Chapter 161

The school was equipped with a signal–blocking device, so the phones had no signal.

At this moment, the police officer was able to answer the phone, and the headmaster was stunnedand looked at him slightly uneasily..

Meanwhile, Paulina was fuming with rage upon hearing the officer mention a meager fifteen–daydetention for Cordelia’s misconduct. “Fifteen days? That’s it?” she seethed, “My daughter can’teven step foot in school because of that brat, and this is unfair.”

The officer was still on the phone and paid her no mind.

Paulina turned to the headmaster, pleading, “Please, can’t you just overlook this one time? Merry’sreally turned over a new leaf. She’s been hitting the books hard all weekend.”

The headmaster shook his head resolutely, “Rules are rules. If we let Merry stay, what messagedoes that send? We can’t have the school upended by every rebellious student that decides to actout.”

2 Shaking with anger, Paulina’s gaze landed on Merry, “Happy now? No school for you. Do you thinkyou can just waltz off and become a streamer? Over my dead body. And Cordelia, detained forhelping you escape. Is this the loyalty you brag about? Mark my words, you’ll regret dropping outwhen you’re flipping burgers instead of flipping pages.”

Merry clenched her fists, taking in the fear etched on her classmates‘ faces. They were all silent, allscared, just like she had been. But now, with her friend Lia facing detention for her sake, Merrycould no longer hold her tongue.

“Lia didn’t make a false report,” she blurted out, the room falling silent.

Eyes turned to her, including Cordelia’s. Merry, once cowering with fear, now stood tall, wearingCordelia’s varsity jacket like a suit of armor.

“It’s this school that’s been tormenting me,” Merry’s voice trembled but held strong. “They’d hold myhead underwater, and if I resisted, they’d shock me. The ‘special room‘ is right there.”

Paulina was livid, “Don’t you dare sling mud without proof. If the school did such things, why aren’tthe other students speaking up? Why only you?”

“Because,” Merry began, a fierce look in her eyes, “they’ve taken…”

Her words were drowned out by the rhythmic march of boots approaching. A squad of armedofficers burst through the door, surrounding the school in a swift operation that left everyonestunned.

The headmaster and Merry’s homeroom teacher stammered in confusion, “Although this little girl isquite capable of fighting, would it be too much to have armed police come over?” The officer, freshoff the phone, gave the signal, “Take them.”

Merry moved to shield Cordelia, but the officers charged past, heading straight for the headmasterand the security staff.

“You’ve got the wrong people.” Merry’s teacher protested as he was apprehended.

Paulina and Cain looked toward Merry, torn between defending her and being shocked at theunfolding events.

The disbelief was written all over their faces as the officer announced, “We’ve got control of thepremises, and we’ve found the footage of the abuse.”

After the policeman finished speaking, he purposely looked at Merry and said word for word,“Everything here, Including the network and computers, is under control, and all of the things will notbe transmitted out, so you can rest assured.”

All eyes turned to Merry, who now had tears brimming in her eyes.

11:39 Cordelia stood by her, having overheard Merry’s earlier attempt to speak out. “They’ve taken nudephotos of all of us,” Merry had said, a revelation that made Cordelia understand the extent of thefear that had kept Merry silent.

At that moment, Cordelia suddenly understood.

Little Parrot wasn’t such a weak character, after all, growing up in the Jordan family, Leila wouldprobably hurt her more than that.

But Little Parrot was just too submissive to fight back, not even daring to give her a plea for help. Itturned out to be because of this.

So, this group of students didn’t dare to say anything.

For one thing, they were scared of being beaten, and for another, it was because they were takingnude pictures.

But even then, Merry stepped forward just now when the cops said they were going to take her. Shewas afraid to ask for help because she had leverage over the school, but she dared to speak up forher sake.

Cordelia found herself unexpectedly moved. Perhaps, this was what they called friendship.

While she was thinking about it, the headmaster and the homeroom teacher shouted, “Why are youarresting me, what evidence do you have?”

“The evidence is here.”

Skyler, the tech whiz, strutted in with a laptop, “Took me a while to bypass your fancy signaljammers, but I managed to install a camera this morning. Got everything on tape.”

The headmaster’s face drained of color, “Impossible. Our wall is impenetrable.”

Skyler raised an eyebrow and kicked over, “You don’t believe me?”

He then picked up the computer, “Let’s show you guys then.”

Skyler smirked and played the video. It showed clear evidence of the morning’s brutality againstMerry. Paulina shook as the reality of Merry’s ordeal hit her. Cain clenched his fists and, with asurge of rage, landed a punch on the homeroom teacher’s face before the officers could intervene.

Merry looked at her parents, a pained smile on her face. “Do you believe me now?” she asked, hervoice heavy with sorrow.

Her finger pointed at Cordelia, “When I was in despair, it was my so–called bad influences whocame to my rescue, not you, my own parents. You wouldn’t even believe me. I cried out for help,and you just ignored me. Mom,” Merry’s voice cracked as tears brimmed in her eyes, “sometimes, Ireally want to ask, am I so worthless in your eyes?”

Her sobs were heart–wrenching, as if she was trying to pour out all the injustices she had everfaced. Paulina’s eyes also welled up with tears, as she looked at Merry, who seemed as fragile as aporcelain doll. She longed to reach out, to comfort her, but hesitated, only managing to stammer, “I didn’t know. I really didn’t. I had no idea it was this bad. You kept saying you didn’t want to go toschool, and I thought you were just being rebellious.”

“I asked for help. I gave you the note.”

Paulina blinked in confusion, “What note?”