Chapter 323 - Don'st believe them, alright?

When his mother was about to say something, Principal Jackson added, "Mrs. Cavanaugh, I think the punishment is more than appropriate... I'm sure you know what Maximus' behavior was like. I'm being very lenient to the boys right now but if you're going to plead for him, then you'd leave me no choice but to increase the punishment."

"How dare you!" snapped Mrs. Cavanaugh. She glared at the principal as she added, "Do you know who my husband is?"

Principal Jackson raised his hand to stop her before she made a fool of herself. He cleared his throat before pointing out, "Mrs. Cavanaugh, of course, I know who Ambassador Cavanaugh is..."

"... However, please bear in mind that every student of Imperial Middle School came from a similar background. Even if they are not, this is not the kind of school for you to pull your rank in."

Mrs. Cavanaugh knew that he was right. To ensure that the children would not pull their weights around the school, every employee of the Imperial Schools were protected from outside influences. Each and every one of them came from reputable families and had to go through strict screening before they were employed.

Kai Xin cleared her throat and when they turned to look at her, she said, "I don't think the suspension is necessary. Let's be real. These boys are all young masters who would do nothing at home. A suspension would just be another holiday for them…"

When Lyle and Jack looked at her with a horrified expression written on their faces, she added, "I propose one and a half month of court duty."

"Kai Xin!" Jack stomped his feet at the harsh punishment. Even Lyle was a little angry as he did not think that the punishment was just.

"Jack, even though I want you to accept me, I don't want to spoil you. Even if you were not the one who started the fight, both of you had some faults as well…" said Kai Xin patiently.

She glanced at Drake's bruised face and then looked at Lyle who was staring at her in disbelief, "Lyle, you hit him. I don't mind it if you were merely defending yourself, but those bruises on that boy...You lost your temper there, didn't you?"

"I-I was angry…" said Lyle meekly as he clenched his fists.

Kai Xin placed a hand on his head and bent down to talk to him in a hushed tone, "I know, but you need to learn to control your anger better. As Du XiAn's son, you can't let people know the trigger to your emotions or they might use it against you."

Lyle nodded. Kai Xin then turned to Jack and said, "Fighting is not wrong, and I'm not agreeing to the punishment because you fought with someone. However, you and Lyle did not fight for the right reasons. You guys fought because you fell into someone's trap. Do you think that your father would let you go just like that?"

Jack glared at her. He knew that she was right but regardless, he was still annoyed at the prospect of having to clean up the basketball court for the next six weeks.

Principal Jackson agreed with Kai Xin's suggestion. He had expected her to take this lightly and it surprised him that she was a no-nonsense kind of woman.

Usually, stepmothers would do whatever they could to make their stepchildren happy. This would often result in bratty rich kids that would turn into bratty adults.

Principal Jackson approved of Kai Xin's method and he declared, "The children would be punished with six weeks of court cleaning duty and I would be supervising them personally. I hope that there would be no more dissent on this matter."

However, Mrs. Cavanaugh refused to allow her son suffered from any injustice even if he was the one who caused it himself.

Thus, she turned to Kai Xin who she perceived to be the weakest here. With a condescending voice, she said snidely, "Take care of the two young masters there so that they won't cause trouble again."

"Why don't you tell that to yourself? I allowed the punishments because my twins did not behave in a more appropriate manner. However, I do not think that my twins were wrong in defending themselves against the boys, who by the way, were bigger than them," said Kai Xin as she motioned for the boys to pick up their bags.

Mrs. Cavanaugh laughed, "If the one raising them is you, I can foresee that their future would not be as bright as what their father wants..."

Kai Xin whipped her head around before asking, "What do you mean?"

"A wh*re has no business here. My husband thinks highly of President Du but honestly, I don't understand why..." sneered Mrs. Cavanaugh as she looked at Kai Xin from top to bottom.

"Mrs. Cavanaugh, this is not appropriate," whispered Drake's mother to the woman's ear.

She was a staff who had been working with the Cavanaugh family for more than 10 years. She knew that Mr. Cavanaugh would not approve of this kind of behavior. He had been working with President Du for years and she knew that he would be angry if he found out about it.

Mrs. Cavanaugh glared at Drake's mother as she snapped, "Shut up! This is not your place to speak. I expect Drake to receive his punishment when we get back! What is the point of sponsoring him if he cannot protect my son?"

Maximus glanced at his best friend before turning back to his mother. Annoyed, he snapped, "Mum, it's not Drake's fault! They were the ones at fault!"

Before she could reply to her son, Kai Xin said tersely, "Mrs. Cavanaugh, please make yourself clear. What do you mean by your words?"

Mrs. Cavanaugh smirked, "Stop feigning ignorance. I hate it when people don't admit their faults. Since you exposed your body to men for money, you should just admit it."

Kai Xin glared at her. She took a step forward and raised her voice slightly, "Mrs. Cavanaugh. What. Do. You. Mean. By. Your. Words?"

The woman shivered slightly. She looked at Principal Jackson for a second before answering Kai Xin meekly, "Why don't you google yourself?"

Grabbing her son, she immediately rushed out of the room.

Kai Xin looked at the twins who were unable to look her in the eyes and she knew that she was part of the reasons why they fought.

On the way home, she asked them about what Mrs. Cavanaugh said but the twins refused to tell her anything.

With a sigh, she said, "Lyle, Jack...Those rumors...Don't believe them, alright?"

The twins nodded. They had plenty of questions in their mind but they wanted to talk to their father about it instead. DX used to tell them that every rumor had a kernel of truth.

Whatever Maximus and his mother said would not be completely unfounded and they preferred not to ask Kai Xin.