Chapter 133
Emily’s frail yet resolute back stood before Tina, making Tina’s eyes well up with tears.
Because of Louisa’s situation, she had been running herself ragged these days, yet not a single soul was willing to step up and help. She was already on the verge of despair.
Now, seeing Emily standing firmly in front of her, the wall Tina had been holding up all this time seemed to suddenly crack. She knew she couldn’t entirely blame Emily for this, but Louisa’s current state was undeniably because of her.
Emily fixed the principal with a burning stare. “Why on earth is the school firing Louisa?”
Tina had made it clear to her that Louisa’s disciplinary action two years ago was because of Emily, and so was her current hospitalization.
“This wretched existence of mine shouldn’t drag innocent people down with me,’ she thought. But her question left the principal stammering, at a loss for words.
“He’s too scared to tell you what happened. Let me do it,” Tina suddenly cut in. She cast her eyes down, her long lashes veiling the emotions beneath.
“Two years ago, my mom went around collecting students’ private photos and videos to gather evidence for you,” she said. “She was anonymously reported for it.
“But because of her past achievements and distinguished reputation, the school didn’t fire her—they just issued a formal disciplinary warning.
“The matter had mostly blown over, but after seeing you recently, my mom pulled out those old photos and videos to look through them again. To her surprise, she found concrete evidence.
“Overjoyed, she brought the evidence to the school, hoping they would reopen the investigation. The principal agreed and even promised her they would provide a resolution as soon as possible.”
Tina, her eyes red with fury, jabbed a finger at the principal. “He made all these fine promises, and then destroyed the evidence.
“He even issued a notice accusing my mom of professional misconduct and moral failings, demanding her dismissal. This outrage sent her to the hospital, where she still lies.”
The principal’s face stiffened, his eyes blazing with anger at being pointed at, yet he couldn’t muster a word in his defense. Everything Tina said was nothing but the truth.
Now that Emily understood the whole truth, fury surged through her. “Who was the anonymous informant?”
If it were just an ordinary anonymous tip, the school wouldn’t have found Louisa guilty without an investigation, much less immediately destroyed the evidence and dismissed the only person who knew the truth.
Emily thought, “There’s no way the principal did all this on his own-someone must be pulling his strings’
Sure enough, a flicker of unease crossed the principal’s face. Of course, he didn’t want to give up the mastermind behind it all, but Emily was holding such damning leverage over him.
1/2
After a long, heavy silence, the principal finally relented. “It was Yvonne,” he admitted.
A knot tightened in Emily’s chest. All this time, she thought Yvonne just had it out for her-at most, their rivalry was nothing more than petty jealousy over trivial things.
Never did she imagine Yvonne would go so far as to drive Louisa to this point. Emily clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white, a dark, destructive fury welling up inside her-she wanted nothing more than to tear something apart.
Ever since returning from St. Gabriel Reform Academy, Emily had chosen to back down whenever possible-all she wanted was to survive.
But some people just had to keep pushing her. Emily fumed. ‘Yvonne must have forgotten-we grew up together, and I was once the Bennett Family’s darling.’ Emily thought to herself, ‘I know all her dirty little secrets-probably better than anyone else.
Emily suppressed her emotions, fixing the principal with an icy stare. “I believe you know Louisa is innocent-just as I know how ‘innocent’ you truly are.” With a pointed glance, she eyed the file the principal had been clutching tightly in his hand.
Yvonne had an inducement the principal could take or refuse, while Emily had a coercion he couldn’t ignore. The principal knew exactly what to do. As for Yvonne, there was no way Emily was going to let her off so easily.
