Chapter 2

The whole room went silent in an instant.

Nobody expected that a man who rode a broken-down bus would dare talk back to the school board director's wife in front of everyone.

Mrs. Abbott froze too, and then her face twisted. She snatched a freshly poured cup of hot tea off a desk.

"You cheap piece of trash, you dare speak to me like that? Today I'll show you exactly what fairness looks like."

She walked up to my son, flicked her wrist, and threw the scalding tea straight at him.

I didn't have time to think. I yanked my son into my arms and turned, taking it across my back.

The boiling water soaked through my jacket in an instant, and a searing sting spread across my back.

I let out a muffled grunt, clenched my teeth, and made myself stay silent.

Lucky I moved fast enough. Not a single drop touched Cole.

Muffled against my chest, Cole's voice came out small. "Dad, what's wrong?"

Julie went white with fright and quickly grabbed a handful of tissues off the desk, pressing them against my back.

"Ma'am, how could you throw boiling water at a child? You could kill someone."

Her voice was shaking, but she forced the words out anyway.

"There are cameras in this classroom, all of it is being recorded. I'll report exactly what happened."

Mrs. Abbott raised an eyebrow and gave her a contemptuous glance.

"Report? Report to who? You don't have a clue whose name this school runs under, do you?"

Julie had no answer to that. She just tugged anxiously at my sleeve.

"Cole's dad, hurry, go to the nurse's office and get it looked at. Don't stand here fighting them."

I pushed her hand away, straightened up, put Cole behind me, and lifted my eyes to Mrs. Abbott.

"Assaulting a minor in front of a crowd. Do you understand what that is?"

Mrs. Abbott tossed the empty cup to the floor.

"So I threw it. What are you going to do about it?"

She pulled a stack of bills out of her Hermès bag and flung them at my feet.

"I'll pay you thirty, fifty thousand. That's several months' pay for someone at the bottom like you."

"You've got no idea how happy you should be right now. Quit the act."

The parents watching all nodded along and stepped in to blame me.

"That's right, you don't know a good thing when you see it. The lady's being generous, giving you a way out, so take it."

"Just apologize to her, that's all it takes. Don't ruin the mood in our class on the very first day."

"If you're poor, keep your head down. Coming here to pull a scam like this is disgusting."

The whole crowd chimed in, one after another, as if the one who got hit with boiling water was Mrs. Abbott.

Cole's eyes had gone red. His small hand gripped the hem of my shirt tight as he looked up at me.

"Dad, I'm not scared of them. They're all bad people."

I stroked my son's head, turned, and looked calmly at Mrs. Abbott.

"I'll give you one more chance. Stop now, go turn yourself in, and maybe there's still room to walk this back."

Everyone stared at me like I was a lunatic.

Mrs. Abbott doubled over laughing and pointed at me as she spoke to the parent beside her.

"Did you hear that? This nutcase actually told me to turn myself in."

"Who do you think you are?"

"Today I'm not just getting your son expelled. I'm going to make sure the two of you can't survive anywhere in New York."

With that, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

The moment the call connected, her voice turned sweet and wounded.

"Honey, come to the school right now and bring some people. Someone here is bullying me and your son."

"He even threatened to have me thrown in prison. Come and set this straight for me."

She hung up and jerked her chin at me.

"You're finished. My husband is an executive at Grandview Group. In this whole city, he crushes whoever he wants."

I didn't say anything. I just took Cole's hand and sat back down.

Regret? Those two words were never going to have anything to do with me.

In under ten minutes, a rush of jumbled, hurried footsteps came down the hallway.

The classroom door was kicked open from outside.

The principal trailed behind, drenched in sweat, bent over and smiling apologetically at his side.

The man's face was full of menace, and the first thing his eyes locked onto when he came in was me.