Chapter 338
Chapter 338:
Someone had yanked his chair away as he was sitting down. Melanie was standing nearby, a smug grin on her face as she watched him struggle.
Laughter broke out across the room.
A group of boys quickly gathered around Ethan, mocking him as they tossed his books and bag onto the floor.
“Who gave you permission to sit here? You really think you’re good enough for Class One? Get out p>
“What’s that stink? Oh, I get it — it’s the smell of being broke p>
“What’s with the staring? Want a lesson in manners? Grab your stuff and get lost p>
One of them stomped on Ethan’s backpack, the one Maia had bought for him. “This is a knockoff, right? You from the slums using this brand? You must’ve gotten a fake. Not that it matters — you shouldn’t be showing this off and making a fool of yourself.” Ethan’s beloved backpack lay ruined, trampled underfoot.
He couldn’t take it any longer. Standing up, he shoved the young man aside and grabbed his backpack, carefully wiping off the shoe prints.
“Oh, so he thinks he can fight back!” The young man stumbled but quickly steadied himself, shouting angrily, “Everyone saw that, right? This guy just pushed me p>
The rest of the students quickly jumped in, “Yeah, we saw it! Ethan pushed you p>
Melanie, lounging by the window with her legs crossed, raised an eyebrow at the scene. A sly smile played on her lips as she looked over at Ethan.
One of the students quickly realized what was happening and yelled, “Hurry, go tell Ms. Harvey p>
Ten minutes later, Loraine showed up.
Had Ethan already clashed with the other students on his first day? How could this happen in Class One?
Step into fiction with gαℓησν𝒆𝓁s․𝒸o𝗺
At the same time, Maia was in a meeting at MCN, going over next season’s clothing designs with the team. Her first move to bring down the Cooper Group was to go after their fashion brand, Aurora Apparel Company.
Out of nowhere, her phone buzzed.
She looked at the number, her brow furrowing slightly.
“Keep fine-tuning the details,” she said, walking out of the conference room to take the call. “Hello? Who’s this p>
“Miss Watson, this is Loraine, the Class One teacher. Ethan got into a fight with his classmates and ended up using violence. Could you come to the school right away p>
Maia froze, wondering if she had misheard. No. There was no mistake. The words rang too clear, too sharp to ignore.
Without a second thought, she shoved aside what she had been working on and bolted toward the school. Twenty minutes later, she arrived.
The teacher’s office smelled faintly of chalk dust and old paper. Maia stepped through the door, her eyes immediately finding her younger brother, Ethan, standing stiffly by the window.
He looked heart-wrenchingly small, his head bowed, the rims of his eyes raw and red. Silent, brittle, and cornered. A pulse of protectiveness surged through her.
A few students huddled nearby, throwing cautious glances her way. Some of them frowned, squinting as if trying to place her face. Although Maia had been a trending topic online several times before, the internet’s attention span was fleeting. Once the buzz died down, few people would remember or bring it up again. Attention shifted like the wind, and the Ward family’s PR team had been quick to bury every trace of the engagement party scandal.
Maia crossed the room in a few quick strides.
Before she could open her mouth, a sharp voice cut through the air. “Ms. Watson,” said the homeroom teacher, Loraine, her tone frosty, “I will be blunt. Your brother stirred up trouble with his classmates on his very first day. He even resorted to violence. Our class can’t accept a student like that p>
The words were not merely an accusation — they were a thinly veiled ultimatum.