THE ARROGANT BULLY SLAMMED THE HEIRESS… THEN 4 BLACK-SUIT BODYGUARDS BENT LOW
The dust from the schoolyard pavement settled slowly over the blonde girl’s pristine white tennis skirt. Chloe remained sprawled on the stone, her elbows scraping against the grit as she stared up at the girl in the gray hoodie. The diamond bracelet was no longer in Chloe’s hand; it was resting loosely on the asphalt, catching the sharp midday sun.
“Get away from me!” Chloe shrieked, her voice cracking as she tried to scramble backward on her hands and knees. Her perfect high-society posture was gone, replaced by a frantic, uncoordinated scurry that kicked up loose gravel. “You’re insane! You attacked me!”
The girl in the hoodie, Grace, didn’t move an inch. She didn’t adjust her sleeves, and her breathing wasn’t even hurried. She merely reached down with a pale, steady hand and picked up the bracelet, slipping the heavy platinum links back onto her left wrist where a hidden platinum tracking chip hummed faintly under the fabric.
“I didn’t attack you, Chloe,” Grace said, her voice dropping into a flat, razor-sharp register that carried easily across the frozen courtyard. “You lunged. I redirected your momentum. It’s basic physics.”
“My father is the majority shareholder of the district board!” Chloe screamed, looking around at the circle of popular students who had been cheering for her just thirty seconds ago. None of them stepped forward. They were all staring at the blacked-out SUVs that had just breached the school’s reinforced security gates, their tires screeching against the asphalt.
Four men in identical tailored black suits slammed their doors in perfect unison. They didn’t look at the principal, who was running out of the main administrative building with a clipboard, nor did they look at Chloe crying on the ground.
They marched in a tight, military diamond formation straight toward the girl in the worn gray hoodie.
“Miss Vance,” the lead guard said, his head snapping down into a deep, ninety-degree bow that made his earpiece wire tighten against his collar. “The regional terminal has cleared the flight path to London. Your grandfather’s private transport is on the apron. We apologize for the operational delay.”
Chloe’s breath caught in her throat. She looked from the polished leather shoes of the guard to the faded hem of Grace’s sweatshirt. “Vance? As in… Vance Global Logistics?”
“The very same, Miss Montgomery,” Grace said, finally pulling the hood back to reveal a face that had never appeared in a school yearbook, but had been blurred out of international financial journals for her own protection since she was five. She looked down at Chloe, her expression entirely devoid of anger, which somehow made it look much worse. “My family built the science wing you were bragging about during third period.”
“Grace, please,” Chloe stammered, her face turning an uneven, chalky white under her expensive bronzer. She tried to stand, but her knee buckled slightly against the pavement, her fingers trembling as she reached for her ruined designer backpack. “It was a misunderstanding. The bracelet looked exactly like one that went missing from the varsity locker room last semester. I was just trying to—”
“You were trying to find someone who wouldn’t fight back,” Grace interrupted softly. She didn’t look back at the school, the principal who was now hovering five feet away with a terrified smile, or the crowd of teenagers who were frantically deleting their phone videos.
She turned toward the open door of the lead SUV, her hand resting lightly on the black leather interior.
“Tell your father that the Vance estate will be exercising its call option on the Montgomery shipping leases at the opening bell tomorrow,” Grace said over her shoulder, her voice perfectly calm as the guard closed the door behind her. “He has until noon to clear his desk.”
The heavy armored glass rolled up, completely blocking out the sounds of the courtyard as the convoy swept through the gates, leaving the schoolyard in an absolute, suffocating silence.