Chapter 31. Black Tinted SUV

The silence stretched thick until the principal cleared her throat, her voice steady but colder than before. “Calm down, everyone. I will not have this office turned into a circus.” She looked from Calla to Mr. Harrington, then finally to Mrs. Prescott. “Actions have consequences, regardless of whose name is on the checkbook.”

Mrs. Prescott shifted forward, her pearls rattling against each other. “Mrs. Brown—”

“No, Mrs. Prescott,” the principal cut her off, her patience thinning. “Your son, Gregory Prescott, and Thomas Harrington will serve a one-week suspension immediately. In addition, they will attend mandatory after-school service for the remainder of the term.”

“What?!” Mrs. Prescott shot to her feet. “You can’t—”

“I can,” the principal snapped back, her tone like iron. “And I just did.”

Disbelief in her eyes, she scoffed, pointing a finger at the principal. “After all the donations my husband and I have made to this school? How dare you?!—”