Filed to story: The Billionaire Trying Hard to Win Her Heart Novel (Sophie & Tristan) >>
By the time Mason exited Nocturnal, it was already two past midnight.
Owing to having one drink too many, he opted not to drive and hailed a ride over to Wisteria Apartments instead.
The minute he got on, Willow, too, hired a car in pursuit, as seeing how drunk he was got her concerned that he might wind up in a sticky situation.
What she had not expected was that his destination turned out to be Wisteria Apartments.
After standing below the apartments for the entire night, Willow took ill the next day.
When
Charmaine saw the state her daughter was in, she poured a glass of warm water and also brought her some medicine.
“Where were you last night? I know that Mason’s back, and the two of you want to be together, but you should also be mindful of your own reputation. Are you even listening, Willa?” Charmaine furrowed. What’s gotten into her lately?Throwing her arms around Charmaine, Willow then broke down in tears.
“Why? What’s the matter? I wasn’t scolding you, silly girl. I’m just concerned! You’re to be married to Mason in the future, you know!”That got Willow bawling even more loudly.
“What’s this about? Did Mason mistreat you?”
“Would I really get to marry Mason, Mom?” She was not at all optimistic about this prospect at the moment.
“Isn’t it why you’ve been working so hard all these years? To be married to Mason? Seeing how fond Mrs. Laird is of you, he surely must marry you.”
Willow was not as confident of this. What would all the preparations she put together count for, with everything else that had gone down?In the end, the decision still laid with Mason himself.
In order to get Sophie expelled, Whitlea purposefully called for a board meeting.
It had been a while since such a meeting had been convened in Jipsdale Premier High, and even less expectedly, for the purpose of expelling a student.
A dozen directors had already arrived inside the conference room.
“All this over a case of expulsion, Mr. Langston? What’s the point of making such a big deal of it, really? Why don’t you just go ahead yourself and get it over with?”
“Yeah! You should know well that we’re all very busy people.”
“How would any of our opinions matter if Mr. Langston himself has already had his own mind made up?” said Whitlea mockingly.
Andy wiped the sweat off the top of his own head.
“My fellow directors, as the details of this case have yet to be established, I think—”
“Yet to be established? What’s there left to establish? Bailey has always topped his grade. How could you not know that, considering that you’re someone who had watched Bailey grow up yourself? Also, I was told that you were the one who had admitted Sophie. That makes you the very reason why something like this has taken place inside this school. It makes me wonder whether you could have accepted something from her in exchange.”
Transferring to Jipsdale Premier High in her senior year? Isn’t it obvious that some manner of bribery must be involved?That yielded a frown from Andy.
“Isn’t it a normal thing for students to change schools, Mdm. Dixon? Does having this take place within your jurisdiction mean that I must necessarily be on the take?” said Andy as he stood to his feet.
“Just look and see for yourselves Mr.
Langston’s attitude.”
Whitlea was positively livid.
“Isn’t it true that the school won’t be able to continue operating without us, Mr. Langston?”The moment Sophie arrived at school, she found herself mobbed by a group of girls.
“You have some gall showing your face around here again, Sophie.”
“Yeah! How shameless could you possibly get? If something similar were to happen to me, I wouldn’t have been able to continue living.”
“Do you figure that everyone must give a d*mn about that?”Pulling the hood back from her head, Sophie cast a cold stare that made the observers shudder.
A couple of girls who dared not trifle with Sophie in the mood she was in automatically stepped aside and cleared a path for her.
Sophie let out a sneer.
“Was she taunting us just now?”
“D*mn right, she was! How could that woman be so thick-skinned?”
“The school has already called for a board meeting to get her expelled, so let’s see how much longer she could continue to be cocky.”
“Yeah! What’s she being so smug about? She’s just a sl*t.”
It took only Sophie turning and shooting them a look to cause the lot of them to stumble back in fear.
Pulling out her phone, Sophie went on to post that unedited clip into the forum before she made her way directly to the school’s conference room.
The school’s forum was thrown into a state of pandemonium once more ten minutes later, and the server itself almost crashed as a result.
“Good lord! What the hell is this? Never could have seen a twist like this coming!”
“Heavens! Bailey’s being so affectionate! Could he be the one who fancies her?”
“What a bummer! Still insisting that Sophie was seducing Bailey. This is going to make Mdm. Dixon look really bad!”Those girls who had been heckling Sophie for days were momentarily stumped, for all along the photograph revealed nothing. Everything that went around had wholly been of their own fabrication.
Apart from uploading a video, Sophie did not have to issue any kind of response, and what a resounding response that turned out to be.
The color drained from Angie’s face after she saw that clip.
Where did this come from? What am I to do now? This Sophie Tanner is too scary. How did she even get her hands on this video?When Sophie reached the conference room, she pushed her way through the doors without even knocking, and the ensuing noise had all the directors turning their attention toward the entrance.
There, they saw a teenager shrouded in a black hoodie, standing with the light cast from behind her. She had her head covered and both hands tucked inside her pockets.
Whitlea had an awful expression on her face upon seeing Sophie.
“Do you all not see? She’s still as arrogant as ever, even now.”
Whitlea could not wait to get Sophie kicked out of the school right away.
Andy went over immediately, as he had not expected Sophie to show up there and then either.
“You should head back first, Sophie. I’d have this whole thing sorted out for you in due time.”
“Mr. Langston, since I’m the victim of this incident, I think I have the right to be here,” Sophie stated resolutely. No doubt, she was well aware that Andy was very concerned about her. However, she would not chicken out when Whitlea insisted on putting her in a tight spot.
“Sophie…” Andy could not help but heave a sigh. Good gracious! Why is this young lady unusually stubborn?
“Andy, enough of that. Since you’re determined to take her side, how about you leave Jipsdale Premier High too? From what I can see, Mr. Carlson is rather competent too. He can be promoted to take over your position,” Whitlea uttered authoritatively.
They needed a submissive person in charge and not one with a mind of his own, like Andy.
Hearing that, Franky Carlson, the vice principal, was all over the moon.
“Mdm. Dixon, I’ve reminded Mr. Langston right from the beginning that we shouldn’t accept Sophie Tanner. I emphasized that such a problematic student would only ruin Jipsdale Premier High’s reputation, but he paid no heed to my advice and insisted on accepting her. I couldn’t help wondering if he had been obtaining any benefits from that.”
In actuality, Franky and Andy had been on bad terms long ago. Franky loathed the latter for surpassing him in managing the school throughout the years. Hence, he was tickled pink when he finally had the opportunity to prove himself to the board.
“Mr. Carlson!” Andy shot Franky a warning glance, gritting his teeth. D*mn it! He’s really good at buttering others up!
“What do you think about this?” Whitlea turned to look at the other directors, who then nodded fervently in unison.
“If that’s the case, Andy, leave with this student and we can avoid burning all bridges. Let’s resolve this peacefully so it won’t be awkward when we cross paths with each other in the future.”
Franky was grinning ear to ear. He could barely wait for Andy to be sacked. As the vice principal, I have no choice but to bow to him for more than a decade. Ha! Now it’s finally my turn to be the principal!
“Wait a minute! You can’t expel me from the school. I didn’t do anything wrong,” Sophie piped up and advanced toward the computer in the conference room. She turned it on and plugged a flash drive into the USB port.
“Sophie Tanner, you’ve been expelled from the school. If you insist on stirring up trouble, I’ll lodge a police report right away!”Whitlea was irked by the fearless Sophie. What on earth is she trying to do?
“Lodge a police report? Great! I’m more than happy if you do that. Now that you’re slandering me, I believe the police will seek justice for me. What are you still waiting for? Don’t you know how to lodge one? Or perhaps you need me to guide you on that?”Whitlea blew a fuse, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.
“Where are your manners? Don’t you know the young ones like you have to be respectful to the elders?”
“Elders? Boy, you have the cheek to proclaim yourself as my elder. Why should I be respectful of you? Do you deserve my respect? Who do you think you are?” Sophie scoffed. Once provoked, she would not think twice about retaliating relentlessly.
“You will know if you’ve slandered me after watching this video clip. As an adult, I hope you can reflect on the mistake you’ve committed and apologize to me later!”
“What’s the matter with you? How dare a lowly student like you request we adults to apologize to you? You’re talking nonsense!” Franky stood in front of Whitlea, fending off Sophie’s words.
Sophie snorted coldly. Is that how an adult should behave? How ridiculous!Without hesitation, she played the video clip.
It lasted barely twenty minutes, but it was enough to let everyone have a grasp of the situation. Sophie was undoubtedly the victim as she did nothing and was oblivious to everything throughout the time.
Whitlea’s face fell in an instant. Even though the video had proved that Sophie did not commit a wrong deed, she considered the latter to have gone against her by playing the video clip in front of everyone.
How could my son gaze at a delinquent in such a way? She could not accept the fact that her son had fallen for Sophie instead of demure young ladies from prominent families she had shortlisted for him.
Andy approached Sophie and said,
“Everyone, it’s merely a misunderstanding this time. Sophie is really talented. Mr. Elswick is even planning to let her take part in the physics competition this time. I’m convinced she’ll be able to make us proud.”
“Andy!” Whitlea almost burst a blood vessel. Doesn’t he know I’m planning to let Bailey take part in the physics competition?Sophie asked indifferently,
“So, are you still lodging a police report? I’ve uploaded this video clip on the school forum. I wonder what those students who can’t seem to distinguish between right and wrong will say again!”
“Mdm. Dixon, why not put everything to an end? After all, the top management is extremely displeased with this hiccup. If the situation escalates, Jipsdale Premier High’s reputation will be ruined.”
One of the directors tried to talk Whitlea into changing her mind.
“I agree with him. What’s important now is that we should try to resolve this matter as soon as possible so it won’t tarnish the image of our school. Otherwise, I’m afraid it will affect the new intake of students next year,” another director chimed in.