Abandoned to the Mafia, I Rose as the Don’s Most Trusted Lawyer Chapter 04
A crowd of students had gathered around.
They were clearly excited, waiting for me to burst into tears or lose control in front of everyone.
The moment the boys saw me return, they scattered.
I walked over and picked up my things one by one.
Someone had drawn a huge red X across my report card in permanent marker.
Underneath it, they had written two words.
LIAR.
CHEATER.
I slowly smoothed the report card and held it against my chest.
The red X wouldn’t come off.
Neither would the words beneath it.
It didn’t matter.
Their opinion couldn’t change my score,
The next day, the same boys poured black ink into my
backpack and stuffed a dead rat inside.
My textbooks, my notes, and the backpack itself were ruined.
I went to my homeroom teacher.
She looked at me and sighed, her tone dismissive, as
though she had already decided that I simply didn’t
understand how things worked at this school.
“Brian Walker’s situation is complicated. His father is
a major donor to the school board. Brian can be a little
overbearing, but I’m sure he wasn’t deliberately targeting you. I’ll talk to him.”
I returned to the classroom and placed my ink–stained backpack on the desk.
A girl sitting nearby asked quietly, “Are you okay?”
Before I could answer, Brian’s voice rang out.
“What could possibly be wrong with someone even her own parents didn’t want? Haven’t you heard? Her
parents ran away with her sister and left her with debt
collectors. She probably spends every day fantasizing
about becoming some famous lawyer so she can come
back and punish everyone who ever looked down on
her. Does she think she’s the star of some courtroom drama?”
I tightened my grip on the backpack strap.
The entire classroom burst into laughter.
I sat at my desk and began reciting federal debt–collection rules and child–protection statutes in my head.
I went from the first provision to the last, then started again from the beginning.
When the final bell rang, I slowly made my way back to the apartment.
It was already dark outside.
The zipper of my backpack had been glued shut by the ink.
I tried several times, but I couldn’t open it.
I sat on the couch clutching the backpack and didn’t
move for a long time.
Marcus arrived with dinner not long afterward.
He came over two or three times a week.
Sometimes he brought food and fruit. Other times, he brought nothing and simply sat at the other end of the couch while I did my homework.
The instant he saw the backpack in my arms, his expression hardened.
“Who did this?”
I didn’t answer.
I didn’t know whether Marcus would help me.
He had given me an apartment and paid for my
education because he believed I was useful.
Would he still keep me if I caused trouble for him?
I couldn’t risk finding out.
“Little lawyer, look at me.”
Marcus’s voice was low.
“You’re not alone anymore. If someone hurts you, you tell me.”
I raised my head.
“Marcus, do you hit people?”
He paused.
“Yes.”
“Would you hit a kid?”
He paused again, and one corner of his mouth slowly curved upward.
“Anyone who messes with you is fair game. I don’t care how old they are.”
“But they’re only teenagers.”
“They’re old enough to know that hurting people has consequences.”
I thought about it, then decided to tell him the truth.
“Brian did it. His father is a major donor to the school
board. My homeroom teacher said the school wouldn’t risk offending him.”
Marcus stood and looked something up on his phone.
“Richard Walker,” he read from the screen. “He owns
a building materials company and owes us more than three hundred thousand dollars for unpaid supplies. The debt is six months overdue. I was planning to pay
him a visit next month.”
He put away his phone and looked at me.
“Little lawyer, how do you want me to handle this?”
I didn’t go to school the next day.
It wasn’t because I was afraid of Brian.
The company had just received a high–risk
debt–recovery agreement, and Marcus couldn’t make sense of the liability waiver. I needed to help him
review it.
But Brian didn’t know that.
He thought he had scared me away.
During the break, he stood at the front of the
classroom and announced, “That girl nobody wanted
didn’t show up today. Guess I scared her off. I can’t stand people who ace one test and suddenly think
they’re smarter than everyone else.”
Many of the students laughed with him.
A few girls spoke quietly.
“Leave her alone. Hasn’t she been through enough?”
That only made Brian more smug.
“Why should anyone feel sorry for her? Even her own parents didn’t want her, so there must be something wrong with her. She’s a nobody…‘
The classroom door was suddenly kicked open.
Marcus stood in the doorway in a fitted black T–shirt, the tattoos covering both arms fully exposed.
George and Noah stood behind him, their expressions grim.
Marcus swept a cold gaze across the classroom.
“I hear someone’s been bullying our little lawyer.”