📖 The Story Continues
The story doesn't end here.Continue reading the full story adaptation below and discover what happens next.
True Heiress vs. Fake Queen Bee — Episode 10
The interim administrator did not invite Hailey into an office or ask to see identification. He confronted her at the edge of the auditorium while students streamed past, ensuring the humiliation remained public. “You expect me to believe that?” he demanded. His gaze swept over her clothing as though cotton and sneakers constituted a legal record.
He said a Kaplan would never wear whatever Hailey had on. The statement revealed how completely he associated wealth with performance, yet challenging that prejudice would not prove her name. Hailey reached for her phone and offered to call her father. She could show photographs, account records, or the correspondence regarding the donation.
“That’s it,” he snapped before she unlocked the screen. He assigned her a week of detention and warned that another claim would result in suspension. The punishment was designed not to discover the truth but to prevent her from speaking it. Hailey stared at him, stunned by the laziness of his certainty.
She tried once more, but he ordered her not to say another word and told her to get out of his sight. Candice watched from the hallway with Gail, pretending reluctance while delight brightened her eyes. The fake heiress had survived the most direct challenge yet, not through a clever explanation but because adults found her costume convenient.
Hailey left the auditorium with anger tightening every step. She could call Frank and have the administrator removed before the final bell. The Kaplan Foundation’s lawyers could make the school regret ignoring her evidence. Yet the thought of her father solving the problem reinforced the very label she had come to escape: a privileged child who summoned power whenever ordinary life became difficult.
She decided to wait until she could expose Candice in a way the entire school could not deny. The choice was no longer about finding friends; it was about preventing the impersonator from rewriting facts each time she was cornered. Hailey would gather evidence, reclaim her watch, and force the truth into the open. Until then, she needed to survive the day.
Her next class was physical education. Coach Rivera greeted the students by announcing dodgeball with far too much enthusiasm, calling them adolescent pubescents and predicting that they had all been dreading the day. Groans echoed through the gym. Hailey slipped in late, still disoriented by the unfamiliar campus.
The coach demanded an explanation. Hailey began to say she had gotten lost after the assembly, but he cut her off and ordered her to run a lap around the gym. No allowance was made for her scraped knee or the disciplinary confrontation that had delayed her. She accepted the punishment rather than invite another scene.
As she ran, she noticed the class’s social divisions forming along the bleachers. Athletic students clustered near Candice, while quieter teenagers remained at the edges. One nervous boy named Trey was teased about getting his head bashed in because he did not use it much anyway. The cruelty sounded casual, embedded in the rhythm of the school.
Hailey completed the lap with her knee burning and refused to limp where Candice could see. The gym doors opened again, and Candice strolled inside well after the class had begun. She apologized by explaining that a call with her personal trainer had run long. Coach Rivera’s irritation vanished immediately.
He told “Kaplan” there was no problem and welcomed her warmly. The double standard was so blatant that several students exchanged glances, though no one objected. Hailey recognized the same pattern from the assembly: rules bent around money even when the money was imaginary. Candice smiled at her as she crossed the floor.
Coach Rivera clapped his hands and announced the day’s team captains. He chose Candice first, a decision that prompted immediate cheers. Then, perhaps hoping to create entertaining tension after the cafeteria rumors, he named Hailey as the opposing captain. The gym reacted with delighted surprise.
Candice’s smile sharpened. A team sport offered exactly what she wanted: an audience, sanctioned aggression, and a visible way to crush the girl who had challenged her. She collected a red marker vest and tied it around her waist as though accepting a crown. Hailey took the blue one without comment.
The coach instructed them to choose their “soldiers.” Popular students leaned toward Candice before she called a single name, signaling their allegiance. No one wanted to risk being selected by Hailey and associated with the school’s newest target. The coming game had become another referendum on which girl mattered.
Hailey surveyed the class. She could see speed and strength among Candice’s likely choices, but she also saw arrogance. They expected victory before the teams existed. At the edge of the bleachers, a girl with glasses watched anxiously, already convinced she would be chosen last.
Candice selected the biggest athlete first and made a show of welcoming him. Each subsequent choice drew applause from her growing side. She avoided the quieter students, wrinkling her nose whenever her gaze passed over them. Her team looked impressive, exactly like the life she had assembled that morning—glossy, popular, and chosen for appearances.
Hailey began selecting the students Candice ignored. She chose agility over size, attention over swagger, and people who understood what it felt like to be underestimated. Some approached reluctantly, glancing back at Candice’s team as though crossing a border. Hailey greeted each without apology.
When she called the girl with glasses, surprise lit the girl’s face. Her name was CeCe, and she hurried to Hailey’s side while clutching the blue vest. Candice laughed at the choice and told Gail the losing team had practically assembled itself. The comment made CeCe’s shoulders fold inward.
Hailey leaned close and promised they were not defeated. Dodgeball rewarded timing, coordination, and the ability to predict an opponent, not merely popularity. CeCe looked uncertain, but she listened. After a day of isolation, someone at Western High finally stood beside Hailey without asking what her name could provide.
Coach Rivera rolled the balls to the center line and ordered both teams into position. Candice faced Hailey across the polished floor, surrounded by students eager to please her. Hailey glanced at the unlikely team behind her and felt determination replace anger. Candice had stolen her identity and convinced the school she was powerless; now Hailey had a chance to prove how dangerous an underestimated opponent could be.
