The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 1944

"Wh-what?" Raines's eager smile shattered. He stared at her in disbelief, a wave of crushing disappointment washing over his face.

"If I want a cake, I'm perfectly capable of buying one myself."

Stella didn't bother sugarcoating it. She pushed the box into his hands, took a step back, and added quietly, "Thanks for the thought, but I have to go."

"Stella!" Catching the finality in her tone, panic flared in his eyes. He chased after her, his voice trembling slightly. "I didn't mean anything by it! I just..." He hesitated, his face flushing crimson as he muttered, "I really like you. I just wanted to do something nice."

He had noticed her on his very first day of college. It had taken him until their sophomore year to finally work up the courage to approach her. Was it really over before it even began?

"I'm sorry," Stella said, coming to a halt. She looked at him with chilling composure, radiating an untouchable distance. "I don't have feelings for you. You really shouldn't waste your time on me."

She had said those exact words to Roger once before. But the emotional weight behind them was drastically different. When she had rejected Roger, it had felt like her heart was being carved out of her chest. With this boy... it was nothing more than a simple statement of fact.

"Why?" Raines's eyes grew glassy, his voice dropping to a desperate whisper. "Is there... is there someone else?"

He had been watching her for over a year. She never hung out with guys. She shut down every confession immediately. It seemed impossible that she was secretly harboring feelings for someone.

"That's none of your business," Stella replied, her brow furrowing slightly, her tone frostier than before. "Excuse me."

Raines was left standing alone on the sidewalk, his heart heavy and his mind racing. She hadn't denied it. Did that mean there really was someone else? Who on earth had managed to thaw out the ice queen of their department?

With that burden successfully handed off, Stella felt a massive weight lift from her shoulders. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, her phone buzzed with a message from Roger. It was the study materials he had promised her earlier. Excitement bubbled in her chest as she opened the file, but as she scrolled through the dense text, her face rapidly scrunched into a grimace.

Roger: *Did you get it?*

Stella: *Yeah, I got it.*

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify