There's an old saying that ordinary people don't fight with those in power. The two thugs had no desire to rot away in a police station indefinitely. After Captain Reed's relentless interrogation, they finally had no choice but to spill everything.
Based on their confessions, Captain Reed traced the orders back to their boss—William Thompson.
"Him?"
Emma Johnson's brow furrowed slightly as she listened to Captain Reed's report. Liam Williams noticed the crease between her eyes and almost reached out to smooth it away. He barely stopped himself in time.
"I confirmed that these two are younger brothers of one of Thompson's key subordinates. The trail is solid."
Captain Reed's investigation had verified the men's statements once more. Emma felt something was off. She turned to find Liam lost in deep thought.
"If Thompson was behind this, why would he leave such an obvious trail for us to follow? I doubt he gave the order directly."
After a long pause, Liam finally voiced his conclusion. Emma nodded in agreement. Something about this whole situation felt strange. She had heard that although Thompson still had some influence in the city, it wasn't what it used to be. Word was he had a partner who refused to abandon him, which kept him from completely falling from grace. But Liam had been steadily reining him in over the past few years—at least Thompson wasn't as reckless as he used to be.
For a man like Thompson, who was keeping a low profile, he would be extra cautious even when operating in the shadows.
It seemed this matter was far from over.
"Emma, this is my fault."
As they left the police station, Liam spoke from behind her. Emma turned around, confused. The usually cold man now wore an expression of regret and concern.
"Because of me, you ended up in danger. But I promise I'll resolve this as quickly as possible."
"What's meant to come will come. There's no use talking about it now. I only trust myself these days. But thank you for what you did about Isabella."
Emma knew Liam had chosen to help her with Isabella's situation. It takes years to cultivate a superstar. His company had other suitable candidates at the start, but because Isabella was his cousin, Liam chose to promote her. She never expected Isabella to treat her this way.
She had never told Liam about it. But Isabella's own actions were so blatant that no amount of covering up could hide them.
No matter how prestigious a company is, it can't cultivate multiple superstars simultaneously. So Liam had suffered a loss. Emma couldn't pretend she didn't know.
"That's something I should have done long ago. I never imagined that after all these years, she would still dare to treat you like this."
As Liam walked to Emma's side, a gust of wind blew a strand of hair across her face. He reached out with his slender fingers and naturally tucked it behind her ear. Emma froze for a moment, startled by the gesture. She saw her own surprised reflection in his deep eyes.
"I should get back."
Emma lowered her head slightly to hide the emotion in her eyes. Without waiting for Liam's response, she quickly walked away from the police station.
Liam stood there, a faint smile playing at the corners of his eyes as he watched Emma's car drive away.
That afternoon, Emma was still at the office discussing ways to boost New York Fashion Magazine's sales with her team when she suddenly received a call from Oakwood High School.
The caller was Ms. Rose Miller, Charlie's homeroom teacher.
She told Emma that Charlie had hit someone at school. The other child had a nosebleed. She asked Emma to come to the school immediately. Emma had no choice but to cut the meeting short. After giving a few brief instructions, she drove straight to the school.
Since the principal hadn't revealed Charlie's true identity, Ms. Miller treated him like any ordinary transfer student. When she saw Emma walk into the office, her expression didn't soften.
As soon as Emma entered, she saw Charlie standing off to the side, being punished. His expression was stubborn and indifferent as he watched Ms. Miller scold another boy who had his head down. Emma had never seen that look on her son's face before. For a moment, she was stunned. She almost thought it wasn't him.
"What happened?"
Hearing Emma's voice, Charlie's face lit up with a happy smile. He flew into her arms like a bird escaping its cage. Emma instinctively crouched down and held him close. Looking at her son's carefree expression, she couldn't help but sigh.
This little guy didn't seem to think he had done anything wrong at all.
"Are you Charlie's mother? Let me tell you, your son and this Leo Kim beat up another boy over a little girl. They made him bleed. I don't know how you usually raise your child."
The teacher spoke bluntly, catching Emma off guard. She instinctively started to apologize.
Charlie frowned when he heard that. He tugged at Emma's sleeve. "Mom, it's because Jordan Brooks was bullying Ava first. Leo and I only hit him because of that. Didn't you say boys shouldn't bully girls? Leo and I didn't do anything wrong."
Although Charlie's expression was stubborn, his eyes were clear and honest. There wasn't a trace of guilt in them. Emma looked up at Ms. Miller, a young teacher who looked about twenty-five or six, wearing glasses.
Ms. Miller pushed up her glasses awkwardly, then looked at Emma.
"Regardless, your son did hit Jordan. He needs to apologize to him."
"Teacher, it's because Jordan's father is the director of the Education Bureau that you're taking his side. That's not fair."
Leo, who had been keeping his head down, suddenly looked up when he heard that Charlie had to apologize. His small face was filled with indignation.
"You—who told you to talk nonsense like that?"
Ms. Miller pointed angrily at Leo, but couldn't find the words to respond.
If Emma still didn't understand what was going on, she would be a fool.
Even though she didn't know the full details of the children's conflict, the teacher's behavior clearly bothered her.
She couldn't help thinking that once this was resolved, she would need to speak with the principal about finding Charlie a new homeroom teacher.
A teacher like this, who abused her power, wasn't good for the children.
"Charlie, tell Mom what happened."
Now that she understood the situation, Emma had no desire to continue talking to the teacher. She looked gently at her son, trusting that her child wasn't unreasonable.