School Bullies, Meet My 109 Big Sisters Chapter 09
“Right now, your personal trust fund has about this much in it,” Alessia concluded.
With trembling hands, I flipped open the first page and stared at the impossibly long string of zeros. My hands shook so badly that I nearly dropped the file on the floor.
Sofia took the papers away and softly stroked my head.
“We originally planned to tell you all of this after you finished your SAT and turned 18 years old. But now that someone has bullied you right under our noses, we can’t keep hiding it from you any longer.
“Dante, from this day forward, you don’t have to put up with anything or anyone ever again. Even if the sky falls, you have 109 sisters to hold it up for you.”
Just as she finished speaking, the doorbell chimed.
Valentina, standing closest to the door, pulled it open.
Outside stood a trembling Giovanni and an ashen-faced Mr. Rossi, their hands full of gift boxes of all
sizes.
They stood frozen at the door, stripped of all their bluster.
Valentina let them in expressionlessly.
The gazes of 109 women in the living room fell upon them like tangible knives.
Mr. Rossi’s legs buckled-he could barely stand.
Giovanni was so terrified that his face had gone ghastly white. The gift boxes in his hands slipped and
clattered to the floor.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he dropped to his knees and began slapping himself on the face in my
direction.
The dull thud of slaps rang out with startling clarity in the quiet living room.
By the tenth slap, his cheek was already bruised purple and slick with cold sweat. He looked utterly
wretched.
“Stop,” I suddenly said.
Everyone in the living room turned to look at me.
Giovanni froze too, lifting his head in fear like someone bracing for a verdict.
I walked over to him and slowly crouched down, bringing my eyes level with his.
“Do you know why I finally snapped that day in the restroom and chose to drag you off the third floor
with me?”
He shook his head in terror, his lips trembling too much to form words.
I looked at him calmly and said emphatically, “Because you said a piece of trash like me could never get into college. That was my final straw. I’ve been studying like crazy because I wanted to get into a good college, land a decent job, and give my sisters a better life. You crossed that line, and that was why I fought you to the bitter end.”
I stared into his hollow eyes.
“Giovanni, did you bully me because I was poor? Or because you knew, deep down, that you were the worthless one?”
He froze, a brief flicker of alarm in his eyes at being so thoroughly exposed.
I stood up and shifted my gaze to Mr. Rossi, who was drenched in cold sweat.
“Mr. Rossi, you bear the greatest responsibility for what Giovanni has become. You thought money could fix everything in this world, so he grew up believing he could bully anyone without ever paying the price.”
Mr. Rossi bent even lower, his head bobbing up and down obsequiously.
“Yes, you’re absolutely right. I failed as a father.”
“I’m not lecturing you.” I cut him off and turned to Sofia. There was a hint of pleading in my voice as I spoke. “Sofia, if Rossi Mining just goes under like that, what will happen to all the workers who depend
on the mine for their livelihoods?”
A flicker of pride and relief passed through Sofia’s eyes. She understood exactly what I was saying.
She turned to Mr. Rossi and said icily, “Mr. Rossi, out of consideration for Dante’s kindness, I’ll give you
two choices. One, the mines will be seized immediately. Your tax evasion and cover-up of workplace fatalities will be more than enough to keep you rotting in a prison cell for the rest of your life.
“Two, you hand over 51% of the company’s shares. Our people will step in to oversee operations, correct
every safety violation, and pay every injured worker-and the families of the deceased-triple the full
compensation. From now on, you run the business legally, and all the profits will go to charity. You
choose.”
