Chapter 4

"Custom-made? How is it custom-made?"

"Did your parents sew it for you? It's just a few pieces of cloth. How much could it possibly be worth?"

"If you know what's good for you, you'd hurry up and pay Vanessa the two million dollars you owe her first!"

At last, Irene spoke up again, agreeing with the other students, "That's right. Mr. Stuart spent good money to help the school. If you can't afford to pay Ms. Stuart back, you can forget about staying in this school. Once I get the college president to come over, you'll be sent to prison!"

Now that I saw how these people were flaunting their power and numbers to bully me, I knew I couldn't settle this matter alone. I pulled my phone out and called Dad.

It sounded like he was in the middle of a discussion about some contract, so I figured he was still with Mr. Hudson.

"How has your first day been so far, Jules?" Dad asked. "Are your classmates easy to get along with? While I don't want you to start fights with anyone, you don't need to be afraid of trouble either. If anyone tries to push you around, just fight right back."

Dad's words brought out the grievance I felt. My voice choked. "Something happened today, Dad. The dress and handbag you and Mom had custom-made for me got wet because of someone's deliberate act.

"They're also falsely accusing me of things I didn't do and demanding that I compensate them two million dollars. It's not just the money, either. They want me to get on my knees and apologize. Otherwise, they'll report me to the police to have me arrested!"

"What did you say?" Dad was stunned beyond words. Soon, I heard him bellowing to someone else on the other end, "My wife and I have loved and doted on our daughter since she was a baby! How dare someone bully her like that? How dare they tell her to kneel and apologize!"

I also heard Mr. Hudson inquiring about the situation. But before I could say anything else, Gina snatched the phone from me.

"Hey, old man, you'd better get your ass over here with the two million dollars she owes Vanessa. Otherwise, your daughter's not going to be walking off this campus unscathed. We've already called the police. They'll be coming over to arrest her soon!"

There was a brief silence on the other end of the call before Dad spoke again. His tone was calm and seemingly pleasant enough, but there was an underlying layer of imposing pressure to it.

"Two million dollars sounds like too little, young lady. Why don't we make it ten million dollars instead?"

Seeing this, Irene immediately tried to curry favor with Vanessa by declaring, "Since you're offering, we'll take it! I'll have you know that your daughter has behaved extremely poorly. Look at the way she's bullying her fellow students on the very first day of school!

"I'm her faculty advisor, and I'm going to make it clear to you now—I won't stay in this school if she does! We'll see who the college president chooses to keep around. Now hurry up and bring over the money! Stop wasting all our time."

After she finished, she looked at me smugly, but my smile simply widened. I was pretty sure Dad had put the call on speaker mode since I'd heard Mr. Hudson's voice just now.

Well, it seemed as though Irene certainly wouldn't be staying on in this school after all.

Seeing that I could still smile, Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Your dad sure knows how to act tough. Or maybe he's your sugar daddy instead. Will you have to follow him to a hotel to satisfy him once he pays up later?"

Everyone else in the lecture hall laughed and jeered after hearing what Vanessa said. She had no idea that the call hadn't disconnected yet. Dad and Mr. Hudson were both outraged to hear her slander me with such sordid accusations.

At that moment, the sound of police sirens could be heard outside, followed by the sound of armored vehicles and…

"Quick! Look, everyone! Why are there so many Rolls-Royces outside?"

The students rushed to look out the windows, only to see Mr. Hudson disembark from one of the Rolls-Royces.