Jack was talking with the school assistant, who was in a cubicle on the right side, and he couldn’t hear Mia mumbling. She followed him in silence to the main building and only nodded when he told her the Principal’s office was in there and the other parents had already arrived.

They only had ten minutes before the meeting started, so they went through the front door of the building and along the main corridor, following another school assistant.

The assistant opened a door for them in the middle of the corridor, and when Jack and Mia entered, there was a couple seated there, looking at them. They both got up, and the man came to Jack and offered him a handshake with an awkward smile, saying, “It seems we are in quite a mess here. How is Sophia? Emma is kind of sad, but she is also proud that your daughter went against those bullies. By no means are we accusing your daughter of causing all this. I suppose it was bound to happen eventually.”

Jack made a huge effort to remember that man’s name. He could only recall that he and his wife were Emma Pearson’s parents, and he had already met them when Sophia entered that school.

With a slight smile, he answered, “Even like that, I am sorry they dragged your daughter into this. I was hoping Sophia could endure her school life without too many problems, but I also knew that if someone messed with her, she would eventually explode, and something like this could happen. Are we the only ones here today?”

“No, the parents of the other girls already went in. The Principal called for them first. I have no idea what they are talking about without us also being in there.”

“Let’s find out, shall we?”

Without waiting for the assistant to check if they could enter or not, Jack Cross opened the door and entered, followed by Emma’s parents and Mia Mills at the back.

The Principal was seated at his desk, with six parents seated in chairs around him. Jack greeted them while he was pulling out a chair for Mia Mills to sit in and said, “Good morning. I thought the meeting was not going to start without all of us present. I wonder what you have been plotting without our presence.”

“I was just hearing their side, and I was going to call you separately after I heard them. I don’t remember telling my secretary to tell you to come in.”

“Nevertheless, we are already here. So, what about if we get over this? I have other places to go and other people to speak to, so I can’t waste all my morning here.”

One man said while frowning at Jack Cross, “I guess now we know from where Sophia got her rash behaviour. You are her father, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am. And you are the father of which bitch? Eliza? Or one of those other brats?”

“I beg your pardon!”

“Stop it already. We are here because your daughter and her friends have bullied my daughter and Emma Pearson since school started. They also bullied a lot of kids in this school, but what I have no idea is why this school never did anything about it, and only yesterday the Principal sent me a letter to come to this meeting. I don’t recall receiving a letter when Sophia arrived home with her clothes destroyed after those brats cut them with scissors. I also don’t remember hearing about Emma’s parents receiving a letter for a meeting when Eliza and her gang put gum on her head, and they had to cut a good amount of Emma’s pretty hair. So, what about if we stopped this nonsense and the Principal here explained to me very well what this meeting is for?”

While the other parents were looking at Jack Cross completely surprised, the Principal’s face was turning red with anger, and he almost exploded, “Because this time a few students went to the hospital! I had to activate the school insurance, and Eliza Francis is still in recovery after the beating your daughter gave her!”

With a slight grin, Jack asked, “Do you have any witnesses that my daughter beat those bullies without any reason whatsoever?”

“Their injuries are proof enough!”

While leaning forward over the table and intertwining his fingers, Jack continued, “I was also told those bullies grabbed my daughter by force and took her to behind the gym when she was peacefully having lunch with Emma Pearson. I am sure that if you search, you will find other students who also saw that, besides my daughter and Emma. Although my daughter didn’t admit it to you, it was her who beat the crap out of those brats, and she told me what happened. At that moment, she felt herself in danger, and she reacted because she feared for her life. It was self-defence, and in that case, I should be the one asking for this meeting, but with the police also present. I suppose those bullies thought that my daughter never fought them because she was afraid of them, when in fact she was afraid of hurting them like she did yesterday.”

Jack glanced at the angry parents around him and faced the Principal again. “Some days ago, she told me there were some bullies after her, and I told her that if she ever thought she was in danger, she should deal with them without any witnesses around. This time, they just went to the hospital. Next time, she might as well kill them all. I am aware that my daughter is a minor, and she will probably be sent to an institution for a few months or years, but she will come home eventually, while your daughters will still be dead. It would be in your best interest to make sure they never lift a finger against Sophia or Emma.”

The parents got up and were about to shout, but Jack leisurely took a gun from his pocket and pulled out the bullet’s magazine, which he then placed over the table. He spoke while taking out the bullet that was left in the gun, while all the parents turned pale. “I didn’t finish. My wife died when Sophia was born, and I made her a promise that I would always, but always, protect her against anyone or anything that could threaten her. If something like this happens again, you won’t have to worry about my daughter beating the crap out of your daughters. Did I make myself clear?”

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The Principal gulped and spoke while staring at the gun that Jack was leisurely cleaning with his handkerchief. “You… can’t come here and threaten us like this… it is… criminal…”

While gently tapping Jack’s hand, Mia Mills said, “Do you mind if I say something?”

“Go ahead. I am not sure if you need to say anything else, but you can try.”

“Well, you can’t really threaten all these parents, their daughters, and the Principal that you will shoot them if something happens to Sophia and her friend, you know? But just in case you have to do it…”

Mia took off her sunglasses and hat, went for her wallet, and took out her identification card, which she then handed over to the Principal, while she introduced herself. “As you can see, I am Mia Mills, the single heir to the Mills Corporate. Mister Jack Cross is one of my father’s employees and a very good security guard. In case one of my father’s employees does anything criminal, he won’t help them. But in this case, I am going to intervene before anything bad happens. When I finish, you, Principal, will lose your job, and you will be accused of being an accomplice of those bullies, and all these parents here will also be responsible for whatever happens from today onwards. I have a lot of experience with bullying because I did a lot of those things when I was in school, and my father always took care of making sure they did not hold me responsible for anything. It will be a new experience for him to go after bullies, but it will also make him learn about the other side.”

The Principal gulped while looking at the serious young woman and said while returning her identification, “I… don’t think we need to go to such extremes…”

“Oh, but we need! Didn’t you just call all these parents here, and you were probably talking and plotting something with them before our arrival? And since we entered, you kept accusing Sophia, and you had already decided what to do to punish her without even knowing or bothering to hear her side of the story. I told you, I have a lot of experience with these situations because my father did this kind of private meeting with the Principals of my schools every time I put myself in trouble because I bullied someone. What you must decide now is what to do against those bullies who made the lives of your students a living hell almost every day without you or any of the teachers or assistants doing a thing. Sophia got a one-week suspension; Emma got two days. What about the bullies? Nothing will happen to them, even if Sophia beat them in self-defence? Perhaps I should call my father to ask for a few police officers to come here, and we will finish this meeting in the police station after Mister Jack Cross files a complaint of assault against those bullies. You and these parents will also be in a lot of trouble, believe me. My father’s company has an army of lawyers, and they are used to dealing with these kinds of school problems because of everything I did while I was a student.”

“I understand… I suppose… I need to talk with other students and decide what to do next…”

Jack Cross mounted the gun again, and while placing it in his pocket, he said, “No, you don’t need to decide anything. Sophia and Emma will return to school tomorrow, and you will give a two-day suspension to those bullies. Like that, you will have two days to talk with the students, and those bullies will have the same suspension time that my daughter and Emma got. I see no reason for you to suspend two students after only hearing one side of the story, and now you are thinking about what to do to the ones who went to the hospital. The only fair thing to do would be to give them the same punishment while you check what they have been doing for the last few months. But it seems you are very aware, because Sophia and Emma, together with a bunch of other students, already told you what happened to them at the hands of those bullies, and you didn’t do a thing. Your inaction was probably what made them think they could do whatever they wanted around here.”

Noticing the way the Principal was nervously glancing at the other angry parents made Mia Mills grin, and she said, “I am pretty sure what is happening here. Either some of these parents are your relatives, or they have already made a few donations to this school’s budget or your pockets. We are wasting our time here, Mister Cross. I am going to call my father and let him deal with this.”

The Principal quickly got up, and he said, almost shouting, “No, there is no need for that! I will get to the bottom of this; you have my word!”

“Your word means nothing to me. I know your kind very well, because, like I already said, I also met quite a few greedy school Principals in my student years.”

Mia put her hat and her sunglasses on, got up, turned to the surprised Emma’s parents, and asked, “Shall we go? There is nothing for you to do here anymore besides get angry. I am going to take care of everything, so you don’t need to worry.”

She went for the door, with Jack Cross opening the door for her and Emma Pearson’s parents right behind her. Before closing the door, Jack looked at the nervous parents who were still seated at the Principal’s desk and said, “We did not need this if you weren’t all so darn stupid. No wonder your kids lack brains, considering the despicable trap you were all trying to set for my daughter and Emma. It would be in your best interest that we never meet again, because next time, you won’t be seated when I leave. You will end up waking in a hospital bed or not waking at all.”

Jack closed the door and waited for Mia Mills to finish the phone call to her father that she was making from the Principal’s assistant desk.

It didn’t take long for her to hang up, smile at Emma’s parents, and tell them that all had been taken care of.

While they were walking out of the school, Mia whispered into Jack’s ear, “Where did you get that gun, anyway?”

“In your car. I found it inside the glove compartment before we left that parking lot. Probably your driver put it there?”

“That is strange. I never knew my driver was carrying a gun. Maybe my father gave it to him when he started receiving threats? Now what? Back home?”

“Or we can take this opportunity to find a coffee shop somewhere to relax for a bit before returning home. I suppose you would prefer to be outside instead of inside my tiny apartment for the entire day, right? By the way, thanks for your help in there. I kind of lost it for a moment.”

With a gentle smile, Mia said, “No problem. I am glad I could be of some help.”

“You know, it is nice seeing you smile like that instead of only grimacing or making a frown like you always do. You have a nice smile. You should smile more often.”

Feeling her face getting red, Mia fixed a piece of her hair while answering in a low voice, “I suppose all the stress yesterday ruined my usual cheerful mood, but I am getting calmer by the minute.”

“Cheerful mood? Yeah, right! I never once saw you cheerful!”

Mia muffled her laughter and said while going out the school’s gate, “Stick around me, and you will find out how much I can be a good company!”