Page 68 of Red River

Principal Vernon, however, pulled himself together first. He straightened his posture and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, Igor has been very honest with us, Mr. Wilson. That’s one of the reasons I proposed sweeping this under the rug in the first place. From what Igor has shared, you’ve been his guardian for only two weeks, and instead of focusing on your responsibilities, you’re busy sexually entertaining his dad. Clearly, your influence isn’t the best if the boy is resorting to violence this early in his time at our school. I think we should consider involving Family Services to evaluate whether Igor’s current environment is safe for him."

I immediately looked at Igor, whose face turned slightly red as if he regretted snitching on us to Principal Vernon. His animosity toward Archer was now backfiring on his own case.

"Based on what Igor has told us, you’re using pretty brutal training methods with him. Perhaps FS should take a closer look at how a twenty-two-year-old is fulfilling his duties as a guardian," Principal Vernon continued mercilessly.

I felt like I was about to explode like a grenade.

Archer, however, remained completely composed.

"I can see how much you care about Igor’s well-being, indeed. I’m touched. Surely, none of that care includes suggesting that Igor would be better off experiencing ‘brutal training methods’ in an alpha boot camp instead? A ‘safer environment’? Statistically, one in five alphas there becomes a victim of gang rape. Especially the ‘pretty’ ones. But being a beta, you’d be happy to get rid of yet another troublesome alpha boy from your perfect school. So this outcome would suit you best, wouldn’t it?"

Principal Vernon’s jaw tightened, the muscles in his face twitching as he clenched it hard.

Archer tilted his head slightly. "By all means, invite the FS enforcers to evaluate Igor’s current ‘dreadful’ situation. In the meantime, I consider this conversation over. As you said yourself, the matter has been swept under the rug, am I right?"

To my absolute astonishment, the first person to follow Archer’s lead was Igor. He got up and headed for the door. Only then did I notice Milo still standing there in the shadows, peeking from behind the doorframe, watching everything unfold with great interest.

Without saying goodbye to either the principal or the school counselor, I hurried after Igor, Milo, and Archer.

In less than a minute, we were out of the building.

As we descended the stairs, Milo suddenly said to Archer, "Principal Vernon is a real scumbag. With Philip’s dad being his cousin and regularly sponsoring various school projects, it’s no wonder that idiot takes his side by default."

"Relax. My cousin Jan has good connections with the editor-in-chief ofEast Times Magazine. If it comes to that, he can help publicize this. Sexual harassment of a student is no joke, and threatening parents with FS? I’m sure the Board ofEducation will want to look into a situation where the principal and school counselor take no action," Archer replied calmly.

Milo nodded and suddenly murmured, "Oh, by the way. I’ve got what you asked for."

I didn’t understand what he meant. I glanced at him, then at Archer, who smirked slightly.

"Perfect. Perfect. You’re coming home with us. I want to talk to you," Archer muttered.

I had no idea what this was about, but from the look on Archer’s face, I knew better than to ask in front of Igor. Though my son had walked slightly ahead of us, he turned back, just as clueless.

We all got into the car.

My mind was a total mess, so jumbled I didn’t even know where to start. As always, in moments like these, I felt paralyzed by my emotions. I was angry—at Igor, at the principal, at myself—but definitely the least angry at Archer. I had a gut feeling that everything that had happened wasn’t as random or out of control as I’d initially assumed.

Igor stared out the window the entire drive home.

Milo sat on the other side, furiously typing on his phone. I was almost certain he was sharing this whole ordeal with his classmates—it was probably a huge piece of gossip for them.

When we arrived home, Archer gestured toward Milo, and the two of them disappeared into the basement—heading to Archer’s gym. The door shut behind them.

The rest of the kids were already home. They ran out to greet us but froze mid-step the moment they saw Igor’s swollen face.

He went straight to his room, but I wasn’t about to let the whole situation go.

Oh, no! I followed him immediately.

"I’ve got just one question for you, Igor," I said as soon as he sat down at his computer.

He didn’t even look at me, keeping his eyes glued to the screen.

"If you really prefer ending up at one of the alpha boot camps, you need to just tell me. Why are we all fighting if you've already decided you'll do absolutely everything to make that happen? Maybe you should just call them straight away and have them come pick you up already?"

Igor grimaced slightly, but the expression seemed to pain him. He raised a hand to his face, lightly touching his split lip.

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