Chapter 6 - The Family’s Desperate Retaliation
"Get your hands off me!" Helena shrieked as the two burly security guards grabbed her by her elbows, hoisting her away from the candidate desk. "Do you know who I am?! You can't touch me! Emily, you miserable snake! You'll pay for this! I swear to God you'll pay for this!"
Leo began to cry loudly, dragged along by his mother as the guards swiftly escorted them out of the Grand Council Chamber. The heavy mahogany doors slammed shut behind them, cutting off her hysterical screaming.
Inside the chamber, the board members turned to Emily, their expressions filled with deep respect and profound sympathy.
"Dr. Vance," Trustee Thornton said gently, bowing his head. "We are deeply, deeply sorry that your daughter had to endure such a vile attack on our campus. Is young Isla alright?"
"She is safe and warm in my private quarters," Emily said, standing up from her throne. Her posture was regal, her face serene. "Thank you, trustees. We will adjourn the legacy panel for one hour while I tend to my child."
"Of course, Dr. Vance," the board responded in unison.
Meanwhile, outside the main gates of Crestwood Academy, Helena was unceremoniously shoved past the brass turnstiles by security. Surrounding parents from high-society circles watched in open shock as the grand Mrs. Helena Vance was publicly ejected from the premises like a common trespasser.
"Look at her!" a wealthy woman whispered behind her designer handbag. "Is that Helena Vance? What on earth did she do to get kicked out by campus security?"
"How embarrassing!" another laughed softly. "And she was bragging so loudly earlier!"
Helena’s face burned with unbearable shame. She grabbed her sobbing son by the hand, stumbled down the grand marble steps, and marched straight toward her luxury Mercedes sedan. She threw Leo into the back seat, slammed the door, and got into the driver's seat, her hands shaking so violently she could barely insert the ignition key.
She slammed her hands against the leather steering wheel, screaming at the top of her lungs until her throat burned.
"That bitch!" Helena spat through gritted teeth, her eyes wild with murderous fury. "That worthless, arrogant bitch! How dare she! How dare she trick me like that!"
She grabbed her phone and dialed her husband, Marcus Vance.
Marcus was sitting in his corner office at Vance Logistics, smoking a cigar while reviewing quarterly revenue projections. He picked up on the third ring.
"Helena?" Marcus answered, his tone offhand. "Is it over? Is Leo enrolled? I've already prepared the press release for our social circle."
"Marcus!" Helena wailed hysterically into the receiver. "Marcus, you need to destroy someone! You need to ruin her right now!"
Marcus straightened up in his leather chair, dropping his cigar into an ashtray. "What are you talking about? What happened at Crestwood?"
"It's Emily!" Helena screamed. "That penniless leech, Emily! She tricked us! She's working at the school, and she used her position to insult me, humiliate Leo, and have security throw us out into the street!"
Marcus frowned, his voice growing cold and confused. "Emily? What are you talking about? Emily is a nobody. How could she have security throw you out of Crestwood?"
"She's... she's pretending to be the Principal!" Helena lied frantically, trying to twist the narrative to protect her fragile ego. "She dressed up in a robe and rigged the admissions board! She claimed I attacked her little brat in the bathroom! She played some fake video footage and ruined Leo's chances! Marcus, you have to call Mother! We need to go to her apartment right now and strip her of everything she has left! We need to destroy her!"
On the other end of the line, Marcus’s brow furrowed. He knew his wife was emotional, but the mention of Emily wielding power at Crestwood unnerved him.
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"Calm down, Helena," Marcus ordered sternly. "If Emily is causing trouble at Crestwood, I'll call our legal team. But more importantly, I just received an urgent notification from our primary lender, Meridian Capital. They've frozen our corporate credit lines for an 'emergency audit.'"
"Who cares about a credit line right now?!" Helena shrieked. "Our son was publicly humiliated! Come home right now! We are calling Mother, and we are going to make Emily pay for what she did to us today!"
