Love Began with the First Meeting

Brian heaved a short sigh. "It seems that, Mr. Shen, you don't want to settle this in a peaceful manner."

The teacher and the headmaster cowered in fear, their faces turning pale. However, Tyronn was still boiling with anger, oblivious to what was waiting for him. The headmaster's body started to tremble, but the only thing he could do was curse Tyronn for being a dumbass. "Bang!" Tyronn thumped his fist on the table. The headmaster and the teacher looked at him in shock, while Brian continued to look indifferent.

Tyronn abruptly stood up and pointed his plump finger at Brian. He yelled, "If your son doesn't apologize to my son right away, you will have to face the consequences of his actions!"

Brian's eyebrows shot up. The dimwit in front of him was the only person to ever dare point a finger at him so arrogantly. His falcon-like eyes were sharper than usual. The headmaster thought that Brian was about to blow up. But when he spoke, his voice had an eerie calmness to it. "My son will not apologize to your son. But your son will apologize to my daughter."

He spoke very slowly, but his words were almost suffocating. Brian's narrowed eyes emitted a sharp, cold light. It froze Tyronn in his spot.

Slowly, Brian rose from his chair. He was tall and slim, while Tyronn was just the opposite-short and flabby. While Brian was handsome and muscular, his counterpart was unsightly and made up of layers of fat. They looked at each other, but didn't say anything. Tyronn seemed to have been lost for words.

What really froze Tyronn wasn't Brian's appearance, but his aura. His presence was dominating.

"What... What do you want?" He was intimidated by Brian's pressure. His anger had been pressed back into his plump body.

Glaring at Tyronn, Brian stated, "I want your son to apologize to my daughter. And I will pay the hospital bills for your son. If you don't agree, then there's nothing else to talk about."

Tyronn gulped to keep himself calm. Even though he was intimidated by the invisible aura around Brian, he tried his best not to show any fear on his face. "That's impossible!" he replied. "You have to stick to my conditions. If not, I can't promise your safety."

It was such a blatant threat from Tyronn, and the headmaster and the teacher frowned in fear and annoyance. The teacher couldn't help but compare the children to their fathers. Like the saying went, "Like father, like son." Jerome had always been a capricious kid who liked to bully other kids. The twins were nothing like him. Evelyn was a cute and lovely girl, and although Charlie was a bit rowdy, he had his manners. 'The reason for the difference in the children's character is obvious now. Just look at their fathers, 'the teacher thought. She sighed and gathered the courage to speak. "Mr. Shen," she said, "how about this? It is undeniable that Jerome was wrong. Maybe it wasn't intentional, but he should still apologize to Evelyn." Then she turned to Brian. "Mr. Long, I understand that Charlie was trying to protect his sister, but he shouldn't have hit Jerome. After Jerome apologizes to Evelyn, Charlie should apologize to Jerome." She waited for a few seconds and asked, "Can we all agree to that?"

Brian didn't respond. He found the teacher's words reasonable, and the suggestion was acceptable to him. He didn't want to leave a false impression on his children and let them think that they were allowed to do anything because of the power held by the Long Family. "No!" Tyronn immediately rejected the idea. "Charlie must apologize to my son first."

The teacher cursed Tyronn for being so stupid. Even though she was embarrassed about being rejected, she still tried to persuade him, "Mr. Shen, I don't think that's the right thing to do. It's not going to help your child's development at all."

"Shut your mouth!" The anger that had been suppressed by Brian earlier had come back to the surface once again. Tyronn's new target was the poor teacher. "You are a teacher, aren't you? You watched my son getting beaten up. Your teacher's license is on the verge of being canceled right now. So, you better keep your stupid ideas to yourself."

The teacher stared at the stubborn man in shock.

She stopped talking and moved back, but she castigated him in her mind, 'Moron! Let's see what's gonna happen to you now. You will regret your words soon enough.'

"I don't think there's anything left to say here," said Brian, turning to the headmaster. "I will be taking back Charlie and Evelyn with me now."

He nodded to the teacher and took his leave, completely ignoring Tyronn's glare.

The teacher and the headmaster knew that Brian wouldn't let this go so easily. And just as they had expected, Tyronn regretted his stupidity soon after. A man with a shady business like his should have kept his profile low, even lower than his subordinates. Arrogance led to Tyronn's downfall.

Three days after this incident, the Public Voice published about Tyronn's dark businesses in their headlines, including news of bribery and violation of laws as one of the officials in the provincial government. They laid out everything in the open and even went as far as to announce that they had already acquired some solid evidence to prove their claims, and that they were going to hand over the evidence to the Prosecutor General's Office, which would be investigating him. The sudden fall in Tyronn's career was good news for many, including those who were in the same department as him, and others who were bullied by him.

After his dishonest acts were revealed, more people who had acted alongside him were traced and investigated. This led to a major clean-up in the government, the first one ever since Edgar had left A City.

But right now, as he stood fuming in the headmaster's office, Tyronn had no idea what was awaiting him as he watched Brian Long leave the office with his eyes blaring. "Daddy!" Evelyn called when she saw her father walking towards her. She winked her beautiful eyes at him and Brian couldn't help but laugh at her care-free attitude.

There were some leftover biscuits sticking onto her lips and she was still holding the packet of half-finished biscuit in her little hands. She ran to her father, worried that her brother was going to get punished for hitting Jerome.

Brian squatted down to lift his daughter up and held Charlie's hand firmly. He told the kids, "Mom has cooked a wonderful dinner for us. Let's head back and eat."

"Okay," Evelyn answered. After a pause, she said in a low voice, "I have bruises. If Mom sees them, she will be upset."

"Don't worry. These are things that you should go through when you are growing up." Brian wasn't really concerned about it.

Kids would fight and get hurt. That was fine. It was a life lesson to learn. He wouldn't forbid them from fighting; he wouldn't cover for them either. He wanted them to understand that they had to go through the hardship on their own. However, Brian hadn't taken into account that he was an inexperienced father. He may have benefited from his childhood experiences, but the same thing might just not work on his children. What had happened that day had exerted a huge impact on Evelyn's personality. She started to change from being a little girl who needed care and protection to an independent woman who was stronger than most men. Such a drastic change would be way out of Brian's expectation.

To Evelyn, the logic was simple. She believed that if she could handle her own matters, Charlie wouldn't have to fight with guys like Jerome and put himself in danger for her sake. 'I have to be stronger,' she told herself on that day.