บท 4: To little pumpkin rescue!

The moment Bella Lim walked into the office, she felt the flame inside her flared up for the scene she witnessed was a woman pulling her little pumpkin's left ear. If she didn't notice the unclouded, fearless eyes possessed by her little pumpkin, she probably let go of the sanity she was hanging on and snapped the woman's finger until it was broken.

"Miss Bella, you're here," a man who was sitting on the only chair inside the room called her name loudly as if to alert the other people about her arrival. The woman that was pulling the little boy's ear immediately released her fingers.

"Since you're late, I will only tell you the consequences this incident has on your brother. The school has decided to remove his name from the future Grade 1's class unless you as the guardian writes a letter of apology and pay compensation to Mrs. Ann," the headmaster explained. At the end of his sentence, he yawned. His eyes were not even looking at Bella Lim.

He thought the woman in front of her would act as she always did. She would inquire about the whole incident and then politely apologized before leaving with her little brother. In this situation, she would just agree to the consequences and leave.

Bella Lim didn't response. Instead, she walked towards her little brother and crouched down.

"Does it hurt?" she asked as she examined her little pumpkin's left ear. The chubby boy shook his head to deny.

"What happened?" Bella Lim's face twitched as she noticed the redness on her little pumpkin's left ear. Her voice was cracking when she asked the question.

Little pumpkin saw that his guardian angel had come and the fearless gaze he had earlier melted down as tears began to fall on his soft cheek.

Little pumpkin cleared the tears away with his chubby hand before he explained the whole situation.

"Big sister, he took my pencil and the new picture book you gave me yesterday. I was only trying to get back what is mine when he suddenly bit me. I bit him back and he cried," the little pumpkin explained. He began to hiccup but even so, he went through his bag and took out a pencil and a book. The book cover was almost ripped into two. If one was not careful when flipping it, the cover would rip apart.

Bella Lim smiled at the little pumpkin in front of her and said, "Good boy," Then, she wiped the remaining tears left on his cheek.

"Hah, what a scene! Mr. Ronald, look at this woman. Instead of reprimanding her brother's lack of manner, she even praised him. Tsk, tsk. No wonder the brother looks like a wild animal, his guardian is so-so. Look at her clothes, so unruly, no wonder the brother also becomes one. Look at my son's hand. He was hurt because of him!" Mrs. Ann who was watching by the side said in disdain. She continued to ridicule the pair of siblings.

"Your son was hurt?" Bella Lim asked as she stood up. She turned to face the woman while shielding her little pumpkin behind. The image of her pulling her little brother's ear was clear in her mind.

Mrs. Ann didn't reply as she pulled her son's right hand and showed it to her. There was a bite mark but compared to the redness on Ryan Lim's left ear, that bite mark was nothing. The former carried pain when someone examined it.

"Little pumpkin, what do you think of his injury?" Bella tilted her head to little pumpkin's direction.

"Big sister, he was bleeding because his skin is too soft. Thankfully I have a thick skin or else my injury could be worse than his," the words smoothly left the little boy's lips. Bella Lim sneakily smiled, and the moment Mrs. Ann looked at her, she was already putting on her serious face.

Her little pumpkin was just too savage!

"What did you say?" Mrs. Ann was angered. "My son is injured by you! How dare you insult him like that!" she shouted.

"Mr. Chen, is what my brother said the truth?" Bella Lim ignored Mrs. Wong's wrath and focused her eyes on Mr. Chen who was also present in the room.

"That was indeed the case. But, Miss Bella for the sake of your little brother, please just do what the headmaster asks. Based on your financial, it will be difficult to find another school with affordable fees. Ryan is a bright student, he needs to attend school," Mr. Chen responded. He noticed the signal the headmaster was hinting on earlier. He wanted him to take Mrs. Ann's sides.

"Hmm, but from what I heard, my brother is not the one at fault. His action was for self-defense. On the other hand, Mrs. Ann's son not only took something without approval from my brother. He also initiated the fight. He bit my little brother's hand first. Therefore, it should be me asking Mrs. Ann to write a letter of apology," Bella Lim stated. Her eyes left Mr. Chen as she stared at the woman whose mouth was spitting cursing words non-stop.

"You dare!" Mrs. Ann screamed as she rose her right hand. Any seconds and that hand would reach Bella Lim's left cheek.

"You want to slap me?" Bella Lim smirked. Soon…

PAT!

Instead of giving a slap, Mrs. Ann received a slap instead. The unexpected turned of the event made the viewers stunned. Even the one being slapped couldn't believe that she was slapped right on her face.

Bella Lim's eyes were blazing like the sun. She was no longer hiding the fury in her heart!

"Mr. Ronald, you as the headmaster is clearly taking the wrong side. Why? Because this woman here has more money than me? You're one of the reasons why rich kids like her son cannot think on their own two feet. Don't bother expelling my brother, I can find another school that treats him better than this one. Oh, and Mrs. Ann, I hope you'll have a happy life in the future with this son of yours," Bella Lim finally exploded. Her eyes swept over the faces of the three people in the room, not forgetting Mrs. Ann's son who was now trembling as he looked at her. No one dared to refute back because, for an unknown reason, they squirmed whenever they looked into her eyes.

"Little pumpkin, let's go," Bella Lim held the plum fingers of her little brother and they walked out of the room together.

Outside the office, the crowd saw the sibling came out and their lively gazed suddenly became sympathetic. They thought the pair of a sibling had gone through a horrible experience inside. However, the ajar door allowed them to see the bizarre expressions of the people inside the room. Seeing these, the crowd noticed that the Lim siblings' expressions were better compared to that inside. What had happened?

The crowd was curious, but no one dared to ask. They saw that Bella Lim and her little brother was gone from their sight. Only then, they realized that the drama was over. They dispersed leaving the astounded people inside the office.