CHAPTER 121: MY DAD CAN BACK ME UP

Emma was confused by his words. Everyone knew she was the best at taekwondo in the entire kindergarten—she could advance even with her eyes closed.

"What do you mean?"

She asked Kenny.

He raised his head and continued, "My dad said all the judges in this competition are his friends. They’ve already agreed to give you low scores, so you won’t advance at all!

"By that time, you will have to crawl back to your little mouse hole at home!"

She frowned and replied, "I don’t believe you!"

"Mom says you’re just jealous of me because you know you can’t beat me! Idiot!"

No matter what, Cecilia had taught her never to let herself be taken advantage of when encountering bad people.

Since Kenny kept picking on her and insulting her, he was definitely a bad person.

As soon as Emma said that, the other kids also chimed in.

"Yeah, Kenny is a big idiot!"

On the other hand, Kenny was so angry that his face turned bright red, completely losing the arrogance he had just moments ago. He started shouting and screaming in frustration.

"I’m telling the truth! My dad can back me up!"

He started wailing for John, who soon hurried in from outside and inspected Kenny with concern.

"What’s wrong, son? Is someone bullying you?"

Kenny, wiping his nose and tears with one hand, pointed at Emma with the other.

"It’s Emma! I said she definitely can’t advance, and she didn’t believe me. She called me an idiot. Dad, tell her she can’t advance this time!"

John wiped Kenny’s tears before turning back to Emma, his eyes full of disgust.

He originally planned to make sure she couldn’t advance during the competition so that no one would suspect he was behind it. After all, he had done a check and found out that Steven only had a son and no daughter. Moreover, Kenny’s previous claims about a magic trick were probably lies, too.

Additionally, he heard that it was Cecilia who had persuaded Elena not to invest in their cosmetics project. That made John even angrier.

"You again, Emma! I’m telling you, you won’t advance this time, so just give up! Apologize to Kenny!"

Emma blinked, unfazed as she said, "My mommy says you can’t cheat in competitions. What you’re doing is wrong, and I won’t apologize!"

The other kids, not knowing what "cheat" meant, looked at her blankly.

"Emma, what does ’cheat’ mean?"

She pointed at John and said, "It means deliberately making the competition unfair. That’s what Mr. Brut is doing!"

John was taken aback, thinking he wouldn’t be intimidated by some little girl as he replied, "I am not cheating! It’s because you’re a liar, and Taekwondo values honesty. You’re getting eliminated for being dishonest!"

Emma was puzzled. "I didn’t lie."

At her reply, he raised his voice, "You said your dad is Steven Lawrence, the president of Lawrence Group. However, Steven only has one son, no daughter; you’re lying!"

Indeed, she had mentioned in class that her father was Steven. However, she only did that to share his excellence with her friends, not to boast or lie.

Emma retorted, "I’m not lying! My dad is Steven Lawrence!"

John scoffed, "Then prove it. Video call him so we can see, and then we will believe you!"

She lowered her head, troubled.

Her social account was linked to Cecilia’s, and Steven’s friend request hadn’t been accepted.

She didn’t have him as a contact, and his phone number wasn’t in her watch either.

She indeed couldn’t video call her dad to prove her claim.

"I... I can’t make the call..."

Hearing this, John laughed triumphantly. Finally, he could vent his frustration. Mona had once called him, saying not to offend Emma because she might be Steven’s child, which had been bothering him. Due to this, he had to endure watching Kenny unhappy every day. But not anymore.

"Liar!"

She held her head high and stubbornly said, "What does my dad’s identity even have to do with my participation in the competition?"

"I’m capable of participating!"

John waved his hand dismissively.

"Whatever, join if you want, but don’t cry when you don’t advance!"

He had already arranged with the other judges to score Emma using the strictest national standards. She was just a little kid, after all; she couldn’t possibly outperform a professional Taekwondo athlete.

That way, once she was eliminated, nobody could find fault with it and merely chalk it up to her lacking skill.

While they were at a standoff, a notification came that the competition was about to start.

The kids quickly got ready and headed backstage to the auditorium, which was filled with people. Ahead were the renowned judges in the industry.

The competition officially began amidst a burst of cheers.