Chapter 95

“What if it happens again?” Lance’s voice was steady, but you could hear the edge in it.

Darcey kept her tone gentle. “If it happens again, we’ll handle it. If he seriously crosses the line, we’ll consider asking him to leave the school p>

“Lance, please don’t get too upset. Honestly, Edison did a great job handling things this time. Maybe you two could talk privately about it p>

Darcey figured it made sense for the guardians to sort things out themselves. They both cared about Claire. Surely, they’d be willing to reach out to each other, right?

But Lance had no idea who this Edison was. Every time Darcey mentioned the name, he just got more lost. He couldn’t remember ever meeting an Edison.

Cindy had told him before that it was just her and Pandora, sticking together. That meant there weren’t any close relatives left in the family. Pandora only had one child -Claire’s dad.

Was Edison someone Claire brought in to pretend to be family? The idea started to make twisted sense. Even the old dean had hinted at something like that.

“Thank you, Ms. Darcey p>

In the end, Lance didn’t call Claire out in front of her teacher. But inside, he was fuming. He couldn’t believe Claire would rather ask a complete stranger to step in as her guardian, just to clean up her mess, than come to him for help. The thought stung, leaving him with a heavy sense of defeat.

Trying to calm down, Lance called Cindy.

Her phone rang in the middle of class, making everyone turn to look. Cindy quickly apologized, “Sorry, I forgot to put my phone on silent,” and hurried out into the hallway.

“Lance, what’s up? Why are you calling now p>

“Cindy, do you have another uncle?” Lance’s voice was colder than usual.

Cindy froze, picking up on his mood right away. “What uncle?” She was genuinely confused.

“I mean, did Pandora have a younger son back in the countryside?” Lance realized as he said it how odd it sounded.

Now Cindy understood. “No. Grandma only had my dad. That’s it p>

She’d never met her parents, and as far as she could remember, they’d passed away years ago.

“Then how come Claire has an uncle who just shows up to fix her problems? I talked to your

homeroom teacher-Ms. Darcocet

said Claire’s uncle came to the school and sorted out the fight for her. Do you know who this so-called uncle is p>

Cindy was stumped at first, but then someone came to mind. Still, Grandma always said Edison was busy and not to bother him unless it was something serious. Cindy did have Edison’s number, but she’d never called him. Grandma used to say, if you ever need help reach out to Edison. But Cindy never felt like she needed help-she could handle things herself. Now that their families weren’t connected anymore, she didn’t think it was her place to contact him at all.

“She doesn’t t have a direct uncle, but there is a cousin on her father’s side–I think he works in VIA

Metropolis. He worked hard to make life for himself in the city and he’s always busy. Grandma said not to bother him unless it’s really important. Maybe that’s who you mean p>

How was he supposed to know?

Lance clenched his fist and punched the sofa in frustration.

“Forget it. Doesn’t matter who it is. I just wanted to tell you not to worry. Claire’s

situation is handled. She’s not getting expelled p>