“Not only do you steal, you even want to steal a dad. Disgusting!”

At that, the surrounding crowd began whispering:

“This girl is really full of it. Everyone knows Mr. Shaw’s wife and kid live in San Francisco. How could they be here?”

“Kids these days, so vain. She’s clearly poorly raised.”

Sophie’s classmates exchanged glances and edged away from her.

One boy put his hands on his hips:

“Sophie, you’re such a fake. Your last name is Miller, not Shaw!”

“Besides, every Parent-Teacher Conference your mom shows up alone. We’ve never seen your dad. I don’t think you even have one!”

Other kids chimed in:

“Yeah, liars are bad kids. If you keep lying, we won’t play with you anymore!”

Hearing her friends, Sophie’s little face turned chalk-white.

She bit her lip and said softly:

“I’m not lying. My last name is Miller because I take after my mom. But my dad’s name really is Edward Shaw.”

Rachel rolled her eyes dramatically:

“Filthy liar, spitting out one lie after another. Aren’t you afraid your tongue will rot?”

“I don’t want to waste my breath. This drink cost $398 wholesale. The penalty is one-thousand times the price. I’ll cut you a deal—pay $390,000 and we’ll forget the whole thing.”

The crowd gasped.

“Three hundred ninety thousand? That’s outrageous!”

“Outrageous? If you let kids steal now, they’ll steal gold when they’re older. She needs a good lesson!”

Hearing this, I pulled out my bank card and slammed it on the table.

“No need for discounts. I’ll pay $400,000!”

Rachel’s eyes lit up and she reached for it, but I pulled it away and said coldly:

“You’ll get the money only if the manager comes here and we review the surveillance cameras from start to finish.”

“If my daughter took anything, I’ll pay ten times more.”

“But if she didn’t, what will you do then?”

Rachel sneered:

“Don’t think I’m scared. That drink your daughter stole is a rare import, sold only here at our Seafood Buffet. If it wasn’t her, I’ll pay you $400,000 myself.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Fine. Deal.”

Thinking she was about to earn millions for the restaurant, Rachel was thrilled and immediately called the manager, Clara Johnson.

Within half an hour, Clara strutted in with arrogance.

She looked us over, arms crossed. “Rachel, these are the ones causing trouble?”

Rachel rushed to her side like a lackey:

“That’s right, Ms. Johnson. This woman’s kid stole something and refuses to admit it. She insists we check the cameras.”