Betrayed, Then Back For Blood

Chapter 80

Chapter 80

Fraser and Samantha had been putting on their little show for quite stime, but the room was dead silent,

with no one paying them any,

attention.

Even Ellen, whose hand Samantha was holding in a supposedly caring manner, just let Samantha hold it, keeping

her head down without saying a word.

It wasn’t that Ellen was deliberately ignoring them; she was just intimidated by Samantha's enthusiasm and

couldn't break free from her tight grip.

The school leaders, including Landon, wanted to say something, but as soon as Fraser and Samantha entered,

they went straight to Ashton without even sparing a glance at them.

Normally, when they cto the school, the school leaders would at least put on a polite smile and exchange

pleasantries. Today, however, they completely ignored the school leaders. It was so awkward that Landon and

the others didn’t even know how to defuse the situation.

Liora, standing to the side, was so embarrassed she felt like she had social anxiety. She muttered under her

breath, “Dad, Mom.”

Samantha reluctantly let go of Ellen’s hand. “I got a bit too excited when | heard Liora had a conflict with a

classmate at school. | apologize for making a scene in front of everyone.”

Fraser pulled Samantha down to sit and finally realized that the atmosphere was too tense. It seemed that this

matter wouldn't be easily resolved today.

“Miss,” Fraser said, turning to Briar with his usual smile, “I'm curious, what do you plan to do about this little spat

between Liora and Ellen?” He emphasized the words little spat.

“We've chere, of course, to make amends. You and Ellen can both rest assured of that,” Fraser continued.

Samantha nodded in agreement. “Yes, if it’s Liora’s fault, we'll compensate financially and apologize as needed.

We won't shirk our responsibility.”

Briar’s lips curled into a sarcastic smile as she watched the overly tic couple. “No rush. We're still waiting

for others to arrive. Let's talk

once everyone's here.”

00000000000 0000 O000000OO000000

As she spoke, Briar took out a wet wipe and handed it to Ellen, signaling her to clean her hand. This blatant

display of disdain almost made

Samantha's smile falter.

‘What does she mean? Is she implying that my hands are dirty? Samantha wondered. ‘Ellen is just a poor

student. | haven't minded touching her, yet here they think my hands are dirty? And what did she mean by?

‘What's there left to discuss? It’s just a matter of having Liora apologize to Ellen and offering smoney as

compensation for medical expenses and emotional distress."

They had even brought their checkbook, ready to write a check for 30 thousand dollars.

If it weren't for Ashton’s presence, and the need to avoid giving him the impression that the Winters family was

stingy and unreasonable, they would have offered no more than a few thousand dollars at most.

To a poor student like Ellen, 30 thousand dollars would be a fortune. She would be grateful and thank them

profusely. ? was enough to cover her college tuition and more.

“Do you two have any objections?” Brjar looked at Fraser and Samantha, her gaze piercing.

sand dollars

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Chapter 80

Fraser wanted to say no. He didn’t have tto humor this young girl. Showing up and saying a few nice words

was alreadythin enough.

But one indifferent glance from Ashton, and Fraser quickly changed his tune with a smile. “Sure. For Mr. Wade's

sake, of course, we can wait

So, they all sat quietly, waiting for the parents of the other four students to arrive.

During the wait, Ashton’s phone rang several times-work calls from the company. By the the answered the

Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt

fifth call, Fraser and the others were growing increasingly restless.

‘What's taking those people so long? Mr. Wade has already postponed two meetings to wait for them. If those

parents end up angering Mr. Wade because of their tardiness, we will surely be caught in the crossfire, Fraser

wondered.

Rachel and the other three girls couldn't sit still any longer and hurried to the side to call their parents, urging

them to cover quickly.

Finally, after what felt like endless waiting, the parents of Rachel and the others rushed over in a hurry,

None of these four families had the slevel of wealth as the Winters family, which was why Rachel and the

others had always been so eager to flatter and ingratiate themselves with Liora at school.

Now, hearing that the classmate whose daughters had bullied alongside Liora had brought their parents to the

school and that Ashton was even backing them up, the parents of Rachel and the others were starting to think

that Liora had gone too far.

They were annoyed that she hadn't known her limits when bullying a classmate, and now they were in a

situation where even paying money might not be enough to settle things.

Seeing the gloomy expressions on Fraser and Samantha's faces, the parents of the other four girls also looked

uneasy. It seemed that today was going to be a costly affair.

Briar stood up, took out 30 dollars, and handed it to Ellen, instructing her to go to the school convenience store

to buy spopsicles and cold water.

Once Ellen had left, Briar smiled and said, “Since everyone's here now, let's settle the score.”

With that, she walked over to the table against the wall in the reception room, connected her phone to the

computer, turned the volup to the maximum, and opened several surveillance videos.

The videos showed Liora and her four friends, at different times and places, and from various angles, physically

and verbally abusing the slittle girl for all sorts of reasons. They even dragged the girl into the restroom

multiple times.

Every tthe girl emerged from the restroom, her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were wet.

It was clear that these girls had done everything a student could do to bully a small and helpless girl. And the girl

being bullied in the videos

was none other than Ellen, who had just been sent out by Briar to buy water.

The videos weren't long; they were just a few clips taken from the school’s surveillance system. But they were

enough to leave everyone in

the room speechless.

Briar slowly disconnected her phone from the computer and turned to look at Liora and the others, who seemed

to want to bury themselves

in the ground. “What do you think would happen if | took these videos straight to the police? Do you think you

could still act so nonchalant?”

Ashton raised an eyebrow slightly. ‘Call the police? Briar seems so fierce, yet she is considering such a mild

approach? If she chose to go to the police, the outcprobably wouldn't be too severe. It’s likely the best-case

scenafor Liora and the others,’ he wor red.

After all, they were still minors, and in cases like this, the focus was usually on education rather than

punishment. At most, their parents might pay smoney behind the scenes, and that would be the end of it.

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Chapter 81

When Liora’s parents and the parents of the other four girls heard this, their expressions changed instantly. They

had all seen How children had bullied Ellen. Now that they were being asked to face tenfold or even a

hundredfold retribution, there was no way their childve

could bear the consequences.

Knowing that Briar was someone close to Ashton, Fraser looked toward Ashton, hesitating. He asked, “Mr. Wade,

what do you think we

should do about this?”

He continued, “We know our children were in the wrong. When Ellen returns, we’ll make sure they apologize.

We'll also offer full compensation, whatever the amount. We're begging you and this young lady to show mercy,”

“Yes, any amount is fine. Our children definitely realize their mistake now and promise never to repeat it. Please,

give them one more chance to make things right.”

“I'm willing to pay 50 thousand dollars. As long as you two are willing to help us smooth things over, we won't

object to any terms.”

“Mr. Carter, please help us. The children are still young. If we can settle this, a school punishment is fine too.”

The group crowded around Ashton and Briar, pleading, even dragging in Landon and the other school

administrators. They chattered anxiously and humbly, lowering themselves without shame. It was a pitiful sight

that brought tears to the eyes of Liora and the other girls.

They had been foolish. They had ganged up on Ellen for a moment of thrill. Now their parents were forced to beg

sunknown woman for mercy, bowing and scraping in front of her.

But since they had caused the trouble, they couldn't just watch their parents endure this humiliation alone. Liora

and the other four girls tearfully stepped forward, bowing repeatedly to Ashton and Briar. “We're sorry, Mr. Wade.

We were wrong. We're sorry, Briar. We were wrong.

Please forgive us!”

Just then, Ellen returned from a grocery run. As she opened the door, the first thing she saw was this very scene.

She froze at the entrance.

Briar remained unmoved by the parents’ pleas. Only when she saw Ellen enter did she finally gesture for her.

“Ellen, chere.”

Ellen responded softly and carried her bag of popsicles and bottled water over to Briar. “Briar...”

Briar took the items from Ellen and handed them to Brandon. Then, she straightened Ellen’s posture. “You want

to apologize, right? The

victim is her, notor Mr. Wade. If you're sincere, apologize to her. On top of that, each family will pay 100

thousand dollars for emotional

distress and medical expenses. If she agrees not to pursue the matter further, | might let it go.”

One hundred thousand dollars per family, which made a total of 500 thousand dollars from five families. It was a

shocking amount.

Sparents were about to protest, but Fraser feared Briar might change her mind, so he rushed to agree. “We

agree. My daughter will apologize to Ellen right now. Liora, go! Apologize and admit your mistake.”

Before Liora could respond, her father forced her head down in a deep bow. The force was so strong that if she

hadn't steadied herself, she

would've fallen to her knees in front of Ellen.

“I'm sorry, Ellen. | was wrong. Please forgive me,” she said.

With someone taking the lead, the other four girls quickly followed suit. “I'm sorry, Ellen. | was wrong. Please

forgive me.”

Ellen stood there in stunned silence. She had never been treated with such respect in her life.

“Briar... should | forgive them?” Ellen asked in a small voice, shrinking toward Briar’s side.

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10:39 Tue, 12 Aug

Chapter 81

Briar smiled, “Forgive them if you want to. If you don’t want to, we'll just raise the price.

It was already 500 thousand dollars, yet Briar suggested they should pay more for compensation.

Ellen feared that if Briar raised the price even further, it would cause more trouble. Not wanting Briar to offend

these people because of her Ellen nodded. “Okay. I'll forgive them.”

Liora and the others nearly cried from relief. They had been terrified that Ellen would side with Briar and demand

even more from them.

With Ashton present, there was no way they could reject any conditions put forward. No matter what Ellen asked

for, they would've had to accept it unwillingly.

Thankfully, Ellen had ssense and didn’t make any excessive demands.

Seeing a resolution in sight, Fraser signaled to Samantha to hand over their bank card. It was her card, used for

daily expenses. Coincidentally, it had exactly 100 thousand dollars in it. Fraser wondered if Samantha had

somehow known in advance.

Samantha handed the card to Ellen, feeling her heart break. That was her spending money for two months, now

gone to this poor girl.

The others also began transferring money. Before coming, they had agreed among themselves that a few

thousand dollars would be more than enough for a poor girl. None of them had expected to pay so much.

Fraser had agreed so readily because the Winters family was wealthy. But the other four families were different.

In a city like Shoneport, where powerful families were everywhere, they were barely hanging onto the lower

rung. One hundred thousand dollars each was a severe blow.

Still, they had no choice. Paying the money was better than getting targeted in the future.

Even though Ashton hadn’t said a single word from start to finish, everyone feared the consequences if they

didn’t comply. No one wanted to find themselves on his radar.

Within ten minutes, Ellen was holding five bank cards in her hand, totaling 500 thousand dollars.

To Ellen, it was an enormous sum. She felt like she was floating.

The last tshe had felt this weightless was the last time.

Seeing that the situation had been settled, Landon stepped forward. “Since both parties have resolved the issue,

I'll announce the punishment. Each of the five students will receive a major demerit and must deliver a 3,000-

word public apology at Monday's assembly. | hope this serves as a lesson.”

He added, “Also, the recommendation slot for Shoneport University that originally belonged to Ellen will be

officially reinstated.”

Briar had no objections. Since she had no objections, Ellen naturally followed her lead.

And just like that, all parties reached an agreement.

Once everything was handled, Briar didn’t even suggest moving Ellen to a different class. She allowed Ellen to

remain in Class 2 of Year 11.

Elowen, who had been on edge the entire time, finally relaxed when Briar left the school with Ellen.

What she didn’t know was that videos and evidence of Class 2 students and a certain homeroom teacher

bullying a classmate over an extended period had already been sent to the director of the Shoneport Education

Department that evening.

As soon as the director received the email, he immediately picked up the phone and called Ashton.

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Chapter 81

By then, word had already spread quietly through Shoneport’s elite circles. Ashton had stormed into Shoneport

High School in brands daylight and thrown his weight around for the sake of a girl.

Upon seeing the email was signed by a “Miss Briar Jennings,” the education department director wasted no time

in verifying it with Astone

himself.

He asked carefully, “Ashton, tellthe truth. Miss Jennings...”

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“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” Briar said with a smile. “I'll take anything, but | really don’t like losing.

So, whatever you did to Ellen, I'll pay you back tenfold, a hundredfold.”

AD

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