Expulsion?
As Director Conway finished speaking, the color drained from Clara Grant’s face. She couldn’t understand why the director was so insistent on painting her as that kind of person, nor had she expected Director Conway to jump straight to a punishnt as severe as expulsion!
But she knew arguing with the director was pointless.
Fortunately, there was a third person in the room: Vice Principal Chandler. She refused to believe that he would be just like Director Conway, so eager to slander one of his own students and expel them over the slightest disagreent without even getting the facts straight.
So, Clara Grant looked up at Vice Principal Chandler, who had been sitting there listening quietly, and pinned her hopes on him. "Vice Principal Chandler, do you think what Director Conway is doing is right?"
Director Conway quickly chid in, "Principal Chandler, you don’t think I’m in the wrong, do you?"
Clara Grant didn’t notice that the one-word difference in their forms of address made Vice Principal Chandler’s expression shift subtly.
When he heard Clara Grant call him Vice Principal Chandler, his gaze darkened with a hint of displeasure. But when Director Conway called him Principal Chandler, his expression visibly softened.
It was true he was the vice principal, but he hated being reminded of it. People calling him "Vice Principal" felt like a deliberate jab, emphasizing that he was rely the "vice."
He cleared his throat and addressed Clara Grant. "Student Grant, since you object to Director Conway’s version of events, why don’t you tell us: Who was the man in the car? And what is your relationship to him?"
For a mont, Clara Grant was at a loss for words. She obviously didn’t want to reveal Seth Quinn’s identity.
After all, she had just made a big fuss begging him not to publicize their marriage. How could she turn around and admit to their special relationship herself...?
Wouldn’t she be completely contradicting herself?
Besides, was there any leader at The Nymphaea who didn’t know of Seth Quinn, the president of Aegis? So even if she admitted the man was Seth Quinn, they would never believe her!
Clara Grant hesitated before answering only the Vice Principal’s second question. "He’s my boyfriend."
"Oh, a boyfriend..." Vice Principal Chandler drawled. "And his basic information?"
Clara Grant’s hands, hanging at her sides, clenched into fists, betraying her nervousness.
Of course she was nervous. Though she had just argued forcefully with Director Conway, this was the first ti she had ever faced two of the school’s top administrators alone—and under such tense circumstances.
She pressed her lips together. "Vice Principal Chandler, I’m in a perfectly normal relationship. Surely I don’t need to provide you with my boyfriend’s personal information?"
Hearing her use the title "Vice Principal" again, Chandler’s face darkened further. ’This Clara Grant,’ he thought, ’she really doesn’t know how to read a room!’
’A lost cause!’
"Normally, you wouldn’t have to. But aren’t these special circumstances? If you don’t disclose your boyfriend’s identity, how are we supposed to investigate and verify your story? How are we supposed to clear your na?"
He paused, then continued, "Unless, of course, you’re not innocent at all!"
Hearing his words, the sinking feeling in Clara Grant’s gut intensified. She never imagined that Vice Principal Chandler had also decided she was a liar—that she wasn’t innocent at all!
As a third-year university student, still naive and inexperienced with the world, how could she possibly stand up against two worldly, experienced, middle-aged administrators?
Clara Grant didn’t want to drag Seth Quinn into this, but she couldn’t let herself be expelled under a cloud of suspicion. She had already completed three years of university and was only one year from graduating. She couldn’t let all her hard work go to waste now!
User Comments
0 comments from readers