Chapter 30 Dad Will Take You Home
Leo left after signing the transfer agreement, leaving Caroline and Rebecca looking upset in their seats.
“How could he say that?”
The more Caroline thought about it, the angrier she became. “What did he mean, useless baggage? He makes it sound as though we’re picking up his leftovers.”
Countless people wanted to be in charge of the partnership with Atlas Beauty, but that fool made it sound like it was a burden. Prideful as Caroline was, this was something that she could not accept.
“Ignore him. With this transfer agreement, we’re the ones in charge now.”
Rebecca was not that angry. “He’s just an idiot, through and through. Even if you give him the responsibility, he wouldn’t realize what it’s worth.”
Caroline processed her mother’s words and felt much calmer.
“What should we do now? Should we tell Dad?”
“Why tell him?” Rebecca pressed her lips into a thin line. “We can take care of this ourselves. With it, we can establish a long-term cooperation with Atlas Beauty, and we’ll have the final say going forward.”
A convinced Caroline said excitedly, “Let’s celebrate this with some good food, and then we’ll talk to Miss Henderson tomorrow!”
It went without saying that Leo was unaware of Rebecca and Caroline’s selfish machinations. He was on his way to his daughter’s kindergarten.
He wasn’t interested in a project leadership role to begin with.
It wasn’t a bad idea to leave good opportunities to his family members. After all, it was his wife’s company, and he could ask for a position anytime he wanted.
Since Caroline wanted the position, he did not mind giving it to her.
But that was the extent of it. He had no idea if they could even do their jobs well.
When Leo arrived at the kindergarten, the classes were just over and many parents were waiting at the door.
Hordes of children rushed out at the sound of the bell and went home with their parents.
There was no trace of Emilia among the ones departing.
Leo wasn’t in a rush. He stood at the door and waited quietly for her to emerge.
Time passed, as more and more children left. Emilia was still nowhere to be seen.
Leo’s expression finally turned solemn and he walked into the kindergarten.
It had been an hour, but his little girl was still inside. Something must have happened.
The kindergarten was a nice, well-insulated place that was cool during the summer and warm during the winter. The walls were covered with beautiful doodles, and some playful children were still playing on the slide inside.
However, he still could not see his little girl.
He made his way to Emilia’s homeroom, Class 1, but it was empty. His expression became more and more grave.
The gates of kindergartens and primary schools could be the most bustling of places, especially when school was over. Child traffickers could very easily masquerade as parents picking up their children outside.
He had searched everywhere, except for the staff office. If Emilia was still not there, it meant that she had gone missing.
Leo walked to that office with a grim expression, only to hear a teacher’s cold, questioning voice inside.
“Tell me, why did you hit him? And so hard too? Can’t you see that Ken’s head is bleeding?”
In the office, a female teacher was giving a little girl a harsh scolding. The girl had her back to Leo, preventing him from seeing her face.
He stopped walking and observed the situation in the office with narrowed eyes.
“Miss Cooper, this is too much!”
Soon, a young woman’s shrill voice resounded inside the office. “My son came to kindergarten to study, not to be bullied by his classmate. Look how badly she hit him!”
“Yes, of course, Mrs. O’Brien. It’s our fault for not managing things well enough. We take bullying very seriously here, and we’ll give you and your son a proper explanation.”
The children’s homeroom teacher, Janet Cooper, became fawning and apologetic toward the young woman referred to Mrs. O’Brien. She even swore that she would dispense justice as if she was reciting some kind of tired slogan.
Mrs. O’Brien was dressed in designer clothes, with a limited-edition LV bag in her hand. Beside her stood a man in a suit, who was probably her husband.
“Ken started it… He called me a fatherless orphan and even pulled my hair…”
The little girl who was being punished raised her head with a pitiful expression. She was just trying to defend herself. It was none other than Emilia.
Leo breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that his daughter did not go missing. His momentary happiness, however, took a back seat in light of what followed.
Before Emilia could finish defending herself, Janet shouted at her, “Shut up! How dare you say you’re in the right after hitting someone?”
Her voice startled Emilia so much that she shrank into herself and lowered her head. Tears were welling up in her eyes.
“I’m right! You don’t have a father! Your father doesn’t want you anymore!”
An arrogant boy came out from behind Mrs. O’Brien and made a face at Emilia.
“Apologize to Ken now!” Janet said furiously.
“It was his fault! I do have a father! I won’t apologize!” Emilia shouted back, her eyes looking red.
“You!”
Janet looked at Emilia. She was so surprised that she could not speak for a while.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
“Forget it, Miss Cooper.” Mrs. O’Brien waved her hand and said bitterly, “I don’t think this little girl will apologize, but it doesn’t matter anyway. I’m not a stingy person. But my son still has to attend class in the future. I can’t leave him in such a dangerous environment. How do you propose we settle this?”
“This is indeed a big problem.” Janet thought for a moment and added, “We’ll have to resort to expulsion. We’re lucky that Ken is such a healthy boy. If it was any other child, he’d have suffered a serious injury by now. We won’t allow such an unruly child to run amok in our kindergarten.”
“Miss Cooper! What do you mean?”
Emilia raised her head at her teacher’s words and looked at everyone in disbelief.
She did not understand. Why was she being expelled when it was not even her fault?
Three seconds later, she began to plead out of instinct. She cried and said fearfully, “Miss Cooper, it’s all my fault. Don’t expel me. I’ll apologize. I’ll apologize, okay?”
“It’s no use apologizing to me. Apologize to Ken’s mother.” Janet sighed, feigning helplessness. “Your conduct would have gotten you expelled from any kindergarten…”
“Who did you say you’re going to expel?”
Before Janet could finish her sentence, the door of the office was pushed open with a bang, and Leo walked in.
Seeing him, Emilia stopped crying and looked at him with bright eyes.
Janet and the O’Brien’s’ looked at him in astonishment.
“Daddy!”
Emilia’s tearful face turned joyful. She shouted excitedly and hugged Leo’s thigh, refusing to let go.
Leo looked at her with a smile. He wiped away her tears before picking her up and saying gently, “Don’t cry, Emilia. Daddy’s here to take you home.”