, feeling very anxious.
She had pulled strings to get in touch with Wayne Cooper.
She had practically exhausted all her nice words before Wayne finally relented and gave them two enrollment spots.
But now he was suddenly going back on his word, which really puzzled Evelyn.
"Ms. Thomas, it's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that these two children's father is unknown and their background is unclear. To prevent them from being discriminated against by other preschool children, I suggest waiting until they can handle it before discussing school enrollment."
Wayne held the check in his hand, a greedy smile on his face.
"But they..."
Before Evelyn could finish, Wayne cut her off.
"Ms. Thomas, I've said everything I need to say. Besides, we only had a verbal agreement before - we never issued acceptance letters to the two children."
He impatiently interrupted Evelyn, then hung up the phone directly, making his attitude clear.
Evelyn hadn't expected this matter to fail. Looking at the trainees inside, she was suddenly overwhelmed with worry.
But the problem still needed to be solved, so she called Emily.
When she received the call, Emily had just finished a piece of work and completed her prayers.
"Evelyn, what's wrong?" Emily had just answered the phone when she heard Evelyn speak urgently.
"Emily, Wayne at Happy World Preschool went back on his word and refused to let Oscar and Nina enroll."
The moment her words fell, the thing in Emily's hand crashed to the ground with a crisp sound.
"What happened?" The smile on Emily's face completely froze, her lips pressed tightly together.
She asked in a dry voice, still holding onto a thread of hope.
Faced with her question, Evelyn didn't know how to explain for a moment.
She couldn't very well say that Wayne thought these two children's background was unclear!
Saying that would really be twisting the knife in Emily's heart.
Both ends of the phone were silent. Emily ultimately didn't press for the reason.
"Evelyn, you've already been working on Oscar and Nina's enrollment for a long time and asked many people for help. Let me go find Wayne and see what I can do." She thought that if Evelyn wasn't saying, there must be a reason she couldn't say, or perhaps she really didn't know the reason either.
Evelyn just softly said "mm," really at a loss for the moment.
She spoke somewhat woodenly to comfort her, "Emily, don't worry about this yet. I'll find someone else to help."
"Okay, thank you." Emily didn't refuse her kindness and agreed right away.
After hanging up the phone, Emily went directly to ask Rodolfo for time off, then rode her bike to the entrance of Happy World Preschool.
"I want to see Wayne."
Standing at the security booth at the entrance, Emily said to the guard. "Miss, our principal is very busy, and not just anyone can go in. If you have an appointment, you can show me the appointment record."
The guard had a smile on his face as he politely refused her request.
Emily couldn't produce an appointment record. Having a flash of inspiration, she cleared her throat. "I'm here to discuss a business deal with Wayne. If I can't see him, then forget it."
With that, she turned to leave without hesitation.
Seeing this, the guard was a bit uncertain.
He had just watched Emily arrive by e-bike - she didn't look like someone who could put up much money.
But it was also possible that the richer people were, the more low-key they were. What if Emily were one of those low-key types?
After thinking it over, the guard stopped her. "Miss, you can wait a moment. I'll go ask Mr. Cooper if he has time to see you now."
"Okay." Emily nodded, hands folded, standing quietly in place, watching the guard stride inside.
In a place no one could see, her palms were full of sweat.
Fortunately, in the end, Emily successfully met with Wayne.
"Miss, what can I do for you?" Wayne's appraising gaze swept back and forth over Emily, his eyes gradually changing from initially serious to contemptuous.
He prided himself on being a good judge of people and could tell whether someone was well-off or not.
The clothes Emily wore were obviously cheap street market goods worth a few dozen dollars at most, not quality at all. Someone like this probably couldn't come up with any real money.
This so-called business discussion was probably just an excuse to see him.
Emily could tell he was being dismissive, but for the sake of the two children, she didn't hesitate. "Mr. Cooper, you previously agreed with my friend to let Oscar and Nina enroll. Why did you suddenly go back on your word?"
She didn't waste time and got straight to the point.
Facing her question, Wayne looked her over again from head to toe.
Emily looked directly into his eyes, hoping for an answer.
But Wayne's response was still a formulaic rejection. "After our comprehensive evaluation, we believe these two children need more protection right now. It would be better to send them to an elite preschool, which would also prevent them from being mocked by other children."
His words were polite, as if he were thinking of Oscar and Nina's best interests.