Moreover, the discipline level was a "Severe Warning," just one step below a formal demerit.
At the academy, there were only a few situations that warranted a severe warning—cheating on an exam, getting into a physical fight, or a serious moral violation.
Eliza set her pen down and carefully turned to the next page.
It was an attached note from Julian's people:
"Sean Sutton, dismissed in 2019 for accepting bribes. College classmate of Yvonne's father, Arthur Vance."
"Arthur Vance transferred $12,000 to Sean Sutton's personal account in December 2017, just one day before the disciplinary action was revoked."
Eliza put the paper down, lost in thought for a long while before picking up her phone.
"Gwen."
"Yeah?" Gwen sounded like she was chewing on something.
"Yvonne was hit with a disciplinary action from the school during her sophomore year. A severe warning, and the reason was wiped from the records."
The chewing sound on the other end stopped.
"Holy crap." Gwen swallowed loudly, her voice rising half an octave. "Her dad definitely paid to clean up her mess again. Being her father is a full-time job!"
"Yeah... but the question is, what was the reason for the discipline?"
"I have no idea. We'll just have to wait for Julian's follow-up."
Eliza flipped the document to the last page as they spoke.
A slip of paper was attached at the very end:
"Reason for discipline remains unverified; the original file has been lost."
"In November 2017, another sophomore female student at the City B Dance Academy filed an appeal claiming her 'choreography was plagiarized and her competition spot was stolen.' The appeal was rejected, and the girl was forced to drop out the following year."
"Name of the party involved: Seraphina Vance."
Eliza's finger lingered over the words "choreography was plagiarized" for a long time.
She remembered the fabricated competition records she had dug up earlier, where Yvonne had stolen the fourth-place contestant's spot to join the troupe.
The person who orchestrated that was also her father's college classmate, Sean Sutton.
Eliza closed the folder and slipped it under the remote control on the coffee table.
Her phone lit up again.
[Julian: Finished reading the file?]
[Finished.]
[Julian: I already have people looking into Seraphina. I'll track her down and get some closure on this.]
Eliza stared at the screen, her fingers hovering over the keyboard for a few seconds.


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