The Tycoon's Gutsy Wife

Chapter 24: Urgent Matter

Adeline arrived at Brightwood Academy, where Ian schooled.

She’d immediately left the hospital without telling Darien because of the news Theodore had just shared.

Once she got into the school, she saw the playground, where there were kids who were just sitting around instead of playing. They had a sad look on their faces, and some had dirt smeared on them, too.

Their uniforms were also dirty. Her blue eyes went to the ground that was so scattered as if someone had been digging a pit in the ground.

Adeline hissed under her breath before she tore her gaze from it and went directly to the principal’s office, where everyone was waiting for her.

Once she reached there, she gave a knock. A second later, she was asked to come in.

Inside sat Theodore, who had Ian sitting on his lap. In the other two seats were a couple. They scowled at her so hard it felt like they wanted to tear the hair on her scalp. They also have a son who was sitting on his father’s lap.

His uniform was much dirtier than the other kids she’d seen outside.

"Please take a seat, Mrs. Westwood," said the principal, pulling Adeline from the shock of what she was seeing before her.

Adeline took a seat near Theodore, glancing at Ian who had some speck of dirt all over his face. He stared at her with teary eyes, but she didn’t say anything.

"The reason I called for this urgent meeting is because the two boys have gotten into a fight," said the principal, pulling her spectacles that were resting on her nose bridge over her face.

"That boy dared to hit my son in the face," said Mrs. Sterling with so much venom. "If she had trained her son well, then maybe he wouldn’t be going around and hitting other children."

"I would advise you to hold your tongue now, Mrs. Sterling," the principal warned with a scowl. "We still haven’t heard from both boys about what happened."

Adeline tried to hold her tongue, but Mrs. Sterling’s insult settled deeper into her veins.

"Ian," she called her son, and he stared at her. "Tell me, what happened?"

Theodore also tried to urge Ian to say what happened. He’d only come to pick him up when he saw Ian fighting another kid.

Their child was never a troublesome kid. In fact, he had a lot of other children his age who wanted to be his friends.

And now, he was fighting?

Ian sniffled back his tears and wiped his face with the back of his small hands.

"Timothy said you were sleeping around with other men," he said and before he knew it, he started crying once again. "He called you one word."

Adeline’s fists were already clenched tight but she gave a small smile, silently urging Ian to go ahead.

"What word did he call me?" She asked, rubbing his small hand gently.

"He called you a whore."

"What insolent," Mrs Sterling barked. Then she faced the principal. "What kind of words have you been teaching on my son in this school? No five-year-olds should know what the meaning of whore is."

The principal sighed. "I can assure you that we’re very careful with the words we use around the children in this school. Every teacher had to be careful of the vulgar words they used."

"That’s right," Theodore said this time around. "So it only means that little Timothy heard that word from back home—from his parents."

"That’s impossible," Mr. Sterling barked this time around. "We would never use such words around our son."

Timothy looked up at his father, fear starting to creep into him.

Adeline took a deep breath. She was being called whore by someone in that room, and she had a pretty good idea who it was.

She faced Timothy and called him gently, yet, the little boy jumped.

"Timothy dear, tell us. Who did you hear that word from?" She asked as gently as possible, trying to conceal that her raging blood was turning now.

The little boy was quiet.

"I don’t think you have the right to ask my son any question, Mrs. Westwood. All we want is an apology from you for what your son has done to mine," Mrs. Sterling said.

"But why don’t we find out from where the little boy heard that word from so you don’t have to visit the school very often in the future," the principal interrupted. She could sense the couple was about to have a verbal altercation soon so she needed to step in.

Mrs. Sterling was about to interrupt but Adeline immediately cut her in.

"Timothy, go on, tell us from whom you heard that word."

The little boy took a deep breath, his big doe eyes trembling from fear.

"From my mother," he said. "I heard my mother say it while having a conversation with my father."

"What nonsense. Timothy, you should stop lying. I didn’t teach you to lie," Mrs. Sterling tried to shut Timothy up, but he had already said the very important thing that needed to be said.

"Will you look at that? Timothy just revealed that he heard his parents calling me a whore. But my question is, why are you accusing me of such a thing?" Adeline asked. This was one of the last things that would come up as an urgent emergency today of all days.

Mrs. Sterling gritted her teeth as she glared at Adeline. "Why wouldn’t I? You were at Hazel’s birthday party with another man. Everyone is talking about you, Adeline. About how you and Darien are having an affair while you’re still married to Mr. Westwood."

Adeline was silent now.

"Well, maybe you should have just said it in front of my face that day instead of talking behind my back," she countered. "And now, your son is going to face the consequences of your actions." She stared down at Timothy who shivered with fear.