No wonder Davis was so eager to expel her. He didn't just want to please a donor; he needed Maya gone before she could ever question what happened in that classroom.
Maya looked at the crackling desktop monitor. The fear that had gripped her in the principal's office completely evaporated, replaced by a cold, sharp focus.
She clicked Copy. She backed up the video. She backed up the email logs. She saved them to three different encrypted cloud drives, and then she burned a physical copy onto a flash drive.
She walked out into the living room, where Arthur was quietly brewing tea.
“Yeh-Yeh,” Maya said.
He turned around.
“I need you to come with me on Friday,” she said, her voice steady and resolute. “I’m not just going to defend myself. I’m going to end them.”
Arthur looked at the flash drive in her hand. He didn't ask what was on it. He simply nodded, poured a second cup of tea, and set it on the table for her.
“Then we must prepare your stance,” Arthur said. “A strong wind is coming. We will see who breaks.”
Chapter 3: The Checkmate
The school’s executive boardroom smelled of expensive leather, lemon polish, and old money.
Maya sat in a high-backed mahogany chair, her posture perfect, her hands folded neatly in her lap. She wore her uniform, freshly ironed, her hair pulled back into a tight, practical braid. Beside her sat Arthur, radiating a quiet, unshakeable calm.
Across the long, polished conference table sat Principal Davis, flanked by three members of the school’s Board of Directors.