The phone rang twice before the voice on the other end answered.
“This is Vance,” the voice said.
“Pull the file on Richard Sterling,” I said, my voice cold and controlled. “And prepare a writ. I’m heading to Oak Creek Elementary.”
“Right away, Chief Judge,” Vance replied, the respect in his tone making it clear that he understood the gravity of the situation.
I hung up and headed to the parking lot. The sun was shining, birds were singing, but all I could see was the red haze of Lily’s pain. I wasn’t just going to walk into that school and ask for an explanation. I was going to make them understand that bullying a child—my child—came with consequences. They had woken a dragon.
As I drove toward Oak Creek Elementary, the tension in my chest tightened with each passing mile. The school wasn’t just a place of education—it was a fortress of privilege. The kind of place where money wasn’t just power, it was everything. It was a place where the well-being of children took a backseat to status and wealth, and where the rich and entitled could act with impunity.
I passed the rows of luxury cars parked in the lot, their shiny exteriors reflecting the afternoon sun—Range Rovers, Teslas, and Porsches that glistened like a parade of excess. But one car stood out to me, parked diagonally across two handicap spots right in front of the entrance. A bright red Ferrari, gleaming in all its opulence.
I knew that car. Or rather, I knew the type of man who drove it.
Richard Sterling.
I took a deep breath, willing myself to stay calm. I had been in high-stakes situations before—this was nothing new. But something about walking into this school, the one where my daughter had been hurt, made my blood run colder than usual. I pushed open the door to the administrative building, where a young secretary, looking terrified, tried to stop me.
