Elena said, “You know I don’t have much money. I can’t afford to replace Henry’s keyboard. You ruined it; don’t you think you should take responsibility?”
Seeing the craft knife in Elena’s hand inch closer, Sarah quickly nodded in fear.
“I don’t believe just your word; you are going to sign this.”
Elena placed a written promise of repayment in front of Sarah.
Sarah didn’t dare refuse; trembling, she signed it.
Even after Sarah had signed, Elena had no intention of letting her off so easily.
Elena pulled the rag from Sarah’s mouth. “Don’t even think about telling the teachers or your parents; I already got the school surveillance footage. Our classroom doesn’t have cameras, but the hallway ones clearly show you stealing my keyboard. If you don’t want to be known as a troublemaker to your teachers and parents, I suggest you do exactly as I say.”
Sarah hadn’t expected Elena to pull the footage; her face instantly turned ugly.
Elena said, “The keyboard costs 400 dollars; are you paying now, or should I come find you for it tomorrow?”
“I’ll pay now…”
Sarah couldn’t let Elena come after her in front of her class. Elena looked like a lunatic now. Who knew what terrifying thing she might do? If this blew up in front of my class, how would everyone see me?
Elena held out her hand; she had no intention of going easy.
Sarah could only pull out three hundred dollars from her wallet. She bit her lip and said, “The rest… I’ll transfer it to you on my phone.”
“Now.”
Elena felt around in Sarah’s uniform pocket and pulled out her phone.
Under Elena’s watchful gaze, Sarah bit her lip and transferred two thousand seven hundred dollars.
“I’ll be keeping the surveillance footage and the IOU; if you dare tell your parents, be prepared to see those videos on every major website.”
Elena wasn’t bluffing. She casually untied the jump rope from Sarah’s wrists and turned to leave the classroom.
Freed from the bindings, Sarah collapsed to the floor, terrified. When did timid, cowardly Elena become so bold?
The memory of what Elena had just done still haunted Sarah. Unwilling to accept it, she pulled out her phone and called Zayden.
By the time Zayden picked up, Sarah was already sobbing uncontrollably.
That evening, Elena went alone to the piano room; but before she could go inside, someone grabbed her and pulled her around the corner outside.
It was late; the building was deserted and silent.
Seeing who it was, Elena frowned. “Zayden, what do you want?”
“Why did you do that to Sarah?”
Zayden frowned; he knew Sarah had returned the keyboard, so there was no reason for Elena to take things this far.
“What did I do to her?”
“You extorted her!”
Zayden had never thought Elena would do something like this; it was threatening a classmate’s safety, already a violation of school rules. If Sarah reported this, the police would get involved; Elena would be arrested.
Elena had clearly not considered the consequences of her actions.
“I only did what I should’ve done. I don’t know what Sarah told you, but before you came to question me, you should’ve asked exactly what Sarah did.”
Zayden had always been like this-he would side with Sarah without understanding the full story.
He wouldn’t even try to figure out the reason behind things. She had thought Zayden had changed; but seeing him now, it was clear-he was still the same old Zayden; he hadn’t changed at all.
“No matter the reason, you shouldn’t be extorting your classmates. Elena, give the money back to Sarah.”
Zayden’s gaze locked sharply on Elena.
“I can’t do that,” Elena said coldly.
“You!”
Zayden’s face darkened. “Do you realize how big this will get if it blows up? Do you even know how much you extorted? 400 dollars-that’s enough for a criminal case to be filed!”
“I already told Sarah, if she reports this to the police, it’ll only end worse for her.”
Elena spoke coolly. “Besides, I only took back what was rightfully mine; I didn’t take a single cent more. Or you could ask your precious Sarah what exactly she did.”
“Stop right there!”
Seeing that Elena was about to leave, Zayden immediately stepped in to block her path. “If you don’t return the money, I’ll call the police.”
“Go ahead. Call them.”
Elena’s voice was indifferent. “In fact, you’ll get to see for yourself how your fiancée ends up getting scolded by the police for bullying and destroying other people’s property.”
Zayden froze.
“Destroyed property?” he asked.
“What? Sarah didn’t tell you? She wrecked my keyboard; the one Henry gave me. It’s worth exactly 400 dollars.”
“Sarah… destroyed your keyboard?”
Zayden hadn’t known any of this.
When school ended, he’d only gotten a call from Sarah.
She’d been crying on the other end of the line, accusing Elena of extorting 400 dollars; that was why he had come to confront Elena.
But he had no idea that Sarah had destroyed Elena’s keyboard.
“Now you know why I took the 400 dollars. Honestly, it’s not even extortion; it’s just proper compensation. I’ve already given the money to Henry. If you’re so eager to stand up for Sarah, feel free to go grovel to Henry for it.”
Elena didn’t want to waste another second with Zayden.
He had already taken up enough of her time.
Seeing her turn and walk into the piano room, Zayden’s expression grew darker.
He had been fooled by Sarah again and again. What have I even been doing?
Inside the piano room, Elena sat at the piano and began practicing.
As Zayden walked past the building, he could faintly hear the graceful sound of the piano.
He didn’t know much about music, but he could tell whether something sounded good or not.
Elena’s playing was smooth and fluid; it didn’t sound like the work of a beginner.
Zayden’s gaze deepened. When did Elena learn to play the piano?
He’d heard Sarah play before too, but Sarah’s performances didn’t carry this kind of feeling. Could it be, I paid so little attention to Elena before that I never realized she already knew how to play?
Zayden fell silent.
It didn’t matter now; they were no longer engaged. If I had cared more about her in the past and given her a clear answer, maybe things wouldn’t have turned out like this.
By evening-
Zayden arrived alone at the Delaney family home.
When Sarah opened the door and saw him, her face lit up with joy. “Zayden, what brings you here?”
Nathan and Evelyn hadn’t expected Zayden to visit either.
He rarely came over, and when he did, he always called ahead.
Tonight, he’d shown up without a word.
Sarah didn’t notice the cold look on Zayden’s face. After inviting him in, Zayden didn’t speak to her.
He sat directly in front of Nathan and Evelyn and said, “Sir, miss, there’s something I need to say.”
Nathan and Evelyn weren’t sure why Zayden had come at this hour, but they still welcomed him warmly. “You can speak freely; no need to be so formal. Is something wrong at home?”
The Holt family’s business had been struggling lately, but not to the point of disaster.
Zayden glanced at Sarah, who had taken a seat beside him; then he said, “Sir, miss, Sarah intentionally damaged someone’s property at school today. This is bullying; and it’s not the first time. I hope you can educate her properly and make sure she stops treating her classmates this way.”
As soon as Zayden spoke, the smile on Sarah’s face froze.
Nathan and Evelyn’s expressions darkened.
“That’s impossible! My daughter has always been well-behaved, gracious and polite; how could she possibly bully anyone? Who did she bully? Zayden, tell us!”
Evelyn refused to believe that her daughter would bully a classmate. Nathan frowned as well; he turned to Sarah and asked, “Sarah, is this true? How could you bully a classmate?”
“Mom, dad, it’s not like that, I…”
Sarah didn’t know how to explain; she could only look at Zayden with pleading eyes. What’s wrong with Zayden today? Why would he say something like this to my parents?
“Sir, miss, who she bullied isn’t the point; but her grades have been slipping. The teachers have said that if she keeps this up, she’ll be moved to a different class. I just hope she focuses on her studies instead of forming cliques to bully others.”
“Zayden! How could you…”
“Sarah!”
Evelyn, for once, looked stern. “I told you to study hard at school; what have you been doing?”
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