Chapter 21 What Value Do I Have?
After the cheating scandal, Sabrina’s name echoed through Harvard–Westlake School like wildfire.
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Students dubbed her the “academic goddess,” a title that stuck fast.
But the buzz didn’t stop there. Soon after, two videos surfaced on the school forum–one showing Sabrina in a hospital, the other capturing her shoving Brianna down a staircase.
The comment sections erupted, a tidal wave of outrage crashing.
- in.
Within hours, the post shot to the top of trending searches.
Online, the fury spilled over. Netizens swarmed the Harvard–Westlake forum, then flooded the X with venom aimed at Sabrina.
[Unbelievable. What kind of monster is she?]
[She’s the grade’s top student at Harvard–Westlake School, the so–called academic goddess.]
[So what if she’s a genius? Doesn’t make her a decent person.]
[If the Sterling family hadn’t taken her in, where would she be? Please. That first–place ranking? All thanks to the Sterlings.
Chapter 21 What Value Do I Have? Without them, she’d be nothing!]
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[I heard she paid the Sterling family 50 million dollars when she left, claiming it settled their debt to her. What a joke! Fifty million dollars? That’s pocket change to a family like theirs. They probably spent way more than that raising her over the years.]
[Trash like her will never turn into a real lady.]
[Shameless.]
[She’s an ungrateful wretch. The Sterling family raised her, and she repays them by trying to ruin their real daughter. She’s pure evil.]
[She doesn’t belong at Harvard–Westlake.]
[She’s nothing but a bad influence on Brianna.]
[Brianna’s not only smart, but she’s also a good person, way better than Sabrina.]
*****
Sabrina scrolled through X, her face a mix of boredom and amusement at the barrage of insults.
Some comments even made her chuckle.
But when she saw one claiming her top rank was thanks to the Sterling family’s support, her expression darkened.
Chapter 21 What Value Do I Have?
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“Shameless doesn’t even cover it,” she muttered with a scornful laugh.
She could shrug off most of the hate, but crediting her success to the Sterling family? That was a line she wouldn’t let slide.
It lit a fire in her chest.
For years, everything Sabrina atc, wore, or used came out of her own pocket.
Sure, she stayed at the Sterling Villa and had dinner there. sometimes, but that was it.
She couldn’t recall them spending a single cent on her, not really.
The online hale just got worse. Someone posted her photo, and soon trolls were photoshopping it into fake obituaries.
When Theodore found out, he acted fast. He got the trending topic pulled and every trace of Sabrina’s pictures wiped from the web.
As he clicked through the accounts behind those fake images, his expression darkened.
“Track down their IPs,” he ordered. “Ban them for good.”
He couldn’t understand why people who knew nothing about Sabrina would throw such nasty hate at a kid.
Chapter 21 What Value Do I Have?
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Without missing a beat, he told Julian to set up an X account for him.
Theodore logged in, browsed the school forum, and came back with a face like thunder.
“If I hadn’t seen that trending disaster, I’d never have known. Sabrina was being cyberbullied at school,” he said, his voice shaking with anger. “For her to go through this alone… The Sterlings have a lot to answer for.”
Julian, who’d read the comments too, felt a stab of sympathy for the girl.
Saoirse was so young, yet carrying such a heavy burden. It twisted his gul.
“Give me the car keys,” Theodore said, getting up from his desk and throwing on his jacket.
“Where are you going?” Julian asked, handing them over.
“I’m picking her up from school,” Theodore replied, his voice. clipped as he moved with determination.
He couldn’t bear to think about what Sabrina had gone through with the Sterlings.
Now, his mood was foul, his patience razor–thin.
Julian hesitated. “But you’ve got that big meeting soon.”
Chapter 21 What Value Do I Have?
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“Nothing’s more important than this. I’m getting my daughter,”
Theodore snapped, his expression so fierce that no one dared to approach him as he stormed out.
Saoirse, aware of the online chaos, didn’t stop him when he arrived to pick Sabrina up.
When Sabrina was called out of class, she shuffled out, still half in a daze.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, looking up at Theodore, her face calm and composed.
The knot of worry in Theodore’s chest loosened a bit.
He’d half–expected to find her curled up somewhere, quietly crying.
Now he realized he’d underestimated her resilience.
“I’m here to take you home,” he said, reaching out to ruffle her hair in a casual, affectionate gesture.
Sabrina stiffened, dodging his hand with an awkward shift.
Theodore’s hand hovered in the air, but he didn’t dwell on it, assuming she just didn’t like her head being touched. He missed the brief panic in her eyes.
Back with the Sterlings, she’d seen them do this to Brianna
countless times. Sabrina knew it was a sign of closeness, of care.
Chapter 21 What Value Do I Have?
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This was the first time anyone had done it to her. She could feel Theodore’s fondness in that simple touch.
But she also knew love always came with strings attached.
Sabrina dropped her gaze, sinking into her thoughts.
“Hey, what’s on your mind?”
Theodore’s voice broke through after calling her a few times, pulling her back to the moment.
She looked up at him, her tone serious. “I’m trying to figure out why you’d go through all this trouble for me.”
She really couldn’t see what she had that was worth this effort
from him.
Her mind spun, stubbornly chasing the question.
She believed no one’s love came without a catch.
Kids who’d never known unconditional affection always met it with suspicion first.
Sabrina was no different.
“What do you mean?” Theodore asked, thrown off. For the first time, he felt completely in the dark about what was going on in her head.
Chapter 21 What Value Do I Have? He couldn’t read this girl at all.
Her next words drained the color from his face.
“Theodore, if you’re hoping to get something out of me, I’d advise you to save your energy.”
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She stared at him, her innocent features unchanged, but her voice was ice–cold, her words slicing through the air like a blade carving into his heart.
“No, that’s not it,” Theodore stammered, staring at his daughter as a wave of sorrow crashed over him.
He’d thought their bond had grown stronger after their recent moments together.
But hearing that frigid tone, he understood that Sabrina believed his kindness was a means to an end.
She’d never let him in, not really.
A realization hit him then, one he’d overlooked before.
He realized Sabrina had never once called him “Dad.”
His face hardened, a bitter sense of failure swelling inside him.
But what hurt most was her distrust. The way she delivered. those words, flat and emotionless, left a searing ache in his
chest.
