A dad begins to worry when he learns his teen daughter has skipped school, and he fears the worst when he checks her backpack and finds wads of cash.
The wise father then finds a way to unravel the truth, save her from serious problems, and teach her a lesson.
“Alright, pal, I’ll try to come, but I’d be mostly hanging out with my daughter this weekend,” Philip told his friend on a call while fixing a leaking sink for a client.
Just as he hung up, he got another call almost immediately from his 14-year-old daughter’s teacher.
“Mrs. Anderson?” Philip was alarmed as he answered the call. “Why is she calling me?
I hope Sabrina is okay.”
“Good day, Mrs. Anderson! How may I help you?”
To Philip’s shock, he was told that his daughter had not been attending school for the past three days.
Philip was startled because his daughter told him she was going to school that morning. But she had lied to him…
“Is everything alright at home, Mr. Brown?
I just wanted to make sure Sabrina was alright and not down with the flu or something. The weather is terrible these days,” the teacher went on.
“Ah, yes, Mrs. Anderson.
Nothing to worry about! Thanks,” Philip hung up as he could not find any excuses. He had no clue Sabrina had been skipping school the last three days and immediately called her to find out.
“Hey, sweetie, where are you?” he asked Sabrina.
“Dad??
I’m at the cafeteria. I just had my lunch. I’m getting late for class,” she told him.
“Oh, okay… Could you please buy milk on the way?” he asked her.
Philip knew Sabrina would probably lie to him again if he asked her where she was and told her he knew she was not in school.
When he got home after work, he saw two cartons of milk on the table and realized Sabrina had already returned home. “Sweetie, I’m home,” he shouted, but there was no answer. Philip looked around for his daughter, but she was not at home.
When Philip realized Sabrina had gone somewhere, he decided to check her school bag.
He hadn’t done such a thing earlier, but now, he was forced to do it.
Philip feared his daughter could fall into some bad company and start using drugs. He knew it was silly to doubt his child and jump to conclusions, but he was not ready to trust the circumstances. He was hounded by the fear any single father would have in raising a teen daughter alone.
Philip just wanted to be sure Sabrina was not doing something wrong and marched into her room.
He looked around several times before unzipping Sabrina’s backpack. Philip didn’t want her to think ill of him for frisking her bag when she was not around. He rummaged through her backpack, worried he would get his hands on drugs.
But when Philip took out wads of cash, he was startled no less.
“Oh my God… Where did she get so much money from??” he gasped. Philip put the money back into Sabrina’s backpack and kept it as it was. He hurried out of her room, frightened about what his teen daughter could be doing.
“How will I get her to tell the truth?” he worried.
“If only Samantha were alive, she would’ve certainly known what to do,” he worried as he sat on the bed, thinking about his late wife.
Philip, Samantha, and Sabrina were a happy family five years ago. But their joy came to a standstill, and everything changed when Samantha was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Sabrina could not cope with the fact that she would lose her mother soon. Philip borrowed money, sold his farmhouse, and did everything to save his wife’s life, but in vain.
Samantha died, and it was a hard blow for Sabrina.
Besides therapy, her dad’s support helped her heal gradually. Sabrina and Philip were like best friends, and they never had secrets. But as Sabrina entered adolescence, she could no longer share all her problems with her dad, and even Philip understood that.
Still, he always strived to balance parenting and giving his daughter some liberty.
Moreover, he trusted Sabrina and never doubted her actions. Philip would’ve continued to trust his daughter if he hadn’t found wads of money under ‘mysterious circumstances’ in her bag. But he now knew he could not do that anymore until finding out where that money came from.
Later that evening, Philip was plating dinner when Sabrina returned home.
She was acting absolutely normal and was fidgeting with her phone. “Hey, sweetie, dinner is ready! Why don’t you join?” he broke her silence.
Philip could quickly tell she was upset about something and was trying to hide it.
But he pretended he didn’t notice anything. “So, how was your day at school?” he asked her.
“Huh, dad, it was alright,” Sabrina sighed. “The math test today was so difficult.
I hope I pass coz I don’t want Mrs. Anderson to shout out my marks in front of the whole class.”
“Hmmm, alright! Your food is turning cold.
Please eat soon and get some rest,” Philip said. He knew Sabrina had lied again but decided not to ask her about the money in her bag and why she skipped school.
“It’s of no use asking her anything. She’s gonna lie again to cover up something.
It would be better if I follow her tomorrow to find out where she’s going instead of school,” he thought.
The next morning, Philip kept an eye on Sabrina as she hurriedly devoured her bowl of cereal and grabbed her backpack. “I have to make notes for an assignment in the library. Bye, dad!” she said and rushed out.
As soon as Philip noticed Sabrina had crossed the gate, he quickly followed her and was surprised when he saw her entering his friend, Mr.
Hudson’s house, in the next street.
“What is she doing there??” Philip wondered. “The keys?? Oh my God, how did she get George’s house keys?” he was startled.
Philip then remembered Mr. Hudson had given his house keys to him a few days
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