No one expected Molly would actually get arrested, or that the other side would really press charges. She might actually end up in jail.
Her family had spent a small fortune to send her to Silverpeak, hoping she'd rub elbows with all those rich kids and maybe help the Charles family move up in the world. But instead, their own daughter had landed them in a lawsuit. The Charles family was livid.
They visited Molly first, and after finding out Claire's adoptive mom was involved, they went straight to the James family. Octavia wouldn't see them. In the end, it was Lance who had to deal with the Charles family.
"Let's be clear. Molly tried to hurt Claire, so of course Claire pressed charges. My mom had nothing to do with it."
Lance honestly didn't know Octavia had tried to get Claire to back out of winter camp. He didn't want Claire going to Cabinda either. He wished she would just stay at Apex. Still, he never imagined his mom would go this far for Cindy.
Cindy was his sister, but Claire... Lance was stuck in the middle.
"What do you mean your mom had nothing to do with this?"
"It's obvious your mom put my daughter up to it. Otherwise, Molly never would have done something like that."
"My daughter told me she did it all for you. Don't pretend you don't know!"
Lance was caught off guard. He frowned. "What does this have to do with me?”
"My daughter likes you. That's why she went after Claire, for you."
"If your family doesn't help us, we'll..." Molly's father hesitated, “...we'll go online and expose your entire family."
Lance hadn't expected any of this. "I don't know what my mom promised you, but had no idea about any of it. And I don't like your daughter. To me she's just my sister's desk matę. If you want to go online and start drama, you should think about how your daughter's going to face people after that."
The school was seriously disappointed in Molly. As soon as the police and the math competition association released their joint statement, Silverpeak International College quickly announced Molly's expulsion. Someone like her didn't belong at Silverpeak.
When Molly found out she'd been
expelled, she completely broke down. The Charles family even stormed the school to complain, but the principal flat-out ignored them. Once the expulsion was made public, almost everyone though Molly got exactly what she
deserved. If she could spread nasty rumors about a classmate, she'd probably do it to someone else too. It was better to get rid of a troublemaker early on.
Some people wondered if the punishment was a bit too harsh. But the school posted some of the
international discussions online net
explaining that Molly's actions had serious consequences and needed strict handling. After that, even the online critics fell silent.
The Charles family was left begging anyone and everyone for help. They were only one step away from flying to Cabinda to find Claire. Luckily, Claire was already at the winter camp, or she would have been hounded nonstop.
Once training started at winter camp, everyone was locked in with a full schedule. Claire heard about Molly's expulsion and wasn't surprised at all. Molly had brought this on herself.
Sophia sent Claire screenshots of some classmates gossiping in group chats. A few people thought Claire had gone too far, but Sophia shut them down every time. She was firmly on Claire's side.
"Claire, Cindy hasn't been to school for the past two days. I heard she's out sick," Sophia messaged.
"Do you know what's going on?"