CHAPTER 25

The moment Timothy furrowed his brows, everyone present shivered.

"It appears that this is not a misunderstanding after all," Timothy lowered his voice. "Can someone explain the entire situation to me?"

Seeing the situation was turning against them, the school leaders who were not directly involved turned their gaze toward the math teacher and the homeroom teacher.

Upon meeting Timothy's gaze, the math teacher was so frightened that her legs went weak. Under the silent pressure from the school leaders, she had no choice but to step forward.

She stuttered, "… M-Mayor Foster. H-Hedy's grades have always been unsatisfactory, but this time she suddenly ranked first in the math exam, so…"

"So you believe she cheated?" Timothy took over the conversation. "Where is the evidence?"

"E-evidence… evidence…"

She repeated the word several times but could not continue. The math teacher was sweating profusely and she was seeking help from the head teacher and the principal.

However, everyone else was too preoccupied to pay attention to her and pretended not to notice. As the highest leader of the school, the principal had to step in to mediate. "This is indeed a failure on Ms. Carson's part."

He completely shifted the blame to her.

The math teacher cursed the principal in her heart for being unjust, but since she was the one who started this, she had to admit her mistake. "It's my fault."

Timothy said, "So you cannot provide evidence to prove that Hedy cheated, but you have concluded that she cheated and even want to expel her. Mr. Turner, is this how you handle things?"

Caught off guard, the blame suddenly fell on him. The principal hastily tried to appease him with a smile, "This… this is a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? I heard everything when I came in." Timothy did not go easy on the principal at all.

He was here to support Hedy, who was under the care of the Thorn family. He was not here to solve the problem.

"Mr. Turner, the college entrance examination is approaching and Hedy is a prospective candidate. Convicting her without evidence, traumatizing her, and affecting her future aside, I would like to know who gave you the authority to expel a college entrance examination student without reason!" Timothy suddenly raised his voice, almost scaring everyone present.

"Yes, this is the school's fault and I also bear great responsibility for this." The principal repeatedly wiped his sweat.

"Humph," Timothy snorted coldly, his presence alone was enough to make people dare not raise their heads. Ignoring the principal and others, he turned to Hedy and asked, "Hedy, how do you want to proceed?"

If he could not provide Hedy, or rather, the Thorn family, with a satisfactory outcome today, he might as well quit his job as mayor.

"My lawyer is on his way, Mayor Foster, so you don't need to worry," Hedy did not know this mayor who suddenly appeared, so naturally, she did not want to owe him any favors.

Even if she could guess who was behind Timothy's concern for her, her lawyer, Jim, was already on his way. So, Hedy did not want Timothy to take credit using her name.

However, Timothy could not afford to miss this rare opportunity to show off. So, he waved his hand and said, "Call the invigilator! And also, bring out the surveillance footage. The most urgent matter right now is to clear Hedy's name."

Hedy was under the care of the Thorn family. Who was the Thorn family? Timothy did not believe for a second that Hedy would cheat.

This opinion, as long as Hedy needed it, what couldn't the Thorn family provide? Did she need to cheat for a minor exam?

Furthermore, if Hedy dared to call a lawyer, it would mean that she was innocent.

So he directly requested the surveillance footage and the invigilator.

"Well…" The principal was in a dilemma. If it turned out that they had wrongly accused Hedy... However, since Timothy had requested this, he did not dare to refuse.

The math teacher and the homeroom teacher, however, were more confident. No one knew better than them how poor Hedy's grades were.

Could Hedy, with her intellect, achieve such a score? Only if hell froze over.

Even now, the math teacher still believed that Hedy's ability to answer the question on the podium last time was pure luck.

Hedy did not stop Timothy.

Soon, the invigilator was summoned.

The invigilator, who was completely unaware of the situation, truthfully recounted the events in front of Mayor Foster, "I did not notice any suspicious behavior from Hedy on the day of the exam."

The surveillance footage was also presented.

Eight or nine pairs of eyes were fixated on the screen.

In the surveillance footage, from the moment the invigilator distributed the papers to when Hedy began writing and handed in her paper early, there was nothing unusual about her during the twenty minutes.

The math teacher and the homeroom teacher were dumbfounded.

At that moment, the math teacher suddenly remembered what Hedy had said to her in the classroom. "I think you don't want your job anymore."

The math teacher, on the verge of bidding farewell to her career, was in a panic. She recklessly dragged the progress bar to replay the video.

"This is impossible. How could Hedy possibly score full marks? There must be something wrong," the math teacher exclaimed, her emotions running high. In the heat of the moment, she blurted out her thoughts.

Then, she quickly pointed out the suspicious part. "Look at how she answers the questions. It is as if she knew the answers beforehand and simply copied them down. Even I would not be able to complete six pages of questions in just over twenty minutes. She merely glanced at the multiple-choice questions and wrote down the answers. This is not something an ordinary person can do."

"Knew the answers beforehand? So should we also check the surveillance in the storage room? No worries, the police are on their way. We can just let them handle the investigation," Hedy calmly replied, even offering suggestions to the math teacher.

"Mr. Turner!" Timothy was furious. "How can you conspire to bully a student? You're really something else!"

The principal was so scared that he almost fell to his knees.

He desperately urged the math teacher through gritted teeth, "Apologize to Hedy immediately! The facts are right in front of you. What else is there to say?"

The principal was about to explode from rage.

The math teacher was completely dumbfounded. Fear took over her, and at the principal's urging, she could only bow and apologize, "Hedy, I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

The principal then continued, "I take full responsibility for this mistake, both personally and on behalf of the school. We will fully cooperate with Hedy whether we handle the harm caused by Ms. Carson privately or seek an alternative solution to ensure a satisfactory resolution. Hedy, what are your thoughts?"

It was evident to the principal that Timothy was prioritizing Hedy's desires.

At this moment, he was intrigued by Hedy's background. How could a student have such an influence on Timothy's behavior?

The math teacher, too terrified to speak, continued to apologize. Right now, she could be described as being on the verge of collapse.

Despite the pleas from the principal and the math teacher, Hedy remained unmoved. She stated, "We'll discuss this with my lawyer."

Everyone followed her gaze and spotted a young man in a suit. He was exuding an air of dignity and authority as he strode into the room.

The man appeared serious and emitted an indescribable mix of contradictions. At first glance, he seemed scholarly, but upon closer inspection, there was also a sense of sternness and a hint of a menacing aura emanating from him.