Chapter 4

The enraged parents grabbed a rope from the athletic field and tied me up in the middle of it.

They stared at me, the classroom building still billowing smoke behind them.

They surrounded me and hurled anything they could find on their bodies.

Before long, I was covered in bruises and cuts.

As the crowd moved away from the entrance, the fire engines finally reached the classroom building.

Firefighters carried hoses toward the nearest hydrant. The high-pressure streams would start any moment.

Seeing firefighters rush inside, the people around me let out relieved breaths and turned their attention to passing judgment on me.

Claire led the proceedings. She stood before me holding a teacher’s pointer, acting like some divine embodiment of justice.

She smiled, leaned down, and whispered in my ear.

“Well, Daniel? You always stood so high above everyone else. How does it feel to be tied up and judged by the parents of those students you care so much about?”

“You’ve controlled me with money for years. Now it’s finally my turn to fight back!”

She used the pointer to lift my chin, displaying my face to the crowd.

“Take a good look! Remember this monster’s face! He’s the reason your children are fighting for their lives in that inferno!”

“This is all his doing. Now it’s your turn!”

Humiliation rained down on me. They attacked me with the cruelest words they knew, trampling everything I was into the dirt.

Some decided words weren’t enough and moved in to hit me.

“Stop!”

Someone had called the police. Officers stepped in and halted the mob.

Claire tried to leave as soon as she saw them, but I called after her.

“Don’t rush off, Claire. Weren’t you going to bring me to justice? The police are here now. You can do it properly.”

The officers turned toward her as she tried to slip away.

Under their sharp gazes, sweat began to bead on her forehead. She tried to keep going, but the parents pulled her back.

“Don’t leave yet, Claire! You know what happened. Tell the police everything. A scumbag like him needs to face the law!”

“Exactly! You have evidence. Show it to them!”

Claire swallowed nervously. She still wanted to leave and inched toward the gate.

The officers immediately noticed something was wrong. They brought her over to me so they could question us together.

Now that they had her, she no longer shouted my crimes for everyone to hear.

Instead, she acted as though the police were demons. She struggled frantically toward the gate, even with two officers holding her wrists.

One of them asked:

“Aren’t you a witness? Why are you running?”

Claire looked as though she wanted to say something but didn’t dare. She simply kept struggling and shouting, “Let me go! Let me go!”

Not far away, I spotted Ethan at the school entrance.

“Officer, there’s another witness at the gate. Make sure he doesn’t get away!”

The police didn’t quite understand, but anyone connected to me needed to be questioned. And the way he was trying to flee was suspicious enough on its own.

I knew why they were running. They weren’t afraid of the police. They had prepared for that.

The firefighters had finished setting up their high-pressure hoses and aimed them at the classroom building.

“Ready! Open it up!”

Thick streams of water shot toward the windows.

“No!”

Claire and Ethan, both held by police, dropped into crouches as though bracing for something.

But the explosion they expected never came.

The water cut through the smoke, revealing clean, intact windows.

Inside, the children watched the commotion with curiosity.

In the end, the firefighters brought every student out to the athletic field. Not one was injured.