Chapter 3

The doors to the swimming arena swung open ten minutes later. A man dressed head to toe in designer clothes with a pair of gold-framed glasses atop his nose bridge strolled in.

Timothy's dad didn't even ask about the incident before fishing out a wad of 100-dollar bills and tossing it at my feet.

He jerked his chin in my direction. "Take the money and buy medicine for your sick kid, but you and your son must get on your knees and apologize to Timothy! If not, it's over for the both of you in Kingsdale!"

Lionel piped up at once, "Calm down, Mr. Olson. I've already called school security. It won't be long before we throw these two lunatics out of here!"

Sure enough, the security guards showed up after receiving word and stared us down. I shielded Damian and fixed my gaze on Timothy's dad's face. "Your wife is the CEO of Starsea Group? What's her name?"

Timothy's dad's eyes flashed, and he demanded in a raised voice, "Who do you think you are to ask about my wife's name? All you need to know is that it won't take much work for us to crush you like pests!"

I gave up on probing for more details when I saw how unreasonable Timothy and his dad were. I took out my phone and called my assistant. "Look into the operations of the swimming arena I donated to Damian's school for the last month."

Upon hanging up, I shot Lionel an icy look. This couldn't have been the first time Damian was bullied. There was more to this swimming arena fiasco than it seemed.

Before long, my assistant sent me an email. The leash on my rage snapped when I clicked on the email and viewed its contents.

Lionel had repurposed the five-million-dollar swimming arena I donated into a recreational "Water Club for Elite Kids" and bypassed the school's public system to sell so-called "VIP member cards" to the students' parents. He was also charging a 200-dollar fee for each swimming lesson!

I did a rough calculation in my head. The school had made a net profit of over 100 thousand dollars from the location and facilities I'd paid for. And yet, Damian, who was asthmatic, had been locked in the equipment room and called a freeloader!

I held my phone up to Lionel's face. "Mr. Hall, could you tell me whose pockets the hundred-something thousand dollars of membership fees disappear into each month?"

All the blood drained from Lionel's face when he saw the detailed financial report. However, he seemed to gain some bravado after glancing at Timothy's dad and resumed his arrogant stance. "Come now, Mr. Stone, there's no need for you to make such ugly accusations.

"We're simply optimizing school resources, that's all. Given how high-maintenance the temperature-controlled swimming arena is, there's nothing wrong with charging a small fee for its usage.

"Besides, Damian's asthma is quite the horror show when it acts up, and other parents have shown their concern for it. We didn't want anything to happen to Damian while he's in the pool that might affect everyone else using it, so we stopped him from swimming altogether.

"Everyone's looking out for their children's interests. You ought to be a little more understanding, Mr. Stone!"

Timothy's dad sneered from beside Lionel, "That's right. I suppose being poor has limited your understanding of how the world works. Do you even know what elite education is all about?

"I was the one who proposed the idea of the water club to Mr. Lionel. My wife, as the CEO of Starsea Group, will be the club's biggest supporter! You causing a scene here is equivalent to picking a fight with Starsea Group!"

I watched Lionel and Timothy's dad speak up for each other, and realization finally dawned upon me.

I'd wondered where a homeroom teacher like Lionel got his audacity to repurpose and profit from donated facilities; he thought he had the support of the CEO of Starsea Group, whoever she claimed herself to be.

I couldn't be bothered to waste my breath on them. Instead, I immediately phoned the school principal, Helena Wilton. She knew my real identity.

"Ms. Wilton, I'm at the swimming arena right now. If you don't get here in five minutes, the school will end up headlining articles from every media agency in Kingsdale tomorrow for tolerating bullying behavior."

Timothy's dad watched me make the call and believed I was still bluffing.

Matching my stance, he whipped out his phone and made a call, too. He immediately whined to the person on the other line, "Honey, come to Timothy's school right now! Some crazy man popped out of nowhere and is threatening to get our son expelled!"