Spoiled Rich Teen Mocks Beggar, He Teaches Her a Lesson – Story of the Day

Spoiled rich teenager Aria learns a life-altering lesson when she mocks a homeless man who decides it's time for her to learn humility.

Aria, raised in luxury by her doting father, Mr. Langley, had developed a dismissive attitude toward the less fortunate. Waiting for her friends by a town square fountain, she encountered a homeless man, Johnny.

"Eww, how disgusting!" she scowled at him.

"Excuse me, young lady...I'm struggling to buy a meal. Any spare change would be appreciated," Johnny pleaded.

Ignoring his plea, Aria grabbed his cup of coins and tossed them into the fountain.

"God, what have you done?" Johnny cried.

"This is what happens when an old fool like you sits near a wishing well with alms!" Aria mocked him.

Desperate, Johnny pleaded for his lost coins. While enjoying the torment, Aria teased him with a crumpled $100 bill.

"I'll gladly take the hundred dollars. Thank you so much!" Johnny said gratefully.

"But I'm not ready to give it to you for free. Bring me a coin from that fountain, and these hundred bucks are all yours!" Aria demanded.

"I get a hundred dollars if I get you the coin, right?" Johnny asked.

"You aren't deaf, are you? Go bring me the coin, old man!" Aria scowled.

Joyfully, Johnny plunged into the fountain, searching for the perfect coin while Aria recorded him on her phone.

As Johnny found a coin, he rushed to Aria, only to face her anger.

"What the hell is this? That's a damn quarter, you fool. I asked you to bring a dime!"

"I'm...I'm so sorry, Miss. Please, give me another chance," pleaded Johnny.

"No second chances!" Aria tore the hundred-dollar bill and hurled it on his face.

"Why did you do that? It could've helped me buy food and something warm for the night," Johnny lamented.

"To see the look on your stupid face! Look at you, old man! You haven't seen a hundred dollars all your life, have you?!"

Aria laughed and turned around. Right then, Johnny muttered a wish:

"I wish you regret your mistake and learn the true value of money and humility, young lady!" Then, he dropped the only coin in his palm into the fountain.

"Jesus Christ! Did you just curse me, old man?" Aria turned around and asked Johnny, still chuckling. She noticed Johnny's last coin glistening on the fountain rim.

She swiftly picked up the coin. "I wish for a brand new car!" she declared and tossed the coin into the fountain.

Without noticing the despondent look on Johnny's face, she walked away.

Aria had a great time with her friends at the mall. They dined at an expensive eatery. But half an hour later, Aria awoke alone in a park, and her wallet was missing.

Aria's head hurt as she tried to jog her memory. The last thing she remembered was drinking orange juice at the restaurant. She decided to hail a taxi home but had no money on her. Meanwhile, she noticed people staring at her awkwardly. Why's everyone looking at me like that? What's wrong with me?

Upon returning home, Aria discovered her dream car. It was new and adorned with a big red ribbon.

"Daddy, you can't be serious! Woohoo! Thank you so much! Who's got a new car? I've got a new car!" Aria sang in joy.

Right then, Mr. Langley came out. "What's going on over here?" he asked, puzzled.

Ecstatic about her new car, Aria ran to her father, Mr. Langley, for a hug, but he pushed her away.

"Wh-Who are you, lady? I don't think I know you... What are you doing on my property?" Mr. Langley sternly asked.

"Daddy, it's not funny!" Aria insisted.

"I don't know you! Out before I call the cops," he threatened.

Panicking, Aria tried to show family photos on her phone, only to find them deleted. She pleaded with her father, but he remained adamant.

"No, Daddy. Please, listen to me. Something's terribly wrong. I was with my friends, then I woke up at a park... I don't know what's—"

Mr. Langley dismissed her, and Aria, devastated, noticed her disheveled appearance in a car window.

"It's all his fault. That old beggar…he cursed me!" she murmured.

"GET OUT OF HERE, LADY!" Mr. Langley shouted, and Aria fled, feeling rejected and lost.

In despair, she visited one of her friends, but her friend kicked her out, too. Aria only had one way now. She returned to the town square fountain to reverse the curse.

"Hey, guys, do you have a coin to spare?" Aria approached two men, only to face mockery.

"Here, take that coin, you stinky piece of rotting garbage!" They laughed, tossing a coin at her.

Aria wished for her old life and dropped the coin in the fountain. As she danced in anticipation of change, the two men recorded her and laughed, "Are you out of your mind, lady? You need serious help."

Aria's heart sank when she glanced at her reflection in the water and realized she hadn't changed a bit. In disbelief, she confronted the guys.

"Why are you laughing at me? I'm cursed. What's so funny?" she lashed out.

The guys played the video, mocking her, and suggested, "The asylum is not far from here."

Distraught, Aria returned to the fountain, sobbing. Right then, a familiar voice interrupted her despair. Johnny, the homeless man she had mocked, stood before her.

"How does it feel when people treat you the way you treat them, young lady?" Johnny questioned.

"It's all your fault! Give me my life back!" Aria demanded.

"I didn't do anything. Ask the fountain, not me!" Johnny replied.

"I did...but it didn't work. This is not me. What should I do?" Aria cried.

Johnny proposed a solution. "You have one chance. Give me the hundred-dollar bill you tore up this morning," Johnny instructed.

Aria panicked, realizing the torn halves could be anywhere. Johnny set a deadline until sunset.

Desperate, Aria raced home, stole a $100 bill from her dad, and reconstructed it with duct tape.

But as she left the house, she ran into Johnny. "Are you following me?" she cried.

"I was making sure you weren't tricking me," Johnny said. "I want the one you threw away. The bill you're holding is your father's!"

Panicking, Aria tried to convince Johnny, but he shouted for Mr. Langley, accusing her of theft.

When Mr. Langley appeared, he couldn't believe his eyes. "You again?" he sneered at Aria.

"I'm-I'm sorry," Aria whispered and fled the scene.

Mr. Langley sighed because behind Johnny's wrinkles, he saw a man he knew too well. How would Aria react when she learned the truth? He wondered.

Fleeing the scene, Aria lamented her failed attempt to reverse the curse. Hungry and defeated, she sought alms at a park, only to face rejection and judgment from passersby.

"Back off, lady. Look at you! You're young... find work instead, you lazy fool," a passerby scolded her.

Reflecting on her past arrogance, Aria acknowledged her punishment for mocking the less fortunate.

"God, I give up. I'll live on the streets if that's what you want," Aria cried, sinking onto a wooden bench.

In a crevice of the bench, Aria discovered one-half of the torn hundred-dollar bill she had discarded earlier. Overjoyed, she sought the missing half.

To her surprise, a homeless woman appeared, holding the other half. Aria's joy turned to anxiety when the woman refused to return it.

"It's my money," Aria pleaded with her. "I threw it this morning at the wishing fountain. I need it back."

The woman, named Grace, doubted Aria's claim and shared her desperate situation. She needed the money for her sick son's treatment.

Torn between regaining her old life and saving a life, Aria reluctantly handed the money to Grace.

"I will exchange it at the bank," Grace said.

As Grace thanked her and walked away, Aria sobbed in silence. Later, she approached old Johnny, whom she found at the fountain.

"Did you find the money?" he asked.

Aria sighed. "No, it's over. I guess this is my life now."

Johnny comforted her. "Now that you've realized your mistake consider you got your old life back, girl!"

"But I didn't give you the hundred-dollar bill. How can the curse be reversed?" Aria gasped.

"Who said it's the fountain that does all the magic? Look over there…behind you!" Johnny said as a startled Aria turned around.

"Dad?" Aria exclaimed as Mr. Langley approached her with a warm smile. Her friends were there, too.

"Wha-what's going on?" she exchanged skeptical glances with Johnny, who sat still, smiling.

"I'll explain everything!" Mr. Langley said. "This morning, I saw you mocking this poor old man, Aria, so I approached him…"

He revealed that he agreed with Johnny's wish to teach spoiled brats a lesson about respect and the value of money. They staged the entire scenario, spiking her orange juice with a sleeping pill, and giving her a makeover to appear homeless. Her friends were a part of the plan, too.

Aria, baffled, processed the revelation. "Wait, you guys staged this whole thing with Johnny to teach me a lesson?"

"Yes, Aria! We wanted to make you understand the importance of treating everyone kindly, regardless of their background," explained one of Aria's friends.

Mr. Langley added, "I should've taught you to respect people and not get overshadowed by wealth. But there's something more."

Mr. Langley revealed Johnny was no stranger. The man with the unkempt beard and calming stillness in his eyes...was Aria's biological father.

Johnny chimed in. "That's how people you looked down upon would've felt when you mocked them, young lady. And I was even more hurt when I realized it was you. I didn't recognize you at first, but your father chose to be honest…"

As he explained how he'd surrendered Aria in Mr. and Mr. Langley's care due to his failure to give Aria a good life after his wife walked out on them, Aria's eyes welled up. She was just a baby when the Langleys adopted her.

And when she mocked Johhny that morning, it had only been a few minutes since he had reached the city after traveling long hours to meet the daughter he had only loved from afar.

Had she been kind to him, she would have gotten two pleasant surprises that morning: That her adopted father had bought her a car, and that her birth father had come home to visit.

Now, Aria hadn't just found her father, but she also learned a valuable lesson.

"Aria, I'm glad you finally realized the importance of respecting people and the value of money. Here's to some fresh beginnings!" Mr. Langley handed Aria the keys to her brand-new car.

Aria hesitated. "Thanks, Dad! But I don't want this car. Maybe we can donate this money to help people in need. And I...I think I have gotten the best gift. My dads!"

Mr. Langley exchanged a confident grin with Johnny before hugging Aria.

Since then, a year has gone by. Aria learned an unforgettable life lesson. She stopped looking down on people. Moreover, Mr. Langley has hired Johnny to work under him. He hadn't expected to cross paths with the man in unexpected circumstances, but what happened was for the best.

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If you enjoyed reading this story, you might like this one about a rich woman who mocked an older lady, only to face the woman in court the very next day.

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