Chapter 236: Chapter 236: Hawthorne Group’s Little Prince
As soon as he stepped into the classroom, the previously spacious room suddenly felt locked up. Under his strong, oppressive aura, there was an inescapable sense of suffocation.
Like an emperor presiding over the world, cold and arrogant, disdainful of everything.
Kenny blinked his large eyes, resembling garnets, at Cyrus Hawthorne, and then, quietly, he hid his books from the table.
In a few steps, Cyrus Hawthorne was beside Kenny, placing a large hand gently on his soft hair, narrowing his cold eyes at the homeroom teacher still holding his arm.
"What was lost?"
The homeroom teacher, intimidated by his icy gaze, awkwardly let go and involuntarily replied, "A wallet containing eight bank cards and several thousand in cash... but, sir, are you really Student Vaughn’s father?"
She distinctly remembered that this boy was from a single-parent family, living with his mother, and the father was deceased.
What was going on with this man of extraordinary presence?
"Why, does it not seem so?" Cyrus rubbed Kenny’s small noggin and asked in a deep voice.
Kenny somewhat reluctantly tried to avoid his hand, yet with so many people watching, he didn’t want to embarrass him.
"No, no, it’s clear at a glance that you must be father and son!"
Especially the brows and eyes, as if carved from the same mold.
At that moment, Mark Joyce walked into the classroom with a laptop, placed it on the table, and reported to Cyrus Hawthorne, "President Hawthorne, the surveillance footage has been repaired and is all here."
The male teacher nearby turned pale, hardly able to believe it.
Who exactly was this man? Why even the damaged surveillance footage...
"Hmm." Cyrus responded indifferently, pressed a key on the laptop, and as the surveillance began to play, his deep, cold eyes swept over everyone present, finally resting on the male teacher.
The male teacher suddenly felt a chill down his spine, his whole body tensing up.
"Sir, is this the surveillance from the classroom?" The homeroom teacher inadvertently saw the male teacher’s expression, vaguely sensing something, then smiled and suggested, "Why don’t we minimize this issue? If something really comes out, it won’t be good for the kids. That amount of money isn’t small, settling it privately would be better, wouldn’t you agree?"
In front of so many parents, if this were to implicate their teacher, the consequences would be imaginable.
"Ha," Mark Joyce chuckled, drawing everyone’s attention, then cleared his throat before speaking, "Sorry, but our little master of Hawthorne Group doesn’t care for mere tens of millions on a bank card."
"To be direct, if our little master fancied, even when playing and tossing it away, our Hawthorne Group, though not enormous, is enough for him to throw around."
Tens of millions?
Playing and tossing away??
Is this even human talking???
The parents and teachers watching nearby looked numbed for a moment, then suddenly recalled—what did this man just say?
Hawthorne Group?!!
Nowadays, anyone in S Country knows what Hawthorne Group represents.
Supreme power, wealth rivaling nations, and the coveted bachelor—head of the Hawthorne, Mr. Hawthorne.
Even though the media never dares to show his full-frontal or high-resolution photos, just from his back or side profiles, it’s enough to set countless hearts aflutter.
If anyone else had spoken like this today, the crowd would easily have dismissed it with collective scorn.
But the Hawthorne Group—
Indeed has this capital, with undisputed heritage and power, allowing their child to treat million-dollar cards like toys in a ramen pack.
Truly a comparison to die from envy.
Kenny, who was forcibly lifted onto Cyrus’s arm, suddenly became cautious—why did this man claim he was his son?
Could it be... he had discovered something?
"Mr. Hawthorne, it’s a great honor, I didn’t expect to meet you here."
"Is this the young master of Hawthorne Group? Indeed looks just like President Hawthorne, clearly father and son."
"Only a brilliant young man like President Hawthorne could raise such an outstanding son."
"President Hawthorne, about the bidding from your company last time..."
Men who had rushed from the playground upon receiving a message from their wives pushed aside several obstructing teachers, trying to approach Cyrus Hawthorne.
But were all intercepted by Mark Joyce, "Sorry, it’s President Hawthorne’s personal time now, no business talks."
On hearing this, everyone tempered their enthusiasm and watched eagerly from the side.
If only they had known attending a parent-child sports event could bring them face-to-face with Mr. Hawthorne, perhaps they wouldn’t be still overlooked by him.
Moreover, Mr. Hawthorne had such an older son already, yet there hadn’t been a hint of news all these years!
Standing beside them, the homeroom teacher and male teacher who had just accused Kenny of theft were now dripping with cold sweat.
They could never have imagined that a child from a single-parent section with no background could overnight become the young master of Hawthorne Group!
Heavens, offending Hawthorne Group, is there any future for them?
Subsequently, Mark Joyce’s restored and repaired surveillance footage not only perfectly recreated the scene back then, but the clarity also made one thing evident—
The parent’s wallet had been secretly taken before Kenny even entered the classroom, and after all the cash was extracted from it, it was hidden in the soil of the window’s flowerpot.
Generally, nobody would dig through the soil of a flowerpot, so no one would think to check such a tricky spot for the wallet.
It was all just to smear a child.
After watching the footage, the male teacher’s face turned as white as a freshly painted wall, unable to utter a word under the contemptuous glares of everyone.
This was only possible because Cyrus Hawthorne had arranged to get the surveillance tape and repair it beforehand. If Cyrus Hawthorne hadn’t come today, or if Kenny couldn’t prove his innocence—
The male teacher’s plot would have succeeded, at the very least, it would mean financial compensation, public criticism, and expulsion for Kenny from school, and at worst, it was a theft case worth tens of millions.
Kenny’s entire life could have been destroyed by this blemish.
Of course, this was what outsiders would consider the consequences. Even if Cyrus wasn’t there, he could find another way out, just that it would be a bit troublesome.
Some parents, due to the incident with Kenny, felt disappointed and doubtful about the staff quality of the kindergarten—what if such a thing happened to their own children in the future?
Hence, Century Kindergarten faced its first major parent protest movement, though that’s a story for later.