As Liz nodded, the CEO said to Derek, "Hello, young man. I'm your sister's boss, and I have something for you to do. If you do it well, you won't have any problem with the bullies anymore. Instead, you will be respected in the school. Follow me."
Mr. Will spoke in a tone as if he was pulling someone into a business deal, but it was quite effective on the kid whose ears perked up on hearing that he won't have any more problems with bullies.
This made Liz feel even more angry at those damn kids and their parents, as they had actually managed to have this much impact on her cute little brother who was almost always happy go lucky.
With the mischievousness from before gone, Derek nodded and followed behind the CEO to a nearby tree.
While her eyes followed their backs, Liz wondered once again why the CEO was doing this.
She knew a little about his past which sort of justified his actions, but her feelings towards him weren't any different from those that any employee had for their boss.
'Really? What about all those times your thoughts go awry near him? Or when the way he smells almost wipes you off your feet?'
OK, maybe they weren't like that, but they were at least muddled.
Opening the file, Liz started to go through it.
The first page had the title: "Helmount Public School: Derek Redmaine(Summary)", making Liz wonder how that limited amount of time from yesterday evening to today morning had been enough to collect THIS much information.
Inside, first was her brother's academic data, which she was familiar with because she took great care to make sure that he was studying well.
The kid wasn't at the top of his class, but he still did quite well and was always in the top percentage of scorers. Liz felt that this was enough, as it was her opinion that it wasn't wise to push kids too hard, especially when they were still only in the third grade.
After that was a report titled "Targets", in which the family background of the two kids who had bullied Derek was present.
Reading this, Liz's eyebrows raised as these two were quite well off.
One was the CEO of a software company which was worth $10 million, while the other owned a number of factories which made electronics that were sold to global technology makers.
Clearly, both of them were quite influential people who had some power over the school. It was also written that they had made donations in the order of tens of thousands of dollars to the school, and they were also the board members who voted on executive decisions.
Seeing this, Liz wondered whether she had been wrong about the principal being on their side, as she had met him before and he struck her as someone who didn't discriminate without knowing all the facts.
Just as she was about to close the file, she saw the CEO and Derek walk towards her.
The little kid had a smile more mischievous than the previous one on his face, while the CEO was his usual stoic self.
"Bye sis!", he said, before running into the school without giving Liz any chance to ask him anything.
Puzzled, she looked at Mr. Will, who said, "We should come back during the recess. Till then, let's go, we have a small meeting to attend. You'll see the results then; don't ask anything now."
Leaving these words, the CEO started walking towards the limousine, leaving Liz alone on the footwalk.
Stunned at being blown off in this way by both her brother and boss, Liz frowned and cursed under her breath for a little bit before following the CEO.
Their meeting was close by, and it was a routine one where Mr. Will sat down with a collection of shop owners from Happle to listen to their feedback on how customers were viewing the products.
This was apparently a scheme started by the CEO himself, who believed that conclusions could only be made after hearing about something from all perspectives.
It was a good thought, and Liz saw its effectiveness when many valuable insights were presented to the CEO which would definitely be useful in increasing the sales.
She did have a doubt regarding why he, personally, had to attend this meeting, but Liz realized that the answer probably was because he wanted an unadulterated report, which was again, very smart.
Of course, Liz was on pins and needles from the frustration of not knowing what the CEO had told her brother.
Hence, when they drove to the school a few hours later, she was trying hard not to tap her foot on the ground like she usually did when she was impatient.
After the door opened, she practically ran out before seeing a strange sight which made her eyes widen with shock and horror.
Her brother was lying on the ground and twitching in clear pain, while a host of students and teachers were looking on with surprise on their faces.