True Heiress vs. Fake Queen Bee Episode 13

📖 The Story Continues

True Heiress vs. Fake Queen Bee — Episode 13

Candice’s arm snapped forward, sending the ball toward Hailey with enough force to make the watching students gasp. She had aimed high, close to Hailey’s face, where instinct would force her to turn away. Instead, Hailey watched the ball’s rotation and shifted a single step. It skimmed past her shoulder without touching fabric.

The ball struck the wall and rebounded toward center court. Hailey sprinted after it, ignoring the pain in her scraped knee. Candice lunged from the opposite side, but the center line stopped her. At last, she had nothing in her hands and nowhere to hide.

CeCe shouted a warning as Candice moved left. Hailey scooped up the ball and rose in one fluid motion, remembering every cruel command, every stolen object, and the sight of CeCe on the floor. Anger supplied power, but she refused to let it control her aim. She wanted a clean victory, not another excuse Candice could twist.

Hailey feinted toward Candice’s right shoulder. Candice reacted exactly as expected, twisting away and exposing her other side. The real throw followed low and fast, striking her hip before she could recover. The sound echoed through the gym.

Candice stumbled and fell. Disbelief crossed her face as the ball rolled away, followed by a silence so complete Hailey could hear her own breathing. Coach Rivera lifted the whistle and blew once. “Game over. Hailey’s team wins.”

For half a second, the blue team did not understand. Then CeCe screamed with delight and ran toward Hailey. Eliminated teammates poured from the sideline, surrounding them with laughter and relieved embraces. Students who had entered the gym ashamed of being chosen now celebrated as if they had won a championship.

Hailey hugged CeCe carefully around the bruised shoulder. Their plan had worked because everyone contributed, not because one captain dominated the game. The victory felt different from the effortless awards Hailey’s family name had helped place within reach. These teammates had trusted her when the rest of the school expected them to fail.

Across the court, Gail helped Candice stand. The false heiress jerked her arm away, furious at being seen on the floor. She demanded that Coach Rivera call a foul, insisting Hailey had crossed the line or thrown illegally. The coach shook his head; even his favoritism could not alter what the entire class had witnessed.

Several students on the bleachers began applauding Hailey’s team. The support was hesitant, almost guilty, but it was no longer reserved for Candice. One athlete admitted the final fake had been impressive. The social order shifted by inches, which made the defeat intolerable to the girl who depended on controlling it.

Candice accused her own teammates of failing her. She blamed Gail’s aim, another player’s slow reaction, and Coach Rivera’s rules. No one dared point out that Hailey had outmaneuvered her directly. The more excuses Candice offered, the less she resembled the gracious heiress she performed in public.

Hailey collected CeCe’s glasses from the sideline and returned them. One lens was scuffed, though the frames had survived the fall. She offered to replace them without thinking, then caught herself before explaining how easily she could. CeCe smiled and said tape would handle it, accepting concern rather than charity.

The ordinary answer warmed Hailey more than it should have. CeCe had stood beside her without knowing her fortune was real and had returned to the court after being hurt. This was the kind of connection Hailey had hoped to find at Western High. Candice’s lie had not prevented it after all.

Coach Rivera ordered everyone toward the locker rooms. As the blue team moved away, Candice stepped into Hailey’s path. Sauce had humiliated her in the cafeteria, but a public athletic defeat had wounded something deeper. Her borrowed prestige could not explain away a scoreboard.

“You got lucky,” Candice said. Her voice shook with the effort to remain quiet. Hailey replied that luck had not made Candice predictable or taught CeCe to read the court. She advised Candice to learn the difference between power and people being afraid to contradict her.

Gail hovered behind Candice, waiting for permission to attack. Hailey’s teammates remained nearby instead of leaving her alone. The difference did not escape Candice. Her opponent had begun the day isolated and now possessed something Candice could not buy with invitations—loyalty earned through action.

Candice glanced at CeCe’s damaged glasses and showed no regret. She warned Hailey not to mistake one game for a change in status. Everyone would forget the score by the time they entered the castle that night. Hailey and her collection of losers would still be outside.

Hailey almost told her that no one could keep the true owner outside her own home. She stopped because Candice’s plan for the party remained unknown. Revealing that knowledge here would warn her before the next test. Instead, Hailey said she looked forward to seeing what happened.

The calm response enraged Candice more than celebration would have. She leaned close and declared that this meant war. Hailey reminded her that Candice had started the war the moment she stole someone else’s identity. Only the ending remained undecided.

Candice stepped away, but her gaze dropped to Hailey’s gym bag and then toward the locker-room doors. A new idea formed behind her eyes, colder and more personal than the dodgeball attack. She could not defeat Hailey through strength, so she would use shame instead. Gail followed the direction of her stare and smiled.

Hailey entered the girls’ locker room beside CeCe, unaware that Candice lingered outside. The victory had given her a friend, a little dignity, and the first honest applause of the day. It also convinced Candice that ordinary bullying was no longer enough. Before Hailey finished changing, the false heiress intended to place her in a situation no reputation could survive.