This Time, I'll Be the Villain's Favorite Daughter novel Chapter 59

Chapter 59 In Her Office

What made it worse was that after all of it this girl calmly straightened her hair and smoothed out her blazer, sitting with perfect posture, as if absolutely nothing had happened.

“My parents are abroad, Ms. Peterson. Annie’s expression was serene. “Maya’s brother is also my boyfriend. Could you let him come in to discuss this with you”

If they really needed to talk it out, fine.

Whatever needed to be said could be said to her very wealthy boyfriend.

Their homeroom teacher’s gaze moved between them. “Alfred, is that what you want as well?”

“I have no objection,” Alfred said.

Whether it was his parents or his brother who showed up, it made no difference to him.

Their teacher knew exactly who their brother was. She was just genuinely puzzled.

These two are surprisingly understated about it.

They were both Clarks. That brother did whatever he pleased on this campus and answered to no one. These two weren’t the heirs, sure, but they were still Clarks. How did a couple of random kids think they had a ground to stand on?

The answer was obvious, really. Those kids had assumed that because Maya and Alfred kept quiet about their background, they were easy targets.

‘All right. If you’re all insisting on having your brother come in…” Their teacher was more than happy to l Toby handle it. The moment he arrived, none of this would be a problem anymore.

She picked up the phone and dialed.

It transferred several times before the call finally connected to his cell.

‘Am I speaking with Maya and Alfred’s brother?”

Toby paused for a moment. “Yes.

“I’m their brother,” he said.

“Wonderful!” Their teacher’s voice brightened like she’d just landed the best deal of her life. “Your siblings were involved in a group altercation on school grounds. Two older students were hurt badly enough that they’ll likely need to visit the nurse’s office.”

Toby blinked. He said nothing.

It made complete sense, and yet somehow he hadn’t seen it coming.

His voice stayed as unhurried as ever. “Thank you for letting me know, Ms. Peterson. Is there anything else? I’ll head over shortly.”

miany,

amused curl off her lips s Annie your girlfriend?”

Rich people really do live without limits.

A boyfriend at that age.

Hearing that, a visible twitch crossed Toby’s pale striking face. He drew in a slow breath and answered quietly.

“Yes, she is, Ms. Peterson.”

“I was going to contact her parents,” their teacher said.

“Please don’t reach out to her mother.” Toby said immediately. “Let me handle it, all right?”

“Of course.” Their teacher ended the call and moved on to contacting the other families.

The kids all looked at each other and said nothing.

They sat together and waited to be collected.

Toby was the first one through the door.

He hadn’t even had time to put himself together properly. He’d come straight to school at a near run.

The door swung open, and every head in the room turned toward it.

“Would someone like to tell me…”

His complexion was ashen, like something that hadn’t seen sunlight in years. His gaze swept slowly around the room and landed on Maya and Alfred, both looking completely disheveled, and then on his equally rumpled girlfriend.

The pleasant, neutral expression he’d kept in place slipped, is slightly. He spoke each word with careful, quiet precision.

“What exactly happened here?”

The sight in front of him dropped Toby into a state of genuine bewilderment.

୮

He wondered why his usually immaculate, composed girlfriend look like she’d been through a wind

tunnel.

He also wondered why his brother and sister look like they’d lost their minds.

Toby had been raised from the beginning to resolve problems cleanly, swiftly, and with dignity.

Walking into an actual brawl was, to him, something that bordered on absurd.

“Ms. Peterson, I’m Maya and Alfred’s brother.” Toby addressed their teacher as he stepped fully inside, his manner still polite. “Could you walk me through what happened?”

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There was something faintly fragile about the way he carried himself, and the mild, practiced smile on his face didn’t quite reach eyes. What made it all so incongruous was the face beneath it, which was unreasonably, almost unsettlingly beautiful.

Jenrry glanced toward the door and immediately pressed a hand over her mouth. “He’s gorgeous,” she

breathed.

“Can guys actually look like that?”

The corner of Maya’s mouth twitched.

Jenny finished whispering, then snapped to attention. “Wait. He’s your brother?

‘Your brother is Toby?

‘You said your whole family was totally normal!” Jenny’s voice climbed a notch.

The two of them had talked about their families before.

Maya had said her dad was a regular office worker and her mom stayed home. So where did this very wealthy older brother come from all of a sudden?

enny wasn’t the only one who understood what the Clark name meant. Every other kid in that room knew t too, and in an instant the whole space went very, very quiet.

My family doesn’t include him,” Maya said.

enny couldn’t make sense of that. She turned to look at her, needing to confirm what she’d heard. “So Toby actually is your brother?”

Maya hesitated slightly. “Sort of?”

What do you mean, sort of?” Jenny couldn’t figure out these two siblings at all. “You’re actually a Clark? People in class have guessed at your background before, but nobody’s been sure. You two are seriously so ow–key about it.”

1.2K

“Bring your brothesinto our classroom 101 & quia

ever again!”

Those spineless little opportunists in class.

She got more animated with every word. “May you could totally have your brother hit them with that wicked little smile and help you take back everything you lost!”

“That sounds completely ridiculous,” Maya said.

The two little girls went quiet!

They leaned their heads together and traded whispers, voices low and buzzing with conspiracy. Not a tra of guilt existed between them about the chaos they’d caused, just pure and barely leashed excitement. Every single word floated directly into Toby’s ears. He shut his eyes briefly, then repeated himself with th patience of a man running very low on it. “Would someone please tell me what actually happened?”

Why do I recognize half the people stuffed into this tiny office?

From across the room, it looked like a gathering of exceptional people. Standing in the middle of it, it wa ust a room packed with familiar faces. The sensation was genuinely unpleasant.

Maya knew the cardinal rule of getting someone in trouble: move first and seize the moral high ground.

She got her voice up before anyone else could draw breath. “Rufus grabbed my shoulder first, obviously, and I only hit back because I had to! Then he went completely low and called his brothers in to jump me!

Maya finished and lowered her head in a flawlessly constructed portrait of suffering.

“He had two brothers backing him up at this school. I only had one.”

That last line nearly pulled a laugh out of Toby through sheer helpless exasperation.

His voice rose before he could rein it in. “You only had one?! Do not exist?!”

୮

Those words dropped into the room, and the office went perfectly still for two full seconds.

Even their homeroom teacher could only stare at him.

Toby locked up for a beat, then bit down sharply on his lower lip and caught the faint taste of iron.

There it was again.

Every single tune Maya was involved, his self–control just quietly disintegrated.

He said nothing.

“She’s lying!” Rufus shouted, not about to be buried without a fight. His eyes cut straight to Toby as he pushed harder. “She hit me first! I was only trying to stop her from going after someone!”

Then you should’ve taken it.” Toby gave Rufus one flat, frigid look. his voice carrying absolutely no

warmth

He used to absorb hits every single day without uttering a single word about it.

Toby had only asked out of idle curiosity. The details didn’t matter to him. A tolerable outcome was sufficient, and from everything he could see, neither of his siblings had taken any real damage.

The two older boys, by contrast, had bled enough to require attention, and they were currently swathed bandages from head to toe.

“This is easy enough to settle. Remove those two. Toby tilted his chin lazily toward the older boys, his expression utterly flat. “Bullying younger students and still expecting to keep their enrollment. Does that strike you as appropriate, Ms. Peterson?”

Their teacher felt a dull throb begin to build behind her eyes. “I’m not their homeroom teacher, so expulsion would need to be processed through the principal.”

She didn’t bother pushing back against it, though.

It wouldn’t have changed anything.

The Clarks were, in every meaningful sense. Harmony International School’s most significant benefactor With a legitimate reason sitting right in front of him, removing two problem students would cost Toby nothing at all.

Rufus stared for two full, blank seconds. “You can’t just kick my brothers out!”

Then you can leave with them.”

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