Regaining consciousness in the intensive care unit, the wealthy man overheard his wife’s conversation on the phone…

Oh, and I almost forgot, Fisher, don’t count on your salary. You understand the money will go towards compensating the damages. The news was a devastating blow to Emma.

Realizing that she had been deceived by everyone who could, she went outside and exposed her heated cheeks to the freezing wind. Seeing this, Henry couldn’t help himself and approached. Shh, dear, don’t cry.

Don’t torment yourself, sunshine. You know Andrew is in favor right now. That’s why he’s doing whatever he pleases.

And when Mr. Williams recovers, his reign will come to an end. And so that you don’t end up completely without money, I’ll allocate some from my pension for you. You can repay it whenever you can.

No rush, said the janitor, embracing the fragile woman by the shoulders. Thank you, Henry, for your support and protection. You see, I was counting so much on this money and then this happened.

We’re struggling with the kids in a rented apartment and the landlady keeps raising the rent, saying you receive child benefits so you won’t become poor. Emma replied, choking back tears. The elderly man shook his head.

He felt sorry for Emma, to say the least. Such a good colleague, calm, diligent, never speaks ill of anyone. She washes dishes up to her elbows in hot water and that’s it.

And this Andrew, the administrator, is a first-rate troublemaker. Henry remembered him from his work at the high school, where he had been a crafts teacher for over 40 years. So this Andrew, when he was a student, behaved extremely insolently, humiliating those who were poorer than him or physically weaker.

Henry once tried to shame Andrew, but it was all in vain. And then one dark night, the workshops for practicing crafts caught fire. Many blamed Henry then, saying he didn’t put out his cigarette properly, but he had never smoked in his life and always observed fire safety precautions.

The mystery was unraveled with Andrew, who in fact had committed arson with a group of teenage friends. Mitrish couldn’t prove anything at the time and was subsequently fired from the school with the corresponding note in his employment record. Overall, the dismissal didn’t bother the crafts teacher too much, as he was formally retired by then and had no bread left on his plate for sure.

After 17 years had passed since the incident by the twist of fate, Andrew and the elderly janitor crossed paths again, though in quite different capacities now. Of course, Andrew pretended not to recognize his former teacher, but Henry Brooks was no fool and had seen far too much in life to take Andrew at his word. However, James appealed to him, honest, kind, fair, just the kind of leader he should be.

Clutching the money given by Henry, Emma slowly made her way towards the bus stop to catch her needed bus on time. Memories of the recent snowstorm loomed on both sides of the road, with dirty grey mounds of snow that had fallen several weeks ago. Lost in her sombre thoughts, Emma trudged along the street when suddenly she heard a muffled murmuring.

It turned out that she hadn’t managed to distance herself from the restaurant by a decent margin, and thus she quickly turned around thinking Henry was following her to say something, but there was no one behind Emma. A fairly brisk frost lingered, nipping at her nose and rosy cheeks, as if courting the attractive woman. The mysterious sound repeated, and Emma realized it was coming from the nearest snowdrift.

Understanding that someone clearly needed help, she cautiously approached and froze in shock. There lay a man with a bloody head, groaning softly and unconscious on the dirty grey snow. Emma’s first thought was that the stranger had simply had too much to drink and had fallen, hitting his head, but when she leaned over the young man, she immediately realized he was as sober as a judge…