The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 601

Stella had barely stepped onto the balance beam when Janie rushed up from behind and slammed right into her. Stella wobbled, arms flailing, and just managed to grab the iron chain before she tumbled into the sand pit below.

Andrew’s voice echoed across the course, full of outrage. “Seriously? That’s insane. It’s just a game.”

“Isn’t that a foul?” someone else called out.

“As long as she doesn’t use her hands, it’s fair,” another replied.

The beam wasn’t exactly towering, but it was high enough that a fall—especially with that kind of push—would leave a mark. Over the next few obstacles, Stella got shoved again and again, hitting the ground more than once. Still, every time she fell, she just picked herself up, brushed off the dirt, and kept going.

“Who does Team 4 think they are?” someone muttered nearby, shaking their head. “That’s way over the line.”

Shirley’s face twisted with worry. “Maybe Stella should just sit this one out. This isn’t a race, it’s a mugging.”

Charlotte didn’t say a word. She just watched from a distance, her expression growing colder by the second.

Janie finished first, clocking in at two minutes and thirty seconds. That gave Team 4 the top women’s score and pushed Janie into the final round.

Stella finally stumbled across the finish with a time of three minutes, twenty seconds. Not a great result. Actually, it was the slowest on her team.

As soon as it was over, Shirley and Andrew hurried to her side, checking her over for injuries.

“I’m okay, really,” Stella said, dusting off her hands. Her cheeks were flushed and, somehow, she looked genuinely happy. “Charlotte, I did it. I finished.”

For a while there, she hadn’t thought she could.

“You did great.” Charlotte handed her a bottle of water, her lips curling into a gentle smile.

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