From Forgotten Wife To Fierce Queen - Chapter 12: Chapter 12

Dominick's car rolled to a stop outside the school, followed shortly by Marissa's.
As the engine's hum died down, Marissa was the first to step out. She barely had a chance to take in the surroundings before she noticed that the person stepping out of Dominick's car wasn't Julian—it was him. She blinked in surprise, her steps quickening as she approached him.
"Dom, what are you doing here?" she asked, catching up just in time. Dominick's stride was long and purposeful, his pace never slowing for her, though she managed to match it.
His eyes stayed straight ahead, focused, and she could sense that something was different about him today.
In the past, matters like the kids' school life were almost always her responsibility, occasionally Julian's. Dominick had hardly ever been involved. Today, it was Stella who had called Marissa, urging her to come over quickly. Marissa hadn't expected to run into Dominick here.
Her mind raced back to the earlier encounter with Paisley and Serena at the gate. She felt a knot tighten in her chest. Her eyes shifted toward the school, relieved to see that the playground was empty. At least for now, there was no immediate sign of trouble.
Dominick had never paid much attention to the school matters—he had always relied on others to handle the day-to-day logistics.
But today, for reasons he couldn't explain, he felt compelled to be here. Maybe it was because he had heard about Grayson being hurt for the first time, which caught him off guard.
As a father, he felt the need to be present, to show his support.
Marissa kept pace with Dominick as they walked toward the elementary school building. She spoke, "I heard from the principal that this child just transferred from Brightmoor and she had a bad temper.
"Not only did she hurt Sonny, but even Stella got caught up in it while trying to protect him."
When Dominick heard that Stella had been hurt while protecting Grayson, his steps slowed, matching Marissa's pace. "Sorry," he muttered quietly, his voice low. "I never meant for Stella to get caught up in this."
Marissa smiled gently, a touch of tenderness in her expression as she placed a hand on his arm. "Hey, it's me. No need to apologize."
Dominick gave a small nod but said nothing more. The tension in his chest was palpable, his mind focused solely on Grayson now. He wanted to know how badly his son had been hurt, especially after hearing that the injury was on his neck.
As the noise from outside grew louder, Michelle and the teachers from the involved classes hurriedly walked out of the office, eager to greet Dominick and Marissa.
"Mr. Vanderbilt, Ms. Prescott, please, come in," Michelle said, extending her arm toward them, her voice laced with practiced politeness.
The teachers followed suit, their smiles as wide and humble as could be. They were all thinking the same thing, 'What else can we do? At a time like this, we have no choice but to bend over backwards.
'Mr. Vanderbilt is a major shareholder in this school, and even the principal has to treat him with deference. After all, where else does the school's yearly budget come from?
'Grayson is the son of the biggest investor, which makes him the most important student of this school. And now, something so catastrophic has happened to him here. We're done for.'
Inside the principal's office, Stella had long since stopped crying. She was now sitting side by side with Grayson on the couch, her small chin held high, looking every bit like a victorious little warrior.
Her eyes, sharp with defiance, locked onto Serena, who was standing in the corner by a potted plant. "You big dummy, how dare you hit Sonny?" she said with all the authority of someone far older. "Apologize to Sonny, now."
Grayson's cold gaze was fixed on Serena as he absentmindedly touched the area on his neck where she had scratched him. 'I've never been hit in my life. This kid is truly wicked.'
Serena stood her ground, not saying a word, her eyes cast downward as she refused to give in and back down.
When the apology didn't come, Stella's patience wore thin. "You're done for." She tried to threaten Serena, her voice dark with a promise of retribution. "Sonny's family is on their way, and when they get here, you'll be finished. Not just you, your whole family. You're doomed."
Serena, her hands trembling, clutched the leaves of the houseplant nearby, her lips pressed tightly together, refusing to speak. 'What now? Will Mommy come? Will she be mad? I've only been in kindergarten for two days, and I've already caused trouble...
'And I hit Sonny... but I didn't mean to hurt him. He was the one helping that girl pick on me. That's why I scratched him. I don't want him to be my brother anymore. I don't like him anymore.'
The sound of footsteps outside grew louder, and before long, the door to the principal's office creaked open.
Stella was the first to look up, her eyes lighting up with surprise and joy as she saw Dominick. "Dominick," she cried, her voice bubbling with excitement.
She leaped off the couch and dashed toward him, her two pigtails bouncing with every step.
Dominick bent down and scooped her up into his arms. His gaze, however, immediately shifted toward Grayson, scanning him carefully.
When he saw that Grayson seemed to be unharmed, the tight frown that had been etched on his face relaxed, his tension easing for the first time that day.
He walked over to the couch and gently set Stella down, turning his attention to Grayson. With a steady, measured gaze, he checked the injury on his son's neck. The concern in his eyes was palpable, his brow furrowed as he examined the wound.
"It's nothing serious, just two small scratches," Michelle said, following closely behind Dominick, her voice shaky as she bent forward. "The moment he was hurt, we had the school doctor treat the wounds."
"How can you say it's nothing? How did these wounds happen?" Marissa's voice was sharp, full of concern and irritation.
"Well... it seems like it was caused by a child's nails." Michelle wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, anxiety creeping into her voice.
"Nails?" Marissa's tone grew even more furious. "Do you even know if there could be any viruses under those nails? His neck is full of nerves, blood vessels, and even the major arteries. What if that child's nails carried something? What would we do then?"
The bite in Marissa's words left Michelle feeling cornered, her mind racing. What had she hoped would be a small incident was now spiraling into something much larger than she'd anticipated. Her frustration shifted toward the troublemaker—Serena.
It wasn't just Michelle. Every teacher in the room was now seething with anger at Serena.
Serena could feel the weight of their hostile glares bearing down on her. Her small body flinched, instinctively shrinking back, trying to hide behind the nearest houseplant like it might protect her.
Dominick, however, remained unaffected by the tension in the room. With a calmness that contrasted the chaos, he carefully unwound the bandage from Grayson's neck. He checked the injury—two small, shallow cuts.
The area had been cleaned and treated. It looked minor. A sigh of relief escaped him as he re-bandaged the wound.
When Julian had told him about Grayson's little fight and injury at school, his expression had been so tense that Dominick had feared the worst.
He'd imagined it was something far worse. But now that he was seeing it firsthand, Dominick realized the injury was far less serious than he'd feared.
'It's my fault,' Dominick thought. 'This is the first time I've ever faced something like this as a father, and I overlooked so much. If the injury had really been that severe, the school would have sent him to the hospital already, not waited for me to come.'
"Daddy, it hurts..." Grayson's small hands clutched at his neck, his face scrunched in pain and looking so vulnerable.
Now that Dominick could see Grayson's red-rimmed eyes, it was clear he had been crying.
Dominick's expression darkened, brows knitting together in disapproval. 'Since when did I raise such a soft child? Crying over a few small scratches and demanding attention like this?'
Marissa, sitting on the other side of Grayson, scooped him up into her arms, gently rocking him. "Don't worry, Sonny, I'll take you to the hospital soon. We'll make sure everything's okay."
Her voice was soothing, but it was clear that she was pouring all of her attention into comforting Grayson.
Dominick didn't agree with this kind of indulgence. But as he watched Grayson cling to Marissa, seeking her out with such need, and seeing the others in the room, he didn't comment.
Stella, feeling neglected and deflated, thought to herself, 'I was hurt too. No one cares about me. Aunt Marissa and Dominick are all fussing over Sonny, but no one's paying attention to me.'
Determined to shift the adults' attention to herself, Stella turned to look at Serena, who was still hiding behind the money tree. "Aunt Marissa, Dominick, that mean kid hurt me and Sonny."
She pointed at Serena, eager to make sure everyone knew who was to blame. The accusation was like a spark in dry kindling. Stella's voice was full of drama, her words ensuring the focus of everyone in the room would shift, just as she wanted.