Chapter 29. Kneel Before Her

A shudder rushed down everyone's spine when the second Aleysia Simon's name was mentioned. The gathered group, who had been so composed and confident before, was now thrown into a dark flashback to a period when they had been called to the Lombard Boarding School to answer for the despicable deeds carried out by their children.

Aleysia Simon, a bright and noteworthy young woman, had been set to attend the prestigious school, despite being a year late. Yet, her immense talent and striking beauty had drawn the attention of the school's finest students—the smart, the handsome, and the wealthy.

Of course, this upset the girl who had been engaged to one of these young masters. Because she was deemed to take her betrothed's love, she and her friends brutally tortured Aleysia.

She holds the belief that a girl of her social status ought to possess self-awareness and comprehend that she is unworthy of interacting with wealthy children such as them. No matter how smart she is, Aleysia doesn't have the noble blood that they have; she's only here because of a scholarship.

Since she rejected one of them, the group of young masters is humiliating her too. The richest of all, which makes them almost godlike in Lombard Boarding School.

The scholarship girl and the blind girl seemed to be just a nuisance to many people, and she didn't deserve to go to school. Aleysia was more suited to being a mistress, sitting pretty and waiting for her master to come home.

To their dismay, the otherworldly beauty standing before them seemed to have unearthed the irrefutable proof of their sins. Whatever they had hoped would remain hidden forever now stood to reveal their shameful deeds to the world in the form of photos, videos, and social media posts.

The children who had accompanied their parents to the meeting remained silent, their voices stifled by the weight of the past they had so desperately tried to bury. They believed Aleysia was alone then, with no one to defend her cause.

But now, faced with the implacable presence of Medusa, their illusions of invulnerability were shattered. One of the parents, summoning a false bravado, spoke up, "This is an old story. Why bring it up now?"

In an instant, Medusa's eyes seemed to flash with an unearthly power, and the very air in the room grew thick with tension. "Why?" she hissed, the single word dripping with menace. "Do you want to know why?"

A lone adult child, once a participant in the torment of Aleysia, swallowed hard and replied, "No."

Medusa's lips curled into a sinister smile. "Because I have the power to trample on all of you," she declared, "the way you trampled on Aleysia before." Her laughter resonated, sending a chill down their spines. "You want to bet? How long do you think it will take for me to utterly destroy you?"

A family of three, their wealth and influence far less than that of the others in the room, quickly fell to their knees, begging for Medusa's mercy. "No, no, please, Madam, we beg for your forgiveness!" the father cried out, desperation lacing his voice. "We'll do whatever you want; please spare us. I still need money for my daughter's illness. Please, Madam."

Medusa turned to Timothy, her brow raised in silent inquiry. "Who are they?" she asked.

Swiftly retrieving the relevant documents, Timothy replied, "They are the Smiths. Our records indicate they are clean; the son seems to have been involved in some youthful indiscretion, but nothing more."

"You hold them in high regard," Medusa observed, her tone neutral.

Timothy offered a small smile. "The data speaks for itself," he said simply.

Suddenly, a young man around Aleysia's age stepped forward, kneeling before his parents. "Madam, please, blame me," he pleaded, his voice laced with remorse. "Take your anger out on me. I don't mind. Just let my parents and sister be spared your wrath. I'm not proud of what I did in the past, and I've regretted it every single day. I stayed quiet and just followed them because I still needed those calm years at the school. That doesn't make what I did right, though. Please punish me."

Medusa regarded him coolly. "Which one are you in these videos and pictures?" she asked.

Upon reviewing the documents, Medusa had found no evidence of any misdeeds by this family—no affairs, no embezzlement, no greed, nothing. Theirs was a clean, well-run business with exemplary leadership, a rarity among the gathered group.

The young man pointed to his image in the evidence, and Medusa recognized him as the one who had always lingered on the periphery, passively observing the torment of Aleysia.

"You still have to pay for doing nothing back then." Medusa declared, her voice stern.

"I shall do whatever you wish with me," the young man said, his head bowed. "Blame me, punish me. My parents weren't even part of the parental meeting eight years ago;;heir business was still small then, and they had no real power, just money. They have no use for these people."

"Your parents can go home," Medusa declared, her gaze fixed sternly on the young man. "You, however, will stay. We still have business to attend to."

"I shall comply," the young man responded, his voice resigned yet resolute.

"No, Madam, our son," his father began, but was quickly silenced by his son's firm interjection.

"Mom, Dad! This is the consequence of my own actions. Go back and tend to Alicia; she needs you the most." The young man pushed his parents away, his expression solemn yet determined.

Medusa's lips curled into the faintest of smiles, a subtle gesture that only Timothy and Bernard could discern. "What a dutiful child," Medusa whispered, in a voice only Timothy and Bernard can hear. "Can he be used?"

Timothy and Bernard exchanged a swift, knowing glance. "Certainly, Madam," they responded in unison, the gleam of opportunity shining in their eyes.

Witnessing the ease with which Medusa had released the first family, the rest of the assembled group quickly began to follow suit, dropping to their knees and begging for her mercy.

They had seen the power she wielded, and now they clung to the desperate hope that they, too, could be spared her wrath through similar displays of mercy.

Medusa's gaze swept over the kneeling figures, her expression inscrutable. "Give them the folder," she instructed, her words cutting through the din of pleading voices.

Obediently, Timothy stepped forward and placed a thick file, bearing each family's name on the cover, into the trembling hands of the group. With trepidation, they opened the folders, their faces draining of color as they bore witness to the damning evidence contained within.

The records detailed their every misdeed, their greed, their bribes to authorities, and the ways in which they had used their power to ruthlessly trample the weak. Deceit, affairs, and a litany of other sins—all laid bare for them to confront.

"HOW-" one parent began, their voice choked with a mix of shock and fear.

Medusa's lips curled into a very sinister smile. "Bet me," she purred, "how fast can I trample upon your sorry asses?"

For the first time in her life, Zoey Robinson felt an intense feeling of thankfulness that she was not on the opposing side of the mysterious woman before her. There was no doubt in my mind at that very moment that the woman, who called herself Ariadne, had the undying devotion and reverence of the mighty Johnson family.