I Thought My Niece Was Just ‘Going Through a Phase’ – Then I Saw the Messages Destroying Her

The ringleader’s name appeared over and over in the comments, adding fuel to every cruel joke.

It was Sophie, Mia’s best friend since third grade.

My vision blurred with rage. How long had this been going on? How had none of us noticed?

I kept searching, and that’s when I found the shoebox under her bed, hidden behind a stack of old notebooks.

Inside were crumpled dollar bills, carefully smoothed out and organized into small stacks held together with paper clips.

Every single bill had a label written in Mia’s neat handwriting, “Dad’s medication—February.” “Mom’s gas money.” “Groceries — chicken and rice.”

At the bottom of the box was a separate envelope marked “New clothes (someday).” I opened it with trembling fingers. $43. That’s all she’d managed to save for herself.

I sat on her bedroom floor, surrounded by evidence of a child trying to hold her family together with babysitting money and tutoring gigs, while her classmates mocked her for wearing the same clothes.

But there was more.

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