Chapter 355 - What Else Is There To Discuss?

Chapter 355: Chapter 355 - What Else Is There To Discuss?

The man looked toward Bianca. "The receiving device belongs to Bianca Reeves."

"No!" Bianca screeched, her face draining almost instantly. "What the fuck are you talking about? I never did that." She turned toward her mother so quickly her hair swung across her shoulder. "Mom, I swear. They’re doing this because they want to humiliate me. They’ve been after me since the beginning."

Roxie stared at her in disbelief. Humiliate her?

Bianca looked around the office as though she were suddenly the one being cornered and attacked, then pointed vaguely toward Angela and Roxie. "They’re attention seeking whores and somehow this is my fucking fault?"

Angela moved before Roxie could even process the words. Her hand ripped free from Roxie’s and she crossed the office so fast Bianca barely had time to turn before Angela slapped her across the face hard enough to send her stumbling sideways.

"You fucking bitch!"

Bianca stared at her in shock, one hand flying toward her cheek, but Angela slapped her again before anyone reached them. "You had it! You had my fucking picture!"

"Angela!" Mrs. Hart shouted.

Angela grabbed Bianca by the hair and yanked her forward. Bianca screamed and caught Angela’s wrists, then tried to grab her back while Angela cried and swore at her through clenched teeth.

"You sent it! You let everybody fucking see me!"

Caleb reached them first and caught Bianca’s hand when she went for Angela’s hair. Roxie pushed herself up despite the pain shooting through her ankle and wrapped both arms around Angela’s waist while Karen rushed in from the other side, sunglasses forgotten as she grabbed Angela’s arm.

"Angela, stop."

"She fucking did it!" Angela screamed, fighting both Roxie and Karen as she tried to get back to Bianca. Her hair had fallen across her face and tears ran down both cheeks, but she didn’t seem to feel them. Everything she had swallowed for days came out at once.

Bianca shoved Caleb’s hand away and pushed her own hair out of her face. One cheek had already turned bright red. "You crazy bitch!"

Angela lunged again, forcing Roxie to tighten her grip while Karen locked both hands around her arm. Mrs. Hart rushed forward, but Mr. Hart caught her shoulder before she could get pulled into the middle of the fight. Principal Gonzalez raised her voice over everyone until it finally cut through the room.

"Enough! Everybody stop!"

Angela barely seemed to hear her. "You ruined my fucking life!"

Bianca’s face twisted with anger. "You ruined it yourself."

Angela froze for half a second, and Roxie felt her whole body go rigid against her arms.

"You shared my picture."

"Fuck you! I didn’t do anything."

Even with the evidence sitting on the desk, Bianca still said it like everybody around her had lost their minds. Roxie would have laughed if Angela hadn’t been shaking so violently against her.

Then Roxie noticed Mrs. Reeves.

She hadn’t moved during the fight. She stood near Principal Gonzalez’s desk with her arms folded, staring at Bianca. The woman who had been shrieking earlier had disappeared. Her face had gone cold and hard, and the silence coming from her felt worse than the yelling.

Bianca noticed too. Some of the anger left her face immediately.

"Mom."

Mrs. Reeves said nothing.

"Mom, please. I swear I didn’t put it there."

Mrs. Reeves kept staring at her, then looked toward the IT staff. "You’re certain?"

"The transfer record identifies Bianca’s device."

"And the timing?"

"It occurred during the period Caleb reported his phone missing."

Mrs. Reeves turned back toward Bianca. "You told me you had never seen that photograph."

Bianca shook her head quickly. "I hadn’t. Mom, I swear. I don’t know how it got there."

"That still doesn’t prove I took anything," she added when her mother didn’t respond.

Mrs. Reeves’s mouth tightened. "Shut up."

Bianca went still.

The quiet way she said it seemed to frighten Bianca more than all her earlier shouting. Roxie watched the change in her face carefully. Bianca was still trying to hold herself together, but she suddenly looked much younger standing in front of her mother.

Caleb stepped forward before Mrs. Reeves could say anything else. "We have evidence, Bianca."

Mrs. Reeves looked sharply at him. "My daughter says she had nothing to do with it."

Caleb’s expression hardened. "The picture was transferred to her phone while mine was missing."

"And she said she doesn’t know how."

"Aunt, come on."

"I heard what he said."

Caleb looked away for a moment and took a slow breath before facing her again. Roxie could practically see him forcing himself to keep his voice controlled.

"Fine. Then I’ll bring this to Grandma."

The room changed immediately.

Mrs. Reeves stopped moving and Bianca’s face went blank.

Roxie looked between them, and even Karen seemed to forget about her headache for a moment. Mrs. Reeves recovered quickly, but Roxie had already seen the flash of fear in her eyes.

"You will do no such thing."

Caleb frowned. "Why?"

"This has nothing to do with her."

"It involves this family."

"Caleb."

"You keep telling me this is a family matter."

Mrs. Reeves stared at him, visibly furious, but for once she didn’t seem to have an answer ready.

Principal Gonzalez stepped between them before the argument could go any further. "This discussion has gone far enough. Roxie and Karen, I need both of you to wait outside. Mr. and Mrs. Hart will remain with Angela. Mrs. Reeves and Bianca will remain as well. Caleb may stay because his device is directly involved in the investigation."

Roxie immediately looked at Angela. Her face was wet, her hair was a mess from the fight, and her hands were still trembling. Roxie didn’t want to leave her, but Angela gave the smallest nod when their eyes met.

Karen touched Roxie’s arm and guided her toward the door.

The moment it closed behind them, Roxie started pacing.

Her ankle hurt every time she crossed the hallway, but sitting still was worse. Karen dropped onto the bench across from the office, put her sunglasses back on and leaned her head against the wall.

"What the fuck are they even talking about in there?" Roxie asked.

Karen sighed. "Everything."

"They found it on her phone."

"I know."

"So what else is there to discuss?"

Karen turned her head toward her. "Who touched what, who sent what, what the school can prove, what the police can prove, lawyers, parents. Every little thing somebody can argue about."

Roxie stopped pacing and looked at the closed door. "This is what you meant last night."

Karen stayed quiet for a moment before nodding. "Yeah."

Roxie remembered the bottle between them and Karen telling her that money could do things she couldn’t imagine. She hated the idea even more now because Bianca’s phone had the picture and somehow there were still things left to argue about.

The office door finally opened.

Roxie stood so quickly pain shot through her ankle.

Angela came out first with her parents. Roxie’s stomach dropped because all the anger had disappeared from her face. The tears were gone too. She looked completely drained, and Mrs. Hart kept one arm around her shoulders while Mr. Hart stayed close on the other side.

Caleb followed them, looking exhausted and angry in a way that hadn’t settled yet.

Bianca came out after him with her mother. Her hair had been fixed, though her cheek was still red from Angela’s slap. She kept her eyes down and said nothing while Mrs. Reeves walked beside her with her mouth pressed into a hard line.

Roxie went straight to Angela. "What happened?"

Angela opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Mr. Hart answered instead. "We’re going to the police."

Roxie looked at him. "Now?"

He nodded. "We’re making a formal report."

Mrs. Reeves let out a sharp breath behind them. "This is getting ridiculous."

Mrs. Hart turned immediately. "You have said enough."

"The school hasn’t even finished its investigation."

"That is exactly why we’re going somewhere else."

Mrs. Reeves looked toward Principal Gonzalez. "And you’re allowing this?"

Principal Gonzalez kept her voice firm. "The Hart family has every right to pursue the matter outside the school."

Mrs. Reeves scoffed, but Roxie barely looked at her. Her attention stayed on Bianca because, for once, Bianca wasn’t explaining anything. She wasn’t defending herself. She wasn’t twisting the conversation around.

She was quiet.

Caleb stepped closer to Angela. "I’m coming with you."

Angela finally looked at him. "What?"

"To the police."

"You don’t have to."

"I know."

He took her hand. "I’m coming anyway."

Mrs. Reeves’s face changed immediately. "Caleb."

He turned toward her.

"We’re leaving."

Caleb stayed beside Angela.

Mrs. Reeves stepped closer. "Caleb, I said we’re leaving."

His hand tightened around Angela’s. "I’m going with her."

The hallway went quiet.

Mrs. Reeves stared at him like she couldn’t believe he had actually refused her.

"You are coming home."

"Aunt."

"I am telling you to come home."

Caleb looked exhausted, but he stayed where he was. "I’m going with Angela."

Mrs. Reeves’s expression hardened. "Your grandmother will hear about this."

Caleb looked at her for a long moment before answering.

"Then tell her."

Mrs. Reeves went still.

Bianca looked at him.

Angela did too.

Caleb kept holding Angela’s hand while Roxie watched Mrs. Reeves realize that, at least for today, he wasn’t leaving with them.