Chapter 1
I accidentally spilled orange juice on a woman’s designer shoes at a charity party, and she made me kneel in front of everyone to clean them. I was only eight—and she had no idea who was watching from across the ballroom.
My name is Sophie, and that night I was waiting for my mom to finish her catering shift at a hotel in Manhattan.
She had told me to sit quietly near the back of the ballroom and not bother anyone.
I was carrying a small cup of orange juice when someone bumped into me.
The drink splashed across a woman’s white dress and expensive shoes.
She looked down at me like I had thrown mud on her.
“You little idiot!”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“I didn’t mean to.”
People nearby turned to stare.
The woman grabbed my arm before I could step away.
“Do you know how much these shoes cost?”
“I’m really sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t clean them.”
She snatched a napkin from a table and threw it at my feet.
“Get down.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Kneel down and clean my shoes.”
My eyes started burning.
A few guests looked uncomfortable, but nobody spoke.
“Please, ma’am, I can get my mom.”
“I said kneel.”
She pushed down on my shoulder.
My knees hit the ballroom floor.
People started whispering.
I wiped at her shoe with shaking hands while she laughed to her friends.
“Maybe this will teach her some manners.”
Then she tilted her other foot toward me.
“You missed this one.”
I stopped wiping.
She snapped, “Did I tell you to stop?”
A man’s voice suddenly came from behind us.
“Yes.”
The entire group went silent.
The woman turned around.
A tall man in a dark suit was walking toward us with two hotel managers behind him.
“What is your problem?” she demanded.
He ignored her and crouched beside me.
“Sweetheart, are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
Then he looked at the woman.
“You forced an eight-year-old child to kneel because of spilled juice?”
“She ruined a three-thousand-dollar pair of shoes!”
The man slowly stood.
“And you just ruined something much more expensive.”
She laughed.
“Who exactly are you?”
One of the hotel managers went pale.
Before he could answer, my mother came running across the ballroom.
“Sophie!”
The man turned toward her.
His face suddenly changed.
“Emily?”
My mother stopped so fast she nearly fell.
May you like
The woman looked between them.
Then the man stared at me again and whispered, “Emily… is this my daughter?”
