“First, you need to compensate Harvey for his medical expenses and emotional distress. The total is ten thousand dollars. Second...”
She adjusted her glasses.
“Given Nina’s repeated aggressive behavior recently, we recommend that she transfer to another school.”
I looked down at the document.
It was a voluntary transfer agreement, neatly printed and ready to go. All it needed was my signature and a fingerprint.
“You’re saying Nina has been aggressive more than once?”
I looked up and stared at Ms. Carter. “When exactly? Where are the records?”
Ms. Carter froze for a second, as if she hadn’t expected me to question her.
But she quickly put on her superior attitude again.
“We’ll organize the details later. Right now, the priority is resolving the matter in front of us. You should sign first, and then...”
“I want to see the security footage.”
“The security footage?” Ms. Carter frowned impatiently. “The cameras happen to be under maintenance today, so we can’t pull up the footage right now.”
“Ms. Zeller just said you confirmed from the footage that Nina attacked Harvey first. So did you watch it or not?”
I stared at both of them.
The office fell silent for a moment.
Ms. Carter and Ms. Zeller exchanged a look.
“I... I was talking about the hallway footage,” Ms. Zeller said weakly. “Anyway, we would never falsely accuse your child. So many children saw Nina hit him first. How could that be fake?”
Her explanation was flimsy, and her eyes kept darting away.
Before I could press her further, Ms. Carter’s phone rang.
She put it on speaker.
“Ms. Carter! Have you handled this or not? Let me tell you, our Harvey was beaten. We’re only asking for ten thousand because both children attend the same kindergarten. We’re already being considerate enough!
“If they refuse to pay and refuse to sign, I promise I’ll make their whole family get out of this city!”
Ms. Carter immediately put on a fawning smile.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Harris. I promise I’ll take care of this properly for you.”
After saying that, she gave me a meaningful look.
The woman on the phone was Karen Lincoln, John’s wife.
Years ago, she had come to my door with John to beg me for help. Later, she had knelt in front of me and said she could never repay my kindness in this lifetime.
And now, she was threatening to drive my entire family out of the city?
Behind me, Nina suddenly tugged at my sleeve.
“Grandpa, let’s go home. I don’t want to go to kindergarten anymore.”
She nervously picked at her fingers.
But every day when she came home, she used to tell me how much she liked the children here and how much she liked the playground.
Maybe right now, she was afraid I would get angry.
Maybe she was afraid I would be bullied.
Maybe she thought all of this was her fault.
But I would never let her suffer this kind of humiliation.
I, Steven Spencer, had been through every kind of storm in my life.
Back when I went bankrupt, debt collectors blocked my front door. Business partners turned against me and held knives to my throat. Banks suddenly pulled their loans and almost drove me to the edge.
I survived all of it without my hands shaking once.
But now, looking at the fear in Nina’s eyes, I couldn’t stop my hands from trembling.
My heart ached for her.
And I was furious over what she had been put through.
Ms. Carter was still urging me.
“Can you just sign it already? Stop wasting everyone’s time.”
“I’m not signing.”
I cut her off coldly.
Then I dialed a number.
The call was picked up after one ring.
“Mr. Spencer, what can I do for you today?”
John’s ingratiating voice came through the phone, just as it had for decades.
“Stop waiting by the car. Come to your grandson’s kindergarten,” I said slowly.
“Huh? Mr. Spencer, why are you at the kindergarten?”
“Why?”
