A little girl with hair tied in two buns darted out of the classroom. She planted her feet firmly and declared with utter seriousness, "Robert would never do that! He's always helping me with my math!" Tracy spotted her and called out urgently, "Where is her teacher? Get her back to class right now!" The girl's teacher rushed out, flustered and apologetic. They'd been watching the children, but in that single moment of distraction, she had slipped away. But the girl wouldn't let her teacher near her. She put her small hands on her hips, chin held high. "I can prove it! Robert didn't touch Jenarth at all. He couldn't have done anything wrong!" "Of course she'd say that," Jenarth mumbled, hanging his head and looking utterly dejected. "Amy's his best friend. They're always together. It's only natural she'd stick up for him. If that counts as proof he's innocent, then... I guess I have nothing more to say." The other children, hearing this, immediately rallied to Jenarth's defense. They'd all wanted to play with Amy, but she only ever had eyes for Robert. Of course she'd lie for him. They were convinced she was just helping him weasel out of trouble. "Robert and Amy are best friends. They play together every single day. She's totally covering for him." "Yeah, Amy's lying!" "I am not!" Amy shouted, her voice ringing with conviction. "I'm telling the truth! You're the ones making things up!" Robert couldn't help the slight smile that touched his lips. "How interesting," he remarked coolly. "You claim she's lying for me. So, by that logic, since you all hang around Jenarth, does that mean you're all in this together? Should I just assume you're all trying to frame me?" His gaze swept over the group of children, turning icy. "Jenarth gave you hair clips and game cards, didn't he? Those shiny, limited-edition ones. You got your little presents, so now you're all returning the favor, is that it?" "I..." The child who had accepted the game cards flushed bright red, caught in the act. "No! Jenarth is just really nice. He just brought us little gifts because he's new and wants to make friends with us. That's all it was!" "Yeah, they were just gifts!" the other children parroted. "You're Drew Rodgers from Class Four, right?" Robert's accusation was direct. "The cameras never caught me putting egg bits in any cup. But I saw you at breakfast—you took an extra egg. You tried to set me up with that egg, right? You took Jenarth's egg, didn't you? Every child gets one egg. Jenarth is allergic, so you took his, right?" Drew Rodgers shook his head frantically. "Why would I frame you? I just like eggs! The teacher gave me Jenarth's because he couldn't eat it. I ate it at breakfast, and the kitchen staff took away the little bit that was left!" "Keep making up stories. You're the only one who had an extra egg. If it wasn't you, then who was it? You must have slipped the egg bits into my cup before the kitchen staff came around." Robert's tone was so calm, making his words sound utterly plausible. "I strongly suggest the teachers check the cameras again. I bet they'll show it was Drew." Pinned with the blame, Drew panicked. "I didn't do it! I'm not a bad kid! Why would I try to frame you? You're lying! I left a little bit on the table, and the kitchen staff took it when I walked away. If you don't believe me..." His eyes darted around before landing on Jenarth. "Ask Jenarth! He was sitting right next to me! He saw everything! I didn't touch the leftover eggs after I was done!" Suddenly thrust into the spotlight, Jenarth froze for a second before speaking softly. "I... I was just eating my breakfast. I didn't really notice." "Jenarth, you were talking to me! You even asked me if I couldn't finish the egg! Don't you remember?" Drew tried hard to prove himself, grabbing his mom's hand and shouting, "Mom, I would never hurt anyone!" "Enough!" Drew's mother snapped, yanking her son behind her and glaring daggers at Chloe and Robert. "You people are unbelievable! Now you're accusing my son? There are dozens of children here, and you're just going to point fingers at every single one? You could keep this up all day! If you don't have any real proof, you don't belong at Eaton Kindergarten. You're poisoning this entire place!" "Wow, you're so touchy," Robert shot back with a cold laugh. "You're welcome to prove your son is innocent, you know. Bunch of idiots." "You... you little brat! Say that again!" Drew's mother shrieked, jabbing a finger toward Robert. "This circus ends now." Chloe's voice cut through the noise, cold and sharp. "You all love pointing fingers—since when do cheap talk and useless videos count as proof? Have any of you ever thought about how it feels to be on the receiving end of those false accusations?"