Chapter 80: Who Offended Them?
"Oh, Mr. Prescott, Mrs. Prescott, what an honor. I’m so sorry for not welcoming you properly!" Jordan Walton spotted Arthur Prescott and Sophia Quinn the moment he reached the door. He walked forward to shake Arthur’s hand and exchanged a nod with Sophia.
"Principal Walton, there’s no need to be so formal. We were just away on a business trip and decided to stop by on our way back." Arthur Prescott shook Jordan Walton’s hand, explaining their sudden appearance in just a few words.
But Jordan Walton firmly believed in the saying that one doesn’t visit a temple for no reason. ’They must be here to see me about something.’ "I see. Mr. Prescott, Mrs. Prescott, please, have a seat!"
Arthur Prescott and Sophia Quinn sat down on the main sofa, while Jordan Walton took a seat on the one to the side.
"Mr. Prescott, your son ranked third in the entire grade on the second mock exam. With a little more effort, I’m sure he can take first place on the third one." Jordan Walton assumed they had come today about Ethan Prescott’s studies.
He was the son of a wealthy family, after all, and destined to inherit the company one day. His grades naturally had to be excellent, so the principal proactively brought up Ethan Prescott’s performance as soon as they sat down.
"Is that so? Well, that’s certainly good to hear!" They had always been aware of Ethan Prescott’s abilities, so they had already guessed his rank.
As for whether he could get first place, they didn’t really care that much. The most important thing was for their child to be happy.
"Principal, we need to see the school’s surveillance footage!" Sophia Quinn didn’t want to listen to Jordan Walton’s pleasantries and stated her purpose directly.
Hearing Sophia Quinn’s abrupt request to see the surveillance footage, Jordan Walton’s mind immediately jumped to Brooke York’s past actions.
’But even if they wanted to check the footage, shouldn’t the Yorks be the ones to do it? Sophia Quinn isn’t technically family yet, so there’s no reason for her to be investigating this!’
’But on second thought, the two families are bound to be joined by marriage. They probably want to see the footage to determine which of the young ladies—the real or the fake one—has poor character.’
Seeing Jordan Walton remain silent, it was clear he was lost in thought.
Arthur Prescott knew the principal was overthinking things, so he spoke up to explain. "We got a little lost just outside the school a moment ago. Fortunately, a female student led us here. But since she was wearing a mask, we’d like to check the school’s surveillance footage to see what she looks like without it. We were also hoping you could help us find out which class she’s in and what her name is, Principal Walton."
Jordan Walton breathed a sigh of relief, not having expected this to be the reason.
’He was worried that if Arthur Prescott and Sophia Quinn found out what kind of person Brooke York was, they might refuse the marriage alliance with the York Family. If that happened, wouldn’t he be responsible for jeopardizing the partnership between two major corporations?’
’And who knew if the York Family would settle scores with him later.’
"I see. Please rest assured, if she’s a student at this school, I will certainly help you find her, Mr. Prescott, Mrs. Prescott."
With that, Jordan Walton brought his laptop over, placed it on the table, and began to pull up the surveillance footage.
"Start from the school gate!" Sophia Quinn added.
"Of course."
Jordan Walton pulled up the footage and quickly found the feed from the school gate.
Sophia Quinn quickly spotted the girl who had helped them. "That’s her. See which class she goes to and if she ever takes off her mask."
When Jordan Walton saw the girl on the screen, he couldn’t help but think, ’Why does this girl look so much like Chloe York!’
Normally, he definitely wouldn’t have recognized her, but Chloe York had been popping up in front of him so often lately, and with all that had happened, he had become quite familiar with her appearance.
’But even so, he was only about 90% sure. There was still that 10% of uncertainty.’
’And considering Sophia Quinn and the others didn’t recognize her or seem to think it was Chloe York, maybe it really wasn’t her after all.’
Following Sophia Quinn’s instructions, Jordan Walton tracked the student’s path through the footage. He pulled up a feed that covered the area for the third-year classes, confirming the girl was a third-year student.
Looking at the direction she was walking, he saw she was headed toward the wing that housed Classes 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8—a total of six classrooms. Chloe York was in Class 6. All he needed to see now was whether she turned left or right.
The six classrooms were split between two sides. If she headed in the direction of Class 6, then it was definitely Chloe York.
Just as Jordan Walton was thinking this, he saw the student in the footage turn left. Class 6 was on the left.
Jordan Walton immediately pulled up the feed from the camera outside the Class 6 classroom. He saw the female student’s figure and watched as she took off her mask.
"It’s Chloe! Honey, it was Chloe who showed us the way!" Sophia Quinn’s voice was filled with pleasant surprise.
"What? It was Chloe?" Arthur Prescott, who had been sitting on the sofa drinking tea, shot to his feet upon hearing this and hurried over to the monitor.
Jordan Walton paused the video, giving them a clear view of Chloe York’s face after she had removed her mask.
Jordan Walton was also quite surprised. He never would have expected Chloe York to guide a lost Arthur Prescott and Sophia Quinn while wearing a mask.
"Oh, that Chloe. Really, guiding us all the way here without even telling us who she was."
"She’s gotten prettier, and her personality has changed too. With that mask on, we really didn’t recognize her."
"Isn’t that the truth!"
’Weren’t Chloe York and Ethan Prescott engaged since childhood? It’s one thing for her fiancé not to recognize her, but shouldn’t Mr. Prescott and Mrs. Prescott have watched Chloe grow up? How could they fail to recognize her just because of a mask?’
But he could also tell that both Arthur Prescott and Sophia Quinn were very fond of Chloe York. It seemed likely that she was still the one who would marry into the Prescott Family. Jordan Walton immediately knew what he needed to say. "Mr. Prescott, Mrs. Prescott, Miss Chloe York is doing exceptionally well these days. She scored over eighty in every subject on the second mock exam!"
"Really? Over eighty in every subject?" Sophia Quinn was stunned. She had watched Chloe York grow up, so she certainly knew what her grades were usually like.
Her scores were always a headache for Alice Cole. She never imagined that Chloe York would change so much in the short time they were away on business.
’Now I think I understand why my son still wants Chloe.’
"Right, there’s one more thing. Principal, could you please pull up the school gate footage again? Let’s watch from 7:50."
Although he didn’t know what else she wanted to see, Jordan Walton did as he was told.
He pulled up the school gate footage from the time Sophia Quinn had specified. By then, there weren’t many students left at the gate, just a few scattered here and there.
The footage showed Arthur Prescott and Sophia Quinn, and Sophia could be seen taking out her phone, as if to make a call, before lifting it to her ear.
Not knowing what Sophia Quinn was looking for, Jordan Walton watched along with them.
Just then, his body suddenly stiffened. He saw Brooke York, and he saw her knock Sophia Quinn’s phone straight to the ground.
"Who is this girl?" Sophia Quinn’s tone had turned completely cold. The surveillance footage allowed her to see clearly that Brooke York had been completely focused on her watch, not looking where she was going.
"She..." Jordan Walton hesitated. He never thought Brooke York would manage to offend Sophia Quinn and Arthur Prescott. Her actions had undoubtedly left a terrible impression.
’I have no idea what Miles York and his wife were thinking. Bringing Brooke York back has only caused trouble for them.’
"What, you can’t say? Is she your child?" Sophia Quinn shot Jordan Walton a cold glare.