Chapter 25 Shouldn’t She Be Grateful?
1/7
Backstage at the banquet, the hotel manager’s face was beet red with fury. He jabbed a finger at Elias Sinclair’s nose, spitting venom. “Have you lost your mind? Picking a fight with that guy?
“Do you have any idea the mess you’ve caused me?”
Elias kept his head bowed, blood still trickling from his wounds. He seemed numb to the pain, bowing repeatedly as he apologized. “I’m so sorry, sir.
“It wasn’t on purpose, I swear. It won’t happen again.”
He’d taken a brutal beating without a peep, but now his voice was soft, almost pleading.
“Again? You think you’re getting another shot?” The manager let out a harsh laugh.
“Here’s your pay. Now get out!” He wired Elias his wages for the day.
Knowing there was no salvaging this, Elias fell silent.
He changed out of his uniform and limped out the hotel’s back door.
Chapter 25 Shouldn’t She Be Grateful?
Night had fallen completely, the last sliver of moonlight. swallowed by heavy clouds.
2/7
Elias didn’t head to a hospital. Instead, he dragged his battered body back to his cramped rental apartment.
Lying on his bed, his thoughts drifted to the girl from earlier.
Her face was unforgettable, a kind of beauty that hit you like a lightning bolt. Even he, hardened as he was, had nearly lost himself staring at her.
Years later, that moment would still be etched in his memory.
She’d looked down at him like a princess from on high, and in that instant, he’d never felt so small.
He knew she was the one who’d called the cops.
She’d saved him.
If not for her, he might’ve been carried out of there on a stretcher instead of walking away.
The Fridman family’s banquet wrapped up, and Sabrina never did meet her uncle or cousin.
Theodore, hearing they hadn’t shown, actually breathed a sigh of relief.
Chapter 25 Shouldn’t She Be Grateful?
3/7
He felt that Nicholas Fridman and Wesley Fridman had become increasingly eccentric over the years, so it was just as well that they didn’t come.
He knew if they’d come, the night would’ve been a chaotic mess.
A few days later, Sabrina started keeping tabs on the chatter on X.
Theodore had agreed to let the trending topic linger, and it stayed up for a full week.
As the hate piled up, Sabrina watched with a faint smirk.
Keep it coming. The harder you swing now, the worse it’ll sting when the truth hits.
That evening, she scheduled a post on X to go live.
It was simple–two images and a video. The first image was a detailed record of her financial ties with the Sterling family over the years. It showed every transfer from Hailey and every receipt for meals she’d paid for herself.
The numbers were crystal clear, laid bare for all to see.
Netizens were floored. According to the records, over fourteen years, the Sterlings had spent less than 50 thousand dollars on their foster daughter, including Hailey’s transfers.
Even more jaw–dropping was Sabrina’s own expense log. She’d shelled out over 80 thousand dollars just on food and basics.
Chapter 25 Shouldn’t She Be Grateful?
The records showed she’d fended for herself for over two hundred days a year, every year.
4/7
The math was brutal. She’d taken less than fifty grand from the Sterlings while spending over eighty grand of her own.
She hadn’t cost them a dime, and it looked more like they’d owed her. A family as wealthy as the Sterlings spending so little on their foster daughter? It was unthinkable.
No one could believe a so–called elite family could be that stingy.
Then came the video, unedited and raw.
This was the same footage from when Sabrina had supposedly “pushed” Brianna, but this version included the full context, unlike the chopped–up version floating around the school forums.
In it, Sabrina and Brianna faced off at the top of a staircase.
“You’d better stay out of my business, Sabrina,” Brianna crossed her arms, her tone dripping with hostility. She looked nothing like the soft–spoken, sweet girl she pretended to be at school. In fact, she looked every bit the spoiled bully.
Sabrina, by contrast, was calm, almost detached.
Her brow furrowed slightly. “You shouldn’t be egging Dad on to invest in that project.”
Chapter 25 Shouldn’t She Be Grateful?
5/7
Her coolheadedness only fueled Brianna’s rage. She lunged forward, shouting, “I’m the real Sterling here, Sabrina! Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?”
Her face twisted with anger, almost unrecognizable.
Sabrina’s gaze turned frosty.
“Do whatever you want, but don’t drag Dad into this. He’s exhausted already. That project’s a black hole. People have lost everything, some even their families. I won’t let you ruin him.”
Brianna smirked, venom in her eyes. “He’s my dad, Sabrina. Your really think he’ll listen to you over me?”
Brianna looked like she’d crawled straight out of a nightmare.
Sabrina didn’t hesitate. She slapped Brianna hard across the face.
“Have you got any conscience left? If you so much as think about using Dad again, I’ll make you regret it.”
Before she could say more, Brianna grabbed Sabrina’s hand, pressed it to her chest, and flung herself backward, tumbling down the stairs with a dramatic flair.
Sabrina stood frozen, stunned, as Matthew’s icy voice cut through the air. “What the hell are you doing?”
The video ended there.
Chapter 25 Shouldn’t She Be Grateful? The post went live, and the internet exploded.
The comment section flipped overnight.
[Holy crap, Brianna deserves an Oscar for that performance!]
6/7
[I thought this was some fake–heiress–steals–the–spot drama, but it was the real daughter bullying the foster kid?]
[Brianna’s gross. She’s throwing tantrums and pulling dirty tricks.]
[Even the foster daughter cares more about their dad than she does.]
[That guy at the end. How can he blame Sabrina without even. asking what happened? I’m fuming.]
[Matthew didn’t even bother getting the truth. How crushed must Sabrina have been?]
[Forget Brianna for a second. Isn’t the Sterling family disgusting? They didn’t even feed her properly for over a decade.]
[They drop millions of dollars on clothes but can’t be bothered to pay for her meals?]
[Sabrina survived on her own grit.]
[People on the forum were saying her top grades were thanks to the Sterlings” “nurturing.” Talk about a slap in the face now.]
Chapter 25 Shouldn’t She Be Grateful?
[She clearly earned it all herself. I actually admire her now.]
7/7
[Not only did she not mooch off the Sterlings, she paid them 50. million dollars to cut ties. That’s next–level class.]
[I can’t even imagine how incredible she must be. She’s only seventeen and coughing up 50 million dollars. Here I am, fresh out of college, scraping by on three grand a month and begging my parents for help. Some people are just built differently.]
[The Sterlings actually took that 50 million dollars? They’ve got no shame. I’m livid.]
The comments were a tidal wave of outrage against the Sterlings, but one stood out, jarringly out of place.
[Sure, the Sterlings didn’t give her much, but didn’t they send her abroad to study for five years? Shouldn’t she be grateful for that?]
→Write your comment
ir Gifts
