They Bullied The “Poor” Girl… She Was a Billionaire’s Daughter
Chapter 5
The media attention changed everything.
Reporters gathered outside Westbridge Academy.
Cameras waited near the gates.
Students posted videos.
People debated whether Sophie had deliberately pretended to be poor.
Some praised her.
Others accused her of manipulating classmates.
Sophie hated all of it.
She hadn’t wanted attention.
She had wanted normality.
Daniel told her she could leave the school.
But Sophie refused.
“I don’t want to run again.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
“Then what do you want?”
Sophie thought.
“I want to finish what I started.”
Daniel nodded.
“Then I’ll support you.”
The school became more controlled.
Security increased.
Visitors were restricted.
But the biggest problem was Madison.
After her suspension, she returned to school.
She was quieter.
She avoided Sophie.
For several weeks, they never spoke.
Then one afternoon, Sophie found Madison sitting alone.
She looked completely different.
No friends.
No laughter.
No confidence.
Sophie almost walked past.
Then she stopped.
“Are you okay?”
Madison looked up.
“Why do you care?”
“I don’t know.”
Madison laughed bitterly.
“You should hate me.”
“I did.”
“Past tense?”
“Mostly.”
Madison looked away.
“My father won’t speak to me.”
Sophie said nothing.
“He says I embarrassed him.”
Sophie understood.
“What happened?”
Madison hesitated.
“He told me I had become exactly the kind of person he hates.”
Sophie sat down.
“Maybe he was right.”
Madison looked at her.
“You’re not going to tell me I’m forgiven?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know if I forgive you yet.”
Madison nodded.
“Fair.”
They sat in silence.
After a while, Madison said:
“I was jealous.”
“Of what?”
“You.”
Sophie frowned.
“Why?”
“Because you didn’t care what people thought.”
Sophie almost laughed.
“I cared a lot.”
“You never acted like it.”
“I learned.”
Madison looked at her.
“How?”
“My father taught me.”
“What did he say?”
Sophie smiled.
“He said money doesn’t make you better than anyone.”
Madison looked down.
“My father never taught me that.”
“Maybe you should ask him.”
Madison smiled weakly.
That conversation became the beginning of an unlikely friendship.
Not immediately.
Not completely.
But slowly.
Madison began apologizing to students she had bullied.
Some accepted.
Some didn’t.
She understood.
Sophie watched from a distance.
She wasn’t trying to save Madison.
Madison had to save herself.
Meanwhile, Daniel’s company faced a crisis.
A competitor launched a legal attack against Bennett Global.
Sophie overheard her father discussing it.
“You don’t have to worry about me,” Daniel told her.
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“Maybe.”
He smiled.
“You’ve been through enough.”
Sophie looked at him.
“You’re my father.”
“I know.”
“Then let me worry.”
Daniel laughed.
“Deal.”
But the legal battle became serious.
Someone had leaked confidential documents.
Again.
Daniel suspected an insider.
And this time, the person responsible had a connection to Westbridge Academy.
Sophie discovered it accidentally.
She found an email on a shared school computer.
A name she recognized.
One of Madison’s friends.
The same girl who had laughed when Sophie’s backpack broke.
Sophie stared at the screen.
She realized the bullying may have been connected to something much bigger.
Someone had known who she was before everyone else.
Someone had deliberately targeted her.
