Chapter 11 - THE MONEY
Vice Principal Crowe had told everyone her husband owned a small consulting company.
He didn’t.
The company existed only on paper.
Over eight years, Westbridge Foundation paid Crowe Educational Consulting $486,000 for “student wellness strategy,” “risk management,” and “community partnership services.”
Nobody in the counseling department had ever heard of it.
Dad stared at the numbers.
“I approved foundation budgets.”
Helen shook her head.
“You approved totals. The board treasurer approved vendor releases.”
“Peter.”
“Peter.”
The bullying suddenly had a price tag.
Protect donor families.
Remove complaining scholarship students.
Keep the school’s image clean.
The next morning, police arrested Melissa Crowe for evidence tampering and arson-related charges pending investigation.
She made bail before dinner.
Peter Mercer called a press conference.
He stood outside the science center bearing his name and accused Dad of conducting “a personal vendetta using his daughter as a shield.”
Reporters waited outside our house.
“Mia, did your father tell you to hide your identity so he could spy on students?”
I stopped.
Dad touched my shoulder.
“Keep walking.”
I didn’t.
“No,” I said.
Every camera turned toward me.
I had spent months staying quiet.
“I asked to use my mother’s last name because I wanted to be treated like a normal student.”
A reporter called, “Did you provoke Sloane Mercer?”
“No.”
“Did you steal school records?”
“No.”
“Do you think your father should resign?”
That one almost made me laugh.
“I think people should stop asking the victim whether the person who loves her should lose his job.”
Dad squeezed my shoulder.
We went inside.
The clip went viral before dinner.
That didn’t last.
At 10:17 p.m., an anonymous account posted a scanned document.
It appeared to show that Dad had known about student harassment for months.
At the bottom was his signature.
ACKNOWLEDGED - D. HARPER.
The post spread everywhere.
Dad stared at the signature.
“That’s mine.”
My stomach dropped.
“You signed it?”
“No.”
“But that’s your signature.”
“Yes.”
Helen zoomed in.
The signature had been copied from another document.
But the damage was already done.
Then Dad’s phone rang.
“Daniel, the board has accelerated the vote.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
A pause.
“And Peter says he has one more witness.”
“Who?”
May you like
The answer made Dad sit down.
“Sloane.”
