Yale University, Chancellor's Office
"Jethro Edward is here to see you." The students' president reported to the Chancellor.
The Chancellor sighed and took down the phone from his ear. He had just gotten off the phone with the representative of the disciplinary committee.
Playing on his computer was a screen recorded video of Dillon kicking James.
Thanks to the fact it was screen recorded, its quality wasn't as clear as before and because all posts with Dillon's name mysteriously disappeared from the net, a numerous number of people who recently came online couldn't identify him.
"Let him in." The Chancellor told the students' president.
She walked out and seconds later, Jethro walked in. It was already two days since his son got expelled, but he chose to believe whoever intervened for Dillon could intervene for him too.
The Chancellor, who was under strict rule not to mention the situation again, was left conflicted and torn about how to get rid of Jethro.
"I believe you saw the news. I also believe you know the disciplinary committee will converge once again to discuss expelling Dillon Grendel. I might not be able to help, but I can get trolls to talk dirty about James Roderick and in return, the university won't publicize my son's expulsion. They'd also take him back and act like nothing happened." Jethro said in what sounded like a generous voice.
The Chancellor scoffed and felt his eyes with his fingers, "His mother is the school's President. Do you really think there's much I can do around here?"
"You may not hold much power, but you can manipulate some things, and the President will never know." Jethro retorted eagerly.
"I'm not the one you should be having this conversation with, Mr. Edward. The disciplinary committee was involved in the matter, which means the President already knows such happened."
"If she doesn't hear anything about the expulsion, she'd know I did something. At this point, there's only one person who can help you."
The Chancellor didn't say anything for a long time before he leaned forward and whispered something into Jethro's ears.
"Him? What can someone on scholarship do?" Jethro scoffed, turning his face away.
"For starters, he can get your son expelled." Replied the Chancellor with a straight face.
At first, the Chancellor chose to believe Dillon wasn't expelled because luck was on his side. But then the issue with James Roderick happened.
There was no trace of Dillon's name on the internet, nor were there any signs of people who trolled him.
The Chancellor had seen numerous events similar to this happen, and none was ever resolved in a swift and efficient manner. So he decided to believe Dillon must have someone powerful backing him.
"What nonsense! What happened two days ago was just sheer luck!" Jethro hissed.
"He has someone backing him. I don't know who, but this person is powerful. So instead of making him your enemy, you should quietly retreat, and I can negotiate with the President not to publicize your son's expulsion." The Chancellor advised, placing both hands on the table.
Jethro hissed and got up. There was no way on earth he'd ever stoop to the level of going to meet someone like Dillon for help.
He was an honored assemblyman who could get whatever he wanted. Handling this issue would be a piece of cake for him.
This Chancellor is out of his mind to think there's anything worth picking interest in Dillon wretched Grendel.
Jethro left the Chancellor's office without another word.
He got to his car to see Zion waiting anxiously in it.
"Did you succeed, father? Of course, I know you did. The Chancellor can't say no to someone who's being backed by the Lake family!" Zion said in excitement. He couldn't wait to get back to his dorm and teach that bastard, Dillon, a very good lesson.
"You're still expelled." Jethro said in a gruff voice, causing the excitement on Zion's face to fade.
Nevertheless, Zion quickly smiled again, "Then I presume it's only a matter of time before I'm accepted back."
"I couldn't bring up the name of the Lake family. No one knows the family backing us is the Lake family, and I intend to keep it that way. With that in mind, I'll deal with Dillon my own way. That brat won't know what hit him." Jethro uttered in spite, taking out his phone.
"That reminds me, father. Kent sent two videos to me today. One of them was of Dillon Grendel beating up Moses Lake and the other happened the day I was expelled when Dillon Grendel also beat up James Roderick." Zion said, taking out his phone to show Jethro the video of Moses being beaten by Dillon.
Jethro, who had already seen the news about James, couldn't help but chuckle when he heard about Moses. That bastard decided to provoke two fearsome families. There was no longer any need for him to do anything. He'd just stay back and watch Dillon get killed. The universe seemed to be on his side.
Zion smiled as well. As they rejoiced, they failed to notice something very crucial; how did Dillon Grendel, the student and orphan on scholarship, manage to beat up two people from wealthy families?
While Jethro and Zion rejoiced, a certain person was writhing in pain in his ward as the cast around his neck was being changed by a nurse.
James, who was often decked in luxurious clothes with multiple gold rings adorning his fingers, now looked like a mess.
The blue hospital gown didn't sit well with him and was all rumpled from his restless nights. He also had dark circles underneath his red eyes.
He hadn't had a wink of sleep ever since the day he got beaten by Dillon. His hair, which he dyed white and was often combed backward in a neat manner, now looked extremely disheveled.
Beside him was a middle-aged woman. She didn't look too over-dressed like one would expect her to be, as she only had on a white shirt and a straight skirt. This woman was none other than Sasha Gray, Roderick's mother.
Her face was squeezed up into a frown as she stared at her son.
"Mother, I want that bastard killed!" James screamed in pain, violently shoving the nurse away from him.
The nurse didn't dare complain as she stood aside until Sasha dismissed her.
Sasha Gray was a calculative woman. One of the many reasons she was able to beat the numerous people who vied for the position of the President of Yale University. She knew just when to strike, how to strike, and where to strike.
Other than that, she was still a figure who frightened James, despite the fact she was his mother. He knew who his mother was and the things she was capable of doing. He also knew she didn't care about him.
The Roderick family might be a big family in this part of the world, but compared to the Gary family of New Jersey, which Sasha was from, the Rodericks meant nothing in her eyes.
Furthermore, she only married James' father, who was the useless second son of the Rodericks after she met him in a nightclub, and they got way over their heads, which resulted in an unwanted pregnancy.
Despite Sasha's pleading to her father not to get her married off to the Roderick family, Sasha was still sent to New York to be married off to James' father.
To Sasha, James was the mistake who tied her down and got her kicked out of the Gary family for getting pregnant before marriage. In other words, she loathed him.
She honestly didn't care what happened to James, but since the matter had blown out of proportion and was bound to involve her either as the President of Yale University or as James' mother, she had to take care of it.
"The student will be cautioned and expelled as soon as possible. You, on the other hand, will come out in public and apologize for provoking him that day. Do you understand me?" She asked James sternly.
Although disgruntled by her plan, James had no choice but to nod his head, unable to say a word to refuse her.
"Good." She said and got up, "Lie low until all this is over and don't do anything out of line. I'll kill you myself if you step out of line again."
Sasha left as soon as she said those words. Two minutes later, James gruffly reached for his phone and sent a text to someone.
Less than ten minutes later, the door to his ward was pushed open, and Moses Lake walked in covered in bruises.
At first, Moses thought he looked horrible, but after seeing the condition James was in, he had a rethink.
"You didn't take care of him that day?" James asked with a tight frown.
Moses didn't respond immediately, as he first took a seat and recounted what happened that day to James.
"That stupid Joel! After spending such a hefty amount to get him for you, he dared to bail out on you. He deserves to die!" James hissed, boiling in rage.
"I found someone even better than Joel. He'd take care of Joel and Dillon Grendel in one clean swoop. I can take revenge for what he did to me and for you too!" Moses said in righteous indignation.
Hearing he already had a plan to punish Dillon, James felt better and the pain from his injury reduced a little bit.
"Dillon bastard Grendel! He attacked me when I had my guard down. Goodness, I swear, what I'd have done to him if I knew he was going to attack me." James huffed, shakily balling his hands into a fist.
He had beaten up James before. Hence, he refused to believe Dillon could really beat him up. So he kept deluding himself that he had his guard down when Dillon attached him.
"Forget it, a loser like him isn't worth our time. I'll let you hit him a few times when I have him on his knees begging for mercy." Moses promised and whipped out his phone.
The day was saturday and he planned to attend the classes which were shifted to that day. Nevertheless, that day was going to be Dillon's death day.
Thanks to the class which was shifted to saturday, Merlin still needed to attend it before going over to Titanium Corporation.
Merlin was seated right beside him as usual, but instead of listening like most of the other students were, he had his head lowered onto his desk, sketching something with his ballpoint pen.
He had his air pods fixed into his ears, so he didn't hear the commotion as soon as the class ended until the person got close to where he sat.
"Moses Lake? What is he doing here? I thought he attended from home?" One of the male students asked in a very unpleasant tone. From all indications, he wasn't a fan of Moses.
"What does it matter? I feel privileged that I get to breathe the same air as him!" A girl squealed in excitement.
"Don't be daft. He came for Dillon. Or have you forgotten what he did to Moses a few days back? I bet he's here to kill Dillon." Another female student said in a lazy tone.
Bullying. Deaths. As long as the student who died was irrelevant, and his parents had no influence, the school would cover up the incident if it was caused by another student whose parents were influential, powerful, and wealthy.
Dillon was a nobody, so most of the students didn't really bother when they saw Moses walk up to Dillon. Instead, they were eagerly looking forward to what would happen next.
Moses had numerous followers who followed behind him as he walked towards Dillon.
"I can let you live in a wheelchair if you fall on your knees and beg me to spare your dog of a life!" Moses said proudly.
Dillon felt his phone vibrate and went ahead to take it out. It was a text message from an unknown number. Almost immediately, the person introduced himself. It was Joel.
Realizing he was being ignored by Dillon, Moses had the urge to reach out and fling Dillon's phone across the class, but couldn't when he recalled the warning from his grandfather not to cause any trouble in school and let the plans they made take care of Dillon.
"That audacity. I like that audacity." One of the female students chuckled, sounding intrigued.
"I've never seen a dog with so much pride as Dillon Grendel!" Another person hissed.
"I'm talking to you!" Moses yelled, slamming his fist on Dillon's desk in a fit of rage.
Only then did Dillon pause and glanced away from his phone, then stared at the crack which had formed on the desk.
"Damaging of school properties costs a lot, and engaging in fights while still in school incurs heavy fines." Dillon stated with a straight face before glancing up at Moses. "You just damaged the school's property."
Moses scoffed and rearranged his leather jacket. He was getting worked up for no reason. This bastard was still the same poor student everyone knew. Joel really mixed his priorities wrongly, as he had backed the wrong tree.
Before Moses could say anything, one of his followers walked forward and tried to yank up Dillon by his collar, but instead, got his hand twisted in the wrong direction.
This earned a loud howl of pain from the student, who immediately fell on his knees wailing in pain.
This caused Moses to involuntarily take a step backward. Even he couldn't twist someone's hand that easily.
Could it be that Dillon isn't really who everyone thinks he is?