Chapter 1
I thought wearing simple clothes would help me make real friends at my new school. Instead, three rich girls dumped a bucket of dirty water over my head at lunch—and laughed when a boy told them who my father was.
My name is Emily Carter, and my father is one of the wealthiest real estate developers in Texas.
But on my first day at a private school in Dallas, I wore jeans, white sneakers, and a plain gray sweatshirt.
Dad had offered to send me with a driver.
I refused.
“I want people to know me before they know our money,” I told him.
By the end of my first week, I regretted saying that.
Madison Blake noticed me first.
Her father owned several car dealerships, and she made sure everyone knew it.
She looked at my backpack and laughed. “Did you get that at a discount store?”
Her friends, Chloe and Brooke, giggled.
I ignored them.
That only made Madison angrier.
At lunch the next day, I was sitting alone with a turkey sandwich when their table suddenly went quiet.
I looked up.
Madison was walking toward me carrying a large janitor’s bucket filled with gray, dirty water.
My stomach tightened.
“Madison, don’t.”
She smiled.
“Maybe this will wash the poor off you.”
Then she lifted the bucket over my head.
Cold, filthy water crashed down my hair, face, sweatshirt, and lunch tray.
The entire cafeteria erupted.
Some students laughed.
Others pulled out their phones.
I sat there dripping while Madison held her nose and said, “Wow, somehow she looks even cheaper.”
My eyes burned, but I refused to cry.
Then a boy named Ryan shoved through the crowd.
He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.
“Emily, are you okay?”
Madison rolled her eyes. “Why do you care?”
Ryan stared at her.
“Because you have absolutely no idea who you just humiliated.”
Chloe laughed. “What, is her dad the manager at Walmart?”
Ryan didn’t smile.
“Her father is Jonathan Carter.”
The girls stared at him for half a second.
Then all three burst out laughing.
Madison wiped tears from her eyes.
“Sure he is.”
Ryan stepped closer and lowered his voice.
“I’ve been to her house. My father works with hers.”
Madison pointed at my soaked sneakers.
“You expect me to believe a billionaire’s daughter dresses like that?”
Before Ryan could answer, the cafeteria doors opened.
Our principal walked in looking terrified.
Behind him were two men in dark suits.
May you like
And between them was my father.
Madison’s smile disappeared when Dad looked at the bucket on the floor, then at me dripping wet, and quietly asked, “Emily… which one of them did this to you?”
