Chapter 14

Everyone was taken aback.

Elysia chuckled. “By the way, I’m not short on cash. Today, I’m going to get justice for myself, no matter what it takes.”

The class was momentarily stunned, unsure how to respond.

Just as Elysia was about to call the law firm, a guy stopped her. “Elysia, it was all a misunderstanding. Do you really need to go this far?”

Elysia glared at his hand on hers. Her voice was icy. “Let go.”

“Alright, alright,” the guy said, scratching his head awkwardly. “Can’t you just let it slide and be the bigger person?”

“Let her do what she wants. I don’t believe she’d really dare to sue us,” Bianca said defiantly.

Elysia raised an eyebrow. “Do you think I’m joking?” She dialed a number.

“Hold on, you two. Can we just stop this? We’re all classmates—” The guy tried to intervene, but before he could finish, the call connected. A confident middle-aged man’s voice said, “Ms. Rosewood, what brings you to call me today?”

Elysia began, “Mr. Mosley, I need you to send a lawyer’s letter—”

Before Elysia could finish, Bianca snatched the phone. “What kind of law firm is this? Are you even professional?”

Liam Mosley chuckled. “It’s Horizon Law Firm. Do you think we’re professional or not?”

Bianca’s eyes widened in shock. Horizon Law Firm was the most famous law firm in Clusia. It was rumored that every case they took on was a win, but they didn’t take every case. Sometimes, even with money, they wouldn’t work with clients. They typically turned down minor disputes.

With that in mind, Bianca asked, “Do you handle small cases? Like disputes between classmates?”

“We usually don’t take those kinds of cases,” Liam replied.

Bianca’s smile grew. She’d thought Elysia couldn’t hire Horizon Law Firm, but now it seemed she couldn’t. What a lack of awareness, she sneered silently.

But Bianca barely had time to gloat before Liam continued, “However, for Ms. Rosewood’s case, no matter how small, we will take it.”

Bianca was shocked, and her classmates were equally stunned. Elysia planned to sue everyone in Grade 12, Class 1 of Milton School. Horizon Law Firm was part of Silverstream’s conglomerate, and Elysia was basically a junior owner. With a grin, she snatched the phone from Bianca’s hand. “Mr. Mosley, except for Justin and Leon,” she said, scanning the room. “I’ll text you the names of the others later; there are too many to list right now.”

“Okay,” Liam replied.

Some students panicked. They’d never been in this situation before. At the time, they’d just wanted to vent and have some fun, not thinking about the consequences. Most of their families ran small businesses. They weren’t wealthy and couldn’t match Elysia’s status or influence. If things escalated, they knew they’d be in trouble.

A guy said, “Elysia, we’re sorry. Please don’t hold this against us. We’ve been classmates, and making a big deal out of this won’t help anyone, right?”

Elysia raised an eyebrow. “When you were spreading rumors and dragging my name through the mud, did you think of us as classmates then?”

“It’s all our fault, but we didn’t start it. It was Emma who told us.”

“Yeah. She came in this morning, all teary, and spilled the whole story to her class. Next thing we know, it gets to us.” The guy laughed awkwardly.

“Emma again! She can’t go a day without stirring up some drama. Is she having a death wish?” Elysia wondered.

“Elysia, how about you just don’t sue us?” the guy suggested nervously.

Elysia smiled. “Alright, but you guys need to apologize to me.”

“Okay, we’ll apologize,” the guy replied, ready to grovel.

Elysia interrupted. “Hold on. When I say ‘apologizing,’ I mean posting on the school forum, admitting that you spread rumors and apologizing for the harm you caused me.”

“Well…” The guy hesitated.

“Don’t want to? Then I’ll have to sue you.”

“No, no, I’ll do it. I’ll post it right away.”

Elysia nodded. “Let me see it once you’ve posted, and you can’t delete it for seventy-two hours. If you do, I’ll go ahead with the lawsuit.”

“Okay.”

Elysia glanced at the others. “What about you guys? If you don’t want to apologize, I will sue you.”

“We’re willing to apologize, but the posting part…” a girl mumbled hesitantly.

“You have no right to negotiate with me. You only have two options: apologize or face a lawsuit,” Elysia replied, her tone icy.

The girl quickly took out her phone and started posting. The others followed suit. Only Bianca stood frozen, doing nothing.

Elysia approached Bianca, looking at her with disdain. “And you? Not going to apologize?”

“Don’t you dare threaten me!” Bianca said angrily.

“This isn’t a threat. I’ve said you’re not in a position to negotiate with me. Not going to apologize, huh?” Elysia asked again.

Bianca remained silent, so Elysia spoke into her phone, “Mr. Mosley, don’t waste any more time. Just send Bianca a legal notice directly.”

“Understood,” Liam replied.

Just as Elysia was about to hang up, Bianca hurriedly said, “I apologize!”

“Wait, Mr. Mosley, don’t send it,” Elysia said. She hung up the call and turned to Bianca. “Remember, you can’t delete that post for 72 hours.”

Bianca was seething. “Who does Elysia think she is?”

That day, Milton School’s forum was flooded with apology posts to Elysia and confessions about spreading rumors. Those who saw it were shocked. “Oh my gosh! All these apologies are coming from Class 1. They usually act like they’re above everyone else, and now they’re the ones saying sorry? This is historic! Totally something to remember!”

Emma shook with anger when she saw the forum packed with apology posts for Elysia. “She’s really something for making so many people say sorry!” She tore the white paper on the table to shreds, but it didn’t quell her rage. She couldn’t understand why everything always seemed to go perfectly for Elysia.

After school that afternoon, Emma took the Rosewood family’s car home before Elysia. Logan was waiting at the door. When he saw it was just Emma, he looked disappointed. “I thought Elysia was coming back.”

“I didn’t see her when I came out. Are you waiting for her?” Emma asked.

Logan nodded. “Of course. My precious bike is still with her.”

Emma thought for a moment and smiled slightly. “Are you talking about that limited edition motorcycle?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s really generous of you, letting her borrow your motorcycle.”

Logan got angry. “I didn’t lend it to her; she took it.”

“Took it?”

“Yeah, she just took it.”

“Don’t be mad. She just got back and isn’t used to the rules here. Today, she even made everyone in Class 1 apologize to her online.”

Logan perked up. “Really? What happened?”

Emma shared the story of what went down at school, adding a few embellishments.

Logan frowned for a moment, then smacked his leg and burst out laughing. “That’s my cousin! Just like I used to do back in the day!”

Emma froze. Shouldn’t he be angry? Did he really mean “That’s my cousin” in a good way? I’ve never heard him say that before. Why does he treat me like this?

As Emma was still in shock, Logan gently nudged her. “Come on, spill it. Are there any more fun stories about Elysia at school?”