Seeing her mother glaring at her, Sarah quickly said, “Mom! It’s not what you think-“
“Madam, sir, I have other matters to attend to; I’ll take my leave.”
Zayden didn’t want to get too involved in their family affairs. He had come tonight simply to urge Nathan and Evelyn to teach Sarah properly.
She needed to stop lying all the time.
“Zayden! You can’t leave! You have to explain!”
Sarah rushed to block his way.
He had just accused her to her parents; if he left without clearing it up, she wouldn’t have a moment’s peace tonight.
“I’ve made myself very clear.”
Zayden’s voice was cold.
Everything Sarah had done to Elena-each offense was enough to make anyone shudder.
He had never imagined that Sarah was this kind of girl.
With a flick of his sleeve, Zayden left.
Evelyn immediately grabbed Sarah’s arm and dragged her into the living room. “Sarah! What is going on? He came here to accuse you himself! What did you do? You’re embarrassing your father and me!”
“Mom… I didn’t mean to…”
Sarah said pitifully, “I didn’t do it on purpose; and I’ve already paid compensation-I paid 400 dollars! Isn’t that enough?”
“What? You paid 400 dollars?”
Evelyn’s face darkened. “What exactly did you break that cost that much?”
For a high school student, 400 was a hefty sum.
If the Delaney family hadn’t always given Sarah a generous allowance, she probably wouldn’t have been able to come up with that kind of money so quickly.
“I broke an electronic keyboard.”
Sarah lowered her head. “It was my sister. She insisted on performing piano at the event, just like me. I was afraid she’d embarrass the Delaney family, so I did it too. But then she extorted me-she said if I didn’t pay up, she’d post the video of me destroying the keyboard online and call the police… I was scared…”
“You’re saying Elena?”
Evelyn was stunned.
She had never imagined that Elena would do something like that.
“That Elena-what is she thinking? Sarah is her sister! And she’s extorting her own sister?”
Evelyn said furiously, “Come on; we’re going to school-I want to see what she’s trying to pull!”
“Mom! We can’t; it’s so late! And I really did break her keyboard; if this blows up, it won’t be good for me.”
“You broke her keyboard to spare the Delaney family embarrassment! So what? But her-she doesn’t know her place! Extorting her own sister over a keyboard-how shameless!”
As she spoke, Evelyn grabbed Sarah, intent on dragging her to the school.
Seeing how angry Evelyn was, Nathan stepped in to stop her. “Enough-it’s too late to go now; if you must, go tomorrow.”
“What’s wrong with you? Are you taking Elena’s side now? You’ve spoiled her for too long!”
Evelyn shot Nathan a glare. “Sarah-you’re going to school with me tomorrow. I want to know what she’s really after! If she’s not focusing on her studies, is she trying to seduce men with her piano playing, or hoping it’ll make her famous?”
Evelyn’s words were clearly directed at
Nathan.
Nathan’s face darkened.
Sarah, standing nearby, keenly sensed something was off between her parents.
She asked cautiously, “Mom… what were you saying just now? About seducing men, about getting famous?”
Perhaps because Sarah’s question had caught her off guard, Evelyn looked a little uncomfortable. “It’s late; tomorrow I’ll take you there myself and make sure you get justice!”
With that, Evelyn pulled Nathan upstairs.
Upstairs, they shut the bedroom door tightly.
Sarah curiously followed them up, wanting to find out what her parents were really talking about.
From outside the room, Sarah could hear her parents arguing.
“I told you long ago we shouldn’t have brought that burden back with us; you didn’t listen! Now look-she’s bullying our daughter! Happy now?”
“That was years ago; why are you still bringing it up? Can’t you let it go?”
“How can I let it go? Look at what she’s done since starting high school! She’s humiliated our daughter and disgraced our family!”
Their voices weren’t very loud, but Sarah had already caught the key points. Wait, could it be, Elena isn’t really my sister?
Thinking back, it all started to make sense. Her parents had always been cold toward Elena; even when Sarah got into trouble as a child, it was Elena who was punished. So that’s why…
The next morning at school, Evelyn showed up bright and early, dragging Sarah along.
Seeing Evelyn arrive again, the students gave her a wide berth.
The last time Sarah’s mother came to school, she’d caused a huge scene with the teachers.
And now she was back.
No one knew what this visit was about. Students from other classes stood in the hallway, watching curiously.
Evelyn shoved open the door to Class 6.
Inside, Henry had been horsing around with Colton; when he turned and saw Evelyn and Sarah, his face changed.
“Who are you looking for?”
Henry’s tone was unfriendly.
They had all seen how Evelyn had treated Elena before.
“Where’s Elena? Where is she?”
Henry frowned. “Elena’s on cleaning duty; she went to fetch water. What do you want?”
He made no effort to be polite.
Evelyn looked Henry up and down. “I remember-you’re pretty close to Elena, aren’t you? I get it; you’re teenagers. It’s normal to have crushes, but don’t drag my daughter down with you! No matter what, Elena is still a Qiao; she extorted 400 dollars from her own sister. I’m here today to get to the bottom of this!”
Hearing that Elena had supposedly extorted Sarah for 400 dollars, the students in the hallway crowded closer, eager to watch the drama unfold.
Sarah squirmed in her seat; she just wanted to run. I may have fooled Mom, but the teachers aren’t idiots! I deliberately destroyed someone else’s property. If Elena posts that video, the teachers will hate me for sure!
“Mom, don’t do this… didn’t we agree to keep it civil? Now everyone knows-this is going to look really bad!”
Sarah was panicking; she wanted to drag her mother away before Elena returned.
The last thing she wanted was for things to blow up.
“Don’t be afraid; I’m here to protect you.”
Evelyn sat down arrogantly on a nearby chair. “I’ll wait right here for Elena to come back! Let’s see what she has to say.”
Henry’s face darkened. “Are you kidding me? We’re about to start our morning class! You’re disrupting us!”
“Oh, please-does Class 6 even bother with classes? I heard you’re like free-range ducks; you just run around during lessons.”
Her words were harsh; she had always looked down on the students of Class 6 and had no intention of being polite.
“Who are you calling ducks?”
Henry had a quick temper; he charged forward, ready to fight Evelyn.
But Evelyn wasn’t afraid; she stood up and slapped Henry across the face.
The entire classroom fell silent.
Evelyn said coldly, “Whose child are you? So rude and uncivilized! If your parents can’t teach you properly, I’ll do it for them-before you end up as a disgrace to society.”
“Mom…”
Sarah’s face had gone pale with fear.
She hadn’t expected her mother to hit Henry.
The students in Class 6 might not have the best grades or reputations, but they all came from wealthy, powerful families; none of them were people the Delaney family could afford to offend.
Clearly, Evelyn didn’t understand that.
She continued, “And that useless, ungrateful Elena-she couldn’t possibly afford a keyboard herself! Was it one of you who bought it for her? Are you the ones encouraging her to extort my daughter? Whoever it was, step forward!”
Henry, already seething from the slap, shouted angrily, “I bought it-so what?”
“You? Of course, it was you. I knew there was something between you and that ungrateful girl! Elena broke off her engagement with Zayden because of you, didn’t she? You kids are too young to be so immoral. Who are your parents? I want to see what kind of parents could raise a delinquent like you!”
The more Evelyn spoke, the nastier her words became. Sarah was on the verge of tears.
“Mom! Please stop!”
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