Chapter 48: Expulsion

“If anyone’s apologizing, it should be her to me,” Olivia said coldly, glaring at the domineering Mrs. Davis.

Mrs. Davis laughed as though she’d heard the most absurd joke. “My daughter apologize to you? Do you even deserve it? Who do you think you are? Crushing you would be as easy as squashing an ant for the Davis family.”

Emma chimed in, “Mr. Grayson, you can see how disrespectful Olivia is. A student like her shouldn’t be allowed to stay at our school—it would ruin our reputation. In fact, Mr. Grayson, you may not know, but Olivia has always been unruly in class. She skips school frequently, bullies other students, and behaves disgracefully…”

Emma eagerly pinned every misdeed that had occurred in class on Olivia, painting Mia and her clique as innocent while making Olivia out to be the class tyrant.

Mr. Grayson’s expression grew increasingly conflicted. Looking at Olivia, with her modest attire and glasses, she didn’t remotely resemble the delinquent Emma described. He could clearly tell Emma was exaggerating Olivia’s faults to ingratiate herself with Mrs. Davis.

Olivia watched Emma fawning over Mrs. Davis with cold amusement.

Mrs. Davis turned to Mr. Grayson and said, “Mr. Grayson, I don’t have time to waste arguing with a student. I expect the school to handle this appropriately. Otherwise, as an honorary board member, I will question whether you’re fit to remain as the principal of St. Rona Academy.”

Mr. Grayson froze, his face tightening. After a moment’s silence, he turned to Olivia and said reluctantly, “Olivia, you’ve violated school rules. I’ll have to issue you a demerit and report this to the entire school.”

“That won’t do,” Mrs. Davis interrupted harshly. “Someone as vile as Olivia shouldn’t remain in this school at all. She should be expelled!”

“Isn’t that punishment a bit too severe?” Mr. Grayson protested. He truly didn’t want to see Olivia expelled, especially since the matter didn’t warrant such drastic action.

“Severe? I don’t think so. My daughter has suffered immense humiliation—how could I allow the person responsible to remain in the same school as her?” Mrs. Davis snapped.

Mia and Emma smirked smugly, waiting for Olivia to be kicked out of St. Rona Academy.

Mr. Grayson’s face showed his inner turmoil. He wanted to protect Olivia but didn’t dare offend Mrs. Davis.

“Well… Olivia, under the current circumstances, I have no choice but to expel you in my capacity as principal—”

Before he could finish, the door to the office was suddenly pushed open. A middle-aged man with an air of authority stepped inside, looking around the room.

“Who are you? Who gave you the right to barge in?” Emma snapped irritably, annoyed at being interrupted when Olivia was about to be expelled.

Olivia’s eyes widened slightly when she recognized the man. “Mason?”

The man who had entered was none other than Mason Shaw, Liam’s butler.

Mason walked over and handed a set of keys to Olivia. “Ms. Carter, you left in a hurry this morning and forgot your keys. Mr. Liam asked me to bring them to you,” he said politely.

Out of respect for Olivia’s student status and the presence of others, Mason adjusted his tone, but the reverence in his demeanor was clear. For Liam, who had personally chosen Olivia as his granddaughter-in-law, Mason held her in high regard.

The other people in the room watched Mason walk straight to Olivia, their expressions shifting uneasily. Emma frowned, scrutinizing the well-dressed Mason.

“Are you Olivia’s relative? If so, you’ve come just in time. Olivia has been misbehaving at school and damaged another student’s clothing. The school has decided to expel her, and you’ll need to pay compensation for the damaged clothes.”