“Hey, Kovaleva,” Kirill called out, “is it true your mom cleaned our locker room?” The class fell silent, waiting for Sonja’s reaction.
“Yes,” she replied calmly, “my mother is a school maid.”
Kirill sneered. “Did you come to the ball with her mop and bucket?”
Laughter erupted. Sonja quietly shouldered her backpack and left.
She was used to it. Ever since she transferred to the elite school on a merit scholarship, she knew money was all that mattered — and she had none.
Her mother, Nadezhda, worked three jobs to support her studies. Sonja also worked part-time at a café, lying to her mom about it to avoid worrying her.
Meanwhile, Kirill made a cruel bet: if Sonja arrived at the ball in anything better than a taxi, he’d apologize publicly.
Sonja overheard — and saw her chance.
But renting a car was impossible with her wages. Defeated, she pushed through another long day — until a chance meeting changed everything.
