The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 1910

After a video call with Charlotte, Stella stared up at the ceiling, unsurprisingly...

Unable to sleep.

...

Montara

The sun set early and rose late in the mountains.

By the time the first streaks of dawn broke across the sky, Stella was already up.

She got dressed, gathered the small gifts she had prepared, and headed to the classroom in high spirits.

Having survived Lamplighter Village, the sight of the dilapidated schoolhouse and the disheveled kids didn't shock her.

After introducing herself, Stella brought out the gifts and crouched down, a bright, genuine smile lighting up her face.

"Line up, everyone! You'll each get one."

"Okay!"

The kids scrambled into two lines, craning their necks to get a peek.

The gifts weren't overly extravagant, but they were practical.

Notebooks, pens, watercolors—complete stationery sets.

It was the kind of beautiful, brand-new stuff these mountain kids had never seen before.

The classroom quickly filled with the innocent, joyous laughter of children.

None of them knew.

Hiding in a blind spot just outside the classroom was Roger. He had sat on the school playground the entire night, and now his deep, unwavering gaze was locked onto Stella.

Watching the pure, unburdened smile on her face, his eyes darkened with emotion.

It seemed that only out here, far away from the noise and the toxic drama of the city, could she truly let her guard down and be happy.

"Stella, the doctors from the city are going to do check-ups on the kids soon. Could you help organize them?"

Watching the happy students, Clay asked with a relieved smile.

"Of course."

Stella bit her lower lip and nodded.

This was perfect.

She wanted to see if Roger was secretly part of the medical team.

An hour later.

The medical team rolled into Montara School.

Stella had the kids lined up neatly on the narrow dirt playground, waiting patiently.

"It's really nice."

Stella hugged a plush pillow that smelled faintly of peaches. "The conditions are definitely rough, but we got lucky. A generous donor provided a bunch of supplies."

The food and bedding were much better than she had expected.

"Charlotte..." Stella hesitated for a moment before finally asking the question that had been burning in her mind. "You didn't happen to donate all this stuff, did you?"

"Huh?"

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. She had certainly thought about doing it, but someone else had beaten her to the punch. "Nope, wasn't me."

"Oh."

Stella pursed her lips, suddenly falling silent.

She clearly had more to say but was holding back.

"Don't worry."

Charlotte said, her tone sharp and deliberate. "It probably wasn't Roger either. He's been incredibly busy lately."

Stella slowly looked up, her eyes flicking toward the screen.

"Since he couldn't win you over, he gave up," Charlotte lied smoothly, selling the story without missing a beat. "Samantha set him up with a bunch of women, so he's been swamped with blind dates.

Don't worry, he won't be bothering you anymore."