Chapter 536

Natalie had absolute faith in her daughter’s words. She looked at Hamilton and said, “You heard her. Your daughter started it. My daughter was just defending herself.”
Hamilton snorted and had Queena tell her side of the story.
Queena’s version was the complete opposite of Kristin’s. She claimed Kristin had pushed her for no reason, causing her to hit her forehead, and that she was too scared to even fight back.
“You heard her, too. My daughter says your daughter started it, and she didn’t even retaliate!”
Natalie paused for a moment. “I’m sure the practice room has security cameras.”
“Is that so?”
Hamilton glanced at a staff member from the dance troupe. The staffer, aware of Hamilton’s status, thought for a moment before saying, “I’m sorry, the cameras in the practice room are broken.”
Natalie frowned. It was too much of a coincidence for the cameras to be broken. It was obvious the staff was afraid of offending Hamilton.
“There were other people in the room. They must have seen what happened.”
The staff member added, “The instructor was working with the other children at the time, so no one saw the two of them. We don’t know how the fight started.”
“I don’t believe you. I’ll ask the children myself!”
“Ma’am, please don’t frighten our young contestants.”
Natalie took a deep breath. It was clear they were determined to pin the blame on her daughter, no matter what.
Hamilton said darkly, “The result is that my daughter is injured. I’m not asking for much. Just have your daughter give mine a sincere apology.”
“I won’t apologize! I didn’t do anything wrong!” Kristin shouted angrily at Hamilton. “I thought you were a good person, but you’re bad! I hate you now!”
For some reason, her words struck a sharp pain in Hamilton’s chest.
He found it hard to meet the little girl’s gaze and turned back to Natalie. “My request is not unreasonable.”
Natalie shook her head firmly. “My daughter did nothing wrong. She will absolutely not apologize to you.”
“Do you have to push this until it’s impossible to resolve?”
“My daughter is not at fault!”
Hamilton looked at the mother and daughter, who shared the same looks, the same temper, and even the same bout. He was filled with mixture of hatred and frustration. Just as Natalie wanted to avoid him, he too wanted to avoid her
Whenever he faced her, he lost control. The dark, violent thoughts would begin to fester.
“If your daughter won’t apologize, you can do it for her,” he said, taking a step back. Natalie lowered her head and closed her eyes.
She meet
ant her daughter to ever
terrified
again. That has
her more than the thought of hi killing her
After a moment of silence, she told Hubert to take Kristin outside and wait for her.
The two children didn’t want to leave, but when Natalie put on an angry face, they reluctantly obeyed.
Once the children were gone, she finally looked at Hamilton.
“I’m sorry.”
Two words, heavy with meaning.
She was apologizing for something her daughter hadn’t done wrong, and for her own perceived faults. And the one truly at fault could accept her apology with a clear conscience.
Hamilton sneered. “Those two words sound so cheap coming from you.”
“Is that enough? Can you let it go now?”
“Your daughter is disqualified. Take her and leave this place immediately!”
“Hamilton!”
“And when I say ‘this place,’ I mean leave Orenth. I never want to see you or your daughter again!”