“Little bastard, stop claiming fathers you don’t have. You think you deserve to be Mr. Shaw’s daughter?”
“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?”