Early the next morning, Elara and Zoe Chase finished breakfast and went to school.
She was fully prepared ntally. Previously, when Aidan Somrs got involved in this matter, he was targeted and threatened by those punks. She was concerned that bringing Zoe to find the teacher might not be much better than Aidan’s situation.
Her only advantage was that she was an adult; compared to Aidan, she could take more asures to protect herself.
However, to her surprise, she brought Zoe into the school and went all the way to her horoom teacher’s office without encountering anyone causing trouble along the way.
She found it odd, thinking about Zoe’s situation. It seed to her that this was not ordinary school bullying; what kind of grievance would cause a group of high school punks to repeatedly bully an elentary student?
Although she hadn’t interacted much with Zoe, she could tell this young girl was gentle, kind, and polite. She should be the type of child who was well-liked by others.
She set aside these thoughts and knocked on the office door.
The door was open, and the seven or eight busy teachers inside looked up. Elara politely said, "I’m Zoe’s guardian, and I’d like to talk to her horoom teacher about her experiences with bullying at school."
A woman of dium build stood up, very enthusiastic in her deanor, "Hello, guardian. I am Zoe’s horoom teacher."
Elara walked over, holding Zoe’s hand. The horoom teacher helped her with a chair, "Sit down, please. You said Zoe encountered bullying at school? This shouldn’t be. Zoe has always been a model student at the school, with excellent grades and various talents, very popular among her peers."
Elara could see that this horoom teacher was responsible, so she explained how Zoe had been bullied by high school punks. The horoom teacher listened and was shocked, "Such a thing happened?"
She looked down at Zoe and asked softly, "Zoe, tell the teacher, do you know those people? Why are they targeting you?"
Zoe shook her head, her voice tinged with tears, "I don’t know them, and I don’t know why they are bullying ."
The horoom teacher hesitated for a mont, "I’ll contact the high school departnt’s teachers to see if we can identify those students..."
She was also troubled; Zoe was a student she liked very much. However, when dealing with school bullying, the teacher’s authority was limited, and the asures she could take were also limited. She would do her best to help Zoe.
But whether it would be effective was uncertain.
At that mont, the phone on the desk rang, and the horoom teacher answered, "Hello... Oh, Principal, what can I do for you?"
Whatever was said on the other end made her expression instantly serious, "Alright, I understand."
Hanging up the phone, the horoom teacher looked at Elara and said solemnly, "Zoe’s guardian, please rest assured. The school has already established a special investigative team to look into this matter. The education bureau has also sent a disciplinary committee to oversee things. Those high school students have been identified, and the next step is punishnt."
She paused for a mont and then added in a low voice, "High school is not part of compulsory education, so when incidents like this occur, the school tends to handle them with strict asures to ensure student safety. I can assure you, those people won’t have the chance to threaten Zoe’s safety again. The principal specifically asked to inform you that the school will pay more attention to Zoe in the future and do everything possible to protect her."
Elara was a bit bewildered. After finding out about Zoe’s bullying, she only brought Zoe to find the teacher and took no other approach. Why was this matter being handled personally by the principal, even involving the education bureau? And why was the school’s attitude so favorable?
Of course, it’s beneficial rather than harmful that the situation escalated and was resolved quickly for Zoe.
Perhaps the school had already been monitoring those punks before, otherwise, she couldn’t understand why things went so smoothly.
In any case, the outco was good, and after thanking the horoom teacher, Elara crouched down and told Zoe, "You heard what the teacher said, you’ll be safe now and no one will cause you trouble. You can go to class with peace of mind. I’ll leave you a number; if you encounter any issues you can’t solve, you can call , okay?"
Zoe nodded obediently, gratefully looking at her, "Thank you, sis."
Elara smiled and shook her head, ruffling her hair, "Be good, go to class."
Understanding Zoe said goodbye to the teacher, gave Elara a hug, and then went to her class.
Elara thanked the horoom teacher again and then left the school.
In the teacher’s office, Zoe’s horoom teacher, while opening her computer, sighed, "Good thing this young girl has so backing; otherwise, this wouldn’t have been easy to solve."
In school bullying cases, most sufferers are ordinary children with no support.
A curious teacher asked, "Does Zoe’s family have any background? She seems so quiet and gentle, not like it."
The horoom teacher took a sip of water, "Do you know the identities of those punks from the high school departnt? They all co from wealthy and powerful families. If it weren’t for pressure from above, how could the principal deal with them so quickly? It can only be said that Zoe’s family chose to keep a low profile; just keep an eye on her in the future, let’s make sure nothing like this happens again."
The other teachers nodded in agreent; leaving aside other matters, for them as teachers, they truly couldn’t stand seeing children being bullied, regardless of their background.
Elara knew nothing of these matters behind her. As she walked out the school gates and was about to leave, she suddenly saw a familiar figure standing by the corner.
She paused her steps and headed towards that direction.
Aidan was in his usual nonchalant manner, lit a cigarette, and held it in his mouth, one hand in his pocket, glancing sideways at Elara, arrogantly saying, "What do you want? Don’t co lecturing again; I’m not buying it."
Elara curled her lips, looking at him, "Did you co over to see if I was in any danger?"
A hint of anger flashed across Aidan’s face, and he said irritably, "You sure like flattering yourself; I got tired of how strict the high school’s managent is and ca to get so air. You’re really trying to make everything about yourself, aren’t you?"
Elara didn’t argue with him, only looked at him and said, "Rest assured, Zoe is fine now. The principal personally handled this matter, and those high school students will face severe punishnt. The education departnt has also sent their disciplinary committee to oversee it. You and Zoe are safe."
Aidan looked at her in astonishnt.
Elara thought that only at tis like this did he seem like an immature child, and couldn’t help smiling, "Don’t worry, your troubles have been resolved."
Aidan ca to his senses, pouting and adopting a nonchalant attitude, "What are you all proud about? It’s resolved, then fine. Do you expect to thank you?"
He turned and walked away.
After just a couple of steps, he heard Elara hesitantly speaking, "Aidan, I believe you are a good kid who knows right from wrong. Even if you can’t go to college, your life won’t be too bad; your mom... she loves you. Maybe her way of showing love is wrong; you can despise her character, but you can’t deny that she loves you."
Aidan’s steps paused for a mont, then he scoffed defyingly, "You don’t know shit."
He walked straight away.
Elara had anticipated this outco long ago, sighed helplessly, and turned to leave as well.
Not long after she left, Aidan, who had been hiding around the corner, ca out. He still held that cigarette in his hand, his expression sowhat dazed.
She said he was a good kid.
She said that even if he couldn’t go to college, his life wouldn’t sink into the mire.
It wasn’t the first ti he’d heard such words from Elara, but before, he thought that with the Jacobs Family backing her, she spoke easily without understanding what desperation and struggle ant.
But after leaving the Jacobs Family with nothing, Elara managed to stand firm in the workplace within just three months. She handled Zoe Chase’s school matters so efficiently, it was hard to say how much better she was compared to him.
He used to look down on this stepsister, always thinking she was out of touch with reality and didn’t understand the hardships of life.
However, he could clearly see that after the divorce from the Jacobs Family, Elara’s days were not easy.
Maybe he should really make an effort? If a woman like Elara knew to work hard, why should he let himself go astray?
Feeling a bit irritated, he threw the cigarette on the ground and crushed it hard.
In fact, he didn’t like smoking at all, not even a bit.
On the other side of the city, at the top floor of a landmark building, Zion Fitzwilliam’s expression darkened after hearing Assistant Harris’s report. He raised his eyes and asked, "Dead?"
Assistant Harris nodded, "Yes, Ivy Jenkins slit her main artery with a nail clipper in prison. Although discovered and sent to the hospital in ti, she passed away before reaching there."
Zion Fitzwilliam’s gaze turned cold, "Where did the nail clipper co from?"
Cold sweat beaded on Assistant Harris’s forehead as he replied cautiously, "They searched her thoroughly before locking her up, even removed the tal buttons from her clothes. Logically, she shouldn’t have had a chance to hide the nail clipper..."
Zion Fitzwilliam gently placed the pen in his hand down on the table, "So, between the ti she was locked up and the incident, soone passed her that nail clipper."
Assistant Harris quickly responded, "I’ll have soone look into it imdiately."
Zion Fitzwilliam smirked, "It’s too late. They wouldn’t leave any traces for you to find; investigation probably won’t yield any results."
Assistant Harris tentatively asked, "Then what should we do..."
Zion Fitzwilliam lowered his eyes and after a mont said solemnly, "Stay the course. They will act eventually. As long as we’re still investigating that matter, he can’t completely disappear. He’s in the dark while we’re in the light. Just wait."
Assistant Harris asked, "Should I arrange for soone to protect Chris Chase?"
"No need," Zion Fitzwilliam replied lightly, "With Ivy Jenkins dead, everything he knows died with her. They won’t bother wasting effort on him."
After a pause, he added sternly, "Make sure Chris Chase’s wife and daughter are well taken care of. Don’t let Miss Hale worry anymore."
Assistant Harris quickly replied, "Yes."
After speaking, he didn’t leave, and Zion Fitzwilliam looked up, "Is there anything else?"
Assistant Harris smiled awkwardly, "Well, the old lady just called saying you’re too busy. If you don’t have ti to take her granddaughter-in-law to see her, she will co to find you. She doesn’t mind the environnt and said she could stay in that little place of yours for a few days."
Zion Fitzwilliam suddenly got a headache. His grandmother was like a child, insisting on seeing her granddaughter-in-law every few days. But how could he dare bring Elara in front of his grandmother all the ti? With his grandmother’s attitude, she’d slip up sooner or later.
Elara hadn’t moved on from her last marriage yet and had no intention of entering another. If he really obeyed his grandmother’s whims, he’s sure Elara would avoid him like the plague.
To protect his hard-won wife, he had to endure his grandmother’s constant bombardnts every now and then.
Zion Fitzwilliam picked up the calendar, turned a couple of pages, and mused, "It’s been two or three weeks since the last Warner Family banquet."
It was probably reaching his grandmother’s limit. It was ti to offer her a bit of sweetness. Otherwise, if she got too anxious and ca to their ho, things would really get lively.
Thinking of this, he told Assistant Harris, "I’ll call her back later, you don’t have to worry about it."
Assistant Harris breathed a sigh of relief and quickly turned to leave.
Zion Fitzwilliam held his phone, opened the chat with Elara, and after careful consideration, sent a ssage.
"Do you have ti tonight? Grandma hasn’t been feeling well lately, I’d like to go see her."
When Elara received the ssage, she was busy verifying this month’s work hours. She handed the signed slip to Vera Ford and replied to Zion Fitzwilliam, "Sure, I can get off work at five this evening. Is that convenient for you?"
On the other end, Zion Fitzwilliam’s lips curved upward, a gentle light in his eyes that even he hadn’t realized, "Convenient."
Elara glanced at it and didn’t reply further because Director Lawson had already approached her.
She stood up, maintaining a professional deanor, "Director Lawson, did you need sothing?"
Director Lawson chuckled, "Elara, co to my office for a bit. I have sothing to ask you."
Elara nodded, took along her work report by habit, and Director Lawson noticed but didn’t comnt.
Once in the office, just as Elara was about to report her work, Director Lawson raised a hand to stop her, still with a smile, "No rush, I just want to chat casually."
Elara was montarily stunned. Director Lawson was her superior, and they had unpleasant encounters before. If Ivy Jenkins hadn’t gotten into trouble unexpectedly, her commission withhold would have led her to sue Director Lawson too.
She had no connection with Director Lawson, and his overly familiar deanor felt unnerving.
Director Lawson seed to sense her confusion, smiled, and offered her a seat, even personally made her a cup of tea.
Elara held the cup, waiting for him to get to the point.
Director Lawson circled back behind his desk, gazing at her for a mont before smiling, "Actually, there’s nothing, just — did you hear Ivy Jenkins died?"
Elara, naturally catching the probing tone in his voice, was too shocked to process Director Lawson’s implications, and asked, "Director Jenkins died?"
Director Lawson watched her, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. She didn’t know? Could it be none of it involved her?
He had assud that Ivy Jenkins’s suicide was done out of Elara’s desire for revenge, but seeing Elara’s reaction, he realized he might have overthought it...
Was it just a coincidence, or was there another reason?
He had initially planned to discuss it openly, hoping to gain Elara’s support and secure the vacant Chief Financial Officer position after Ivy Jenkins, but seeing she was genuinely unaware, he decided against wasting further effort on her.
With a wave of his hand, he reverted to his usual high-and-mighty deanor, "If there’s nothing else, you can leave first."
Sitting back at her workstation, Elara still felt like she was dreaming— Ivy Jenkins was dead? How did she die?
Her sixth sense told her sothing was definitely off, but she couldn’t figure it out.
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