Скачать или смотреть Rich Kids Made Fun of Her Shoes — Then Her Tech Billionaire Dad Bought the School

Maya Chen had always been different, though she didn't fully understand why until that crisp September morning when she walked through the gates of Westbridge Academy for the first time. At seventeen, she possessed an understated elegance that came not from designer clothes or expensive accessories, but from something deeper—a quiet confidence that seemed to radiate from within. Her long black hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail, and she wore a modest blue sweater, dark jeans, and a pair of well-worn canvas sneakers that had seen her through countless adventures.

Westbridge Academy stood like a monument to privilege and tradition, its Gothic architecture commanding respect from anyone who dared to approach its imposing entrance. The school had educated the children of senators, CEOs, and old-money families for over a century. Its manicured lawns stretched endlessly, punctuated by carefully maintained gardens and pristine sports facilities that most public schools could only dream of. The annual tuition alone could buy a luxury car, and that was before considering the "suggested donations" that helped maintain the school's elite status.

Maya's father, David Chen, had insisted she attend Westbridge despite her protests. "Education is everything, Maya," he had told her countless times. "It opens doors that money alone cannot." What Maya didn't know was that her father had worked sixteen-hour days for twenty years, building his technology company from a small startup in their garage to a multi-billion-dollar empire. He had specifically chosen to keep their lifestyle modest, believing that struggle and humility would shape Maya into a stronger person than any amount of wealth could.

The Chen family lived in a comfortable but unremarkable three-bedroom house in a middle-class neighborhood. David drove a ten-year-old Honda, and Maya had grown up believing her father was simply a hardworking computer programmer. She had no idea that Chen Technologies had revolutionized cloud computing, that her father held patents worth hundreds of millions of dollars, or that tech giants around the world sought his expertise. David had gone to extraordinary lengths to maintain this facade, even creating a separate identity for his business dealings and ensuring that Maya's school applications never revealed his true net worth.

As Maya walked up the stone steps of Westbridge Academy, she noticed the other students immediately. They moved with a particular kind of confidence that seemed to come from never having wanted for anything. The parking lot was filled with luxury cars—BMWs, Mercedes, and even a few Teslas—presumably belonging to seniors who had received them as sixteen-birthday gifts. Students clustered in groups, their conversations peppered with references to summer homes in the Hamptons, skiing trips to Aspen, and shopping excursions to Paris.