Rise Of The Penniless Trillionaire

Chapter 5

Jason headed straight to the lecture hall for the first lecture of the day and sat down quietly as he waited for the class to begin. As usual, everyone avoided him like a plague. 

He was known to be the pauper of the school, therefore who would like to accept a pauper.

The seats in his left and right sides were empty, making him feel lonely in a class full of people.

Each students made sure they fled from him, and at the slight contact, they tried every means possible to emaciate humiliation.

His only best friend, Caleb, for some reasons, was absent and was nowhere to be found. He tried calling him but there was no response. He looked through his lecture schedule. 

He did not quite like economics, but the professor was nice. He did not ask very difficult questions in his tests.

The economics professor soon strolled in for the first class and began to teach. Jason glanced at his wristwatch. He was glad he did not have to go to work anymore. 

He had been thinking of getting a new job before the encounter of last night, where a humongous massive and unbelievable sum of money was deposited into his account. 

He would have been looking for a way to juggle his work and school. However, he was still very much interested in fashion and would be attending classes early in the morning as usual. 

He was still lost in his thoughts when the principal entered the lecture hall. The professor stopped talking and allowed the principal an audience. 

All the students were suddenly very attentive because they knew that the principal was a hard man and would not condone a laissez faire attitude toward school work

"Jason Abbott," the principal thundered. "Where are you?" The round middle aged man asked.

Jason did not answer or utter a single word at first as he could not believe that the principal was actually looking for him. 

Why is he here? Why is he searching for me? He thought to himself.

Multiple questions raced through his mind as he tried to think about what could possibly be his offense.

Anthony folded a paper into a ball immediately and threw it at him.

With a gasp, he jolted back to reality.  Everyone burst out laughing and Jason felt unhappy about what was happening.

Once again, he felt humiliated, and wondered when each student would get to see him with a different face 

"Stand up there young man," the principal thundered and he sprung to his feet immediately, still shaking like a leaf.

"A report came in this morning that the college fund has been stolen," the principal began, addressing the entire class. 

"I did not believe it until I checked myself and the money was truly gone," he paused and looked around the class before his eyes fell on Jason.

"Apparently, you have been accused of stealing the funds," the principal said to him. 

"No I did not do so," Jason answered, stuttering hard. He was standing up when the whole class was seated and was accused of theft by the principal. He did not know what other form of humiliation could be worse. 

"Keep your mouth shut," the principal ordered. "You would have been expelled from this school immediately, but from what I see, you have a very brilliant academic record, so I will give you a chance to redeem yourself," the principal continued.

Jason listened, hoping that whatever condition the principal gave him would be favorable and not make matters worse. He was already in a very bad and inhumane place and would do whatever it took to redeem himself.

However, he still had to pray to get a simplified punishment, at least maybe for what he never did.

"You are going to return the whole money you took from the college fund and you can resume school," the principal instructed.

Jason Abbott immediately thought about it. Returning the funds that were stolen would not be a problem to him as he already had enough in his bank account. 

The only problem was that he would always be labeled as a thief by other students which was not a good look at all.

The humiliation would be greater than it was before.

"But sir," Jason began. "I did not steal any money at all," he said in his defense.

"Shut up you liar," Cecilia interjected. "I know that you stole the money, you poverty-stricken boy," she said. The whole class burst out laughing again.

"From your record that I have in my office, it is stated that you are an orphan and you have moved from one foster home to the other in the course of your life," the principal began again. 

"It is also stated that you are working two jobs just to pay your fees and keep up with your rent," the man continued. 

He then paused for a brief moment before he spoke again.

"Look around you," he began again. "This is a school for the wealthy in society and from the records, you are nothing but someone struggling to meet up," he continued before he looked into a paper in his hand.

"You even barely meet up… So what's the point of being here?"

"From what I have here," he continued. "You have outstanding tuition fees that have not been paid," he said. "Which leaves me with the question of how you got yourself into this school in the first place?" He added.

"So who knows if you did not steal the money just to pay your fees or your rent, you thief," the principal stated in a stern voice.

At this point, Jason was speechless. He did not know what to say again. All the odds were against him now, leaving no room for him to defend himself. 

His case seemed like the perfect situation and he would eventually have to bear the brunt of the accusation.

"Suddenly, you do not have anything to say?" The principal asked.

"Cat got his tongue," Anthony said and all the class burst out laughing again, humiliating Jason further. 

"I am not a thief sir," Jason said, finding his voice at last. "There is no evidence to prove that I stole anything," he added.

"I know you are a thief and this is not your first attempt at stealing," Cecilia lied, making matters worse. He wish he could just make her shut up.

"I give you just three days to return the money you stole or you can get ready to face the music," the principal said and began to head out. 

He stopped suddenly and turned around. "And by music, I mean jail," he added before he headed out leaving Jason in a perplexed state, not because he could not afford the money, but because he was branded a thief.