Chapter 1

The young clerk at the register was stunned for a moment before putting on a practiced smile. "Sir, may I know if you're registered as an Aura Mall Onyx Tier Member? If you're an Onyx Tier Member, we'd be happy to arrange a private billing and delivery service for you."

He was very considerate and professional, but unfortunately, he wasn't a familiar face.

I rarely visited the toy store, so it only made sense that he didn't recognize me.

But in Darren Larson's view, the clerk's response was an utter slap in the face for me.

"Hah! Well, Jordan Chandler, do you hear that? He's asking you if you're an Onyx Tier Member!" He let out an exaggerated laugh. "And you're telling me your family owns this mall? As if! Why don't you take a good look in the mirror? That stupid shirt you're wearing isn't even branded! You tried to act like a big shot, and now you got a reality check. How's that feel?"

Several parents who had always taken Darren's side were joining in the mockery.

Other customers at Fairytale Toys were also pausing in their tracks to see what was going on.

Noticing that, Darren got even more arrogant.

He walked up to my son's class teacher, Kevin Brown, putting on a holier-than-thou attitude. "Mr. Brown, I'm really sorry you had to see this. The PTA also shares the blame for overlooking this. Having such a terrible parent in our midst is ruining the reputation of our entire class.

"But don't worry. Most parents in our class are classy and ethical like me. Jordan is just an exception. I promise you that I will never allow another suspicious person like him to touch a single penny in the class fund again. We have to set a good example for the other kids."

Darren had always been good at twisting the truth.

Back when the PTA was being established, Darren had been the most enthusiastic participant.

His wife was a department manager at some medium-sized company, and he was also close friends with Kevin, so he was naturally appointed the PTA representative.

Ever since then, he had been throwing his weight around in the parents' group chat.

He never cared about the kids' actual needs. Instead, he was always planning some sort of flashy, exclusive event and forcing other parents to split the cost.

For Children's Day this time, he actually had the nerve to suggest that each parent chip in 70 dollars to buy a bunch of cheap stationery from the dollar store.

I couldn't just stand by and watch everyone get ripped off. So, with each parent chipping in 50 dollars, I managed to score authentic brand-name toys that would normally cost 100 dollars each at the finest toy store in the whole city.

By doing so, I had stepped on his toes and ruined his kickback operation.

So now that he had found an opening, it was only natural that he wouldn't let me off so easily. With just a few words, he had managed to frame me for embezzling the class funds.

I looked at Kevin, thinking that he would handle the matter without bias.

But to my disappointment, he put on a troubled look and sighed. "Mr. Chandler, please calm down. Thanks to your connections, our kids managed to get wonderful gifts at a great price, and everyone is really grateful to you. But that's a different matter altogether. Your actions just now were indeed not quite appropriate."