"Thank you for your concern, but there's no need to worry too much. Mr. Lane is already doing his best to calm Ms. Austin, so you really don't have to be anxious."

He hesitated, then pressed on, "About Emily Blair-do you think the school should discuss the matter with Mr. Lane? Maybe you're not aware, but because of this, the school's reputation has taken a serious hit. There's a lot of chatter online about how we're failing our students, and now many parents are raising concerns, demanding we take action against Emily Blair. If we ignore this, how can we expect to recruit new students next semester? Parents and students alike would think twice about coming here, don't you agree?"

"And it's not just that. With everything that's happened, people on the internet have dug up Emily Blair's personal information, along with details about other students and teachers. Even the principal's personal data has been exposed. Since last night, we've been getting harassing calls from strangers. None of us slept well. Some parents have already started complaining to the school district.”

"At this point, we have to take this situation seriously. But honestly, we're in a very tough position. Of course we want to handle things properly, but Emily Blair is the Lane family's adopted daughter, and we're just not sure how far we can go. That's why I wanted to check in with Mr. Lane-to see what he thinks about all this..."

After saying all this, his heart pounded so hard he thought it might burst through his chest. His hand, still clutching the phone, was clammy with sweat. There was no immediate response from the assistant—just a faint female voice in the background, too muffled to make out, and he didn't bother trying.

Suddenly, the assistant spoke up, "Please hold on. We'll consult Mr. Lane."

He stammered, "Oh, no rush, no rush."

About a minute later, the voice returned.

The assistant said, “Mr. Lane's position is clear: the school should handle this according to its own policies. He won't intervene."

As soon as he heard this, relief washed over him.

Truthfully, all that talk earlier wasn't really out of concern for Isabella Austin or on her behalf. What he really wanted was to gauge Andrew Lane's stance on the matter.

The assistant's words made it clear-Andrew Lane was focused on supporting Isabella Austin.

That meant, unmistakably, Andrew Lane was on her side in all of this.

By saying he wouldn't intervene, Andrew Lane was giving the school full authority to handle Emily Blair's case as they saw fit, without worrying about offending him or going too easy on her.

In other words, Andrew Lane himself was angry with Emily Blair.

This was the school's signal: whatever punishment they deemed necessary for Emily Blair, Andrew Lane wouldn't object or hold it against them. In fact, they could even interpret his anger as a reason to be more severe with her.

After asking that crucial question, he finally let out a long breath, the tension draining from his body. He smiled, relieved. “Alright, I understand. Please thank Mr. Lane for me, and let him know the school will proceed according to our regulations. He can rest assured."

That single phone call changed everything. With Andrew Lane making it clear he wasn't going to protect Emily Blair, the school no longer needed to tread lightly.

Sure, Emily Blair had the potential to be this year's top student, but that hardly outweighed the damage she'd done to the school's reputation. Top students would come again, but if they didn't deal with Emily Blair now, the school's name might never recover.