Crowning the Fake Queen

The moment the entire class could suddenly hear my thoughts, a series of glowing comments, like a chat feed in a video game, scrolled through my vision. Before I could even process the first miracle, the second one clarified my nightmare.

【Here we go! The villainess is about to play the victim and frame our girl with her inner monologue!】

【This is exactly what she did in the last life. Falsely accused our girl of bullying and got her ostracized by the whole class!】

【Too bad for her. Our girl is a reincarnator. She knows all the tricks. The villainess is about to get so owned.】

A mind-reading superpower versus a second chance at life.

Interesting.

But who said anything about framing her?

My plan was much simpler: I was going to personally lift her so high she’d have nowhere to go but down.

1

【Ascend runs, what, three hundred dollars a person? And Scarlett, our dear class president, knows I can’t afford that. Is this her way of publicly humiliating me?】

The thought had barely formed when Scarlett, standing at the front of the classroom, glanced over at me. A subtle, knowing smirk played on her lips. It was a look that dripped with condescension.

So, the comments were right. Not only had Scarlett lived this life before, but she could also hear my thoughts.

Right now, the invisible commenters were tearing me apart.

【This girl is such a snake. If she cried into a river, it’d turn into poison ivy.】

【She knows Scarlett would never do that, but she’s planting the idea in everyone’s heads anyway. Good thing our girl is one step ahead of her cheap tricks.】

【So what if she’s the real heiress in the end? Even her billionaire parents are embarrassed by her. Scarlett is in a different league entirely.】

【I mean, you gotta feel a little bad for the villain. Switched at birth by the nanny, then dumped on a mountain to die just to protect the secret…】

【That’s no excuse for what she did to our girl. She used her powers to ruin her life and get her killed. She deserves everything she gets.】

Wait.

The comments said I’m the real heiress?

All this time, Scarlett had been treated like royalty. She wasn't just from a wealthy family; she was the Sterling heiress, daughter of the city’s most famous CEO. On top of that, she was always number one in our class rankings.

Me? My father was sick in bed, and my mother worked odd jobs to keep us afloat. And in school, I was always, inevitably, number two, right behind Scarlett.

But now, this invisible audience was telling me I was the one who was supposed to have it all.

Well. This game just got a lot more interesting.

2

A cruel glint appeared in Scarlett's eyes. She was about to speak, to expose me, but I beat her to it, broadcasting a new thought for the entire class to hear.

【I’m being paranoid. Scarlett would never deliberately humiliate someone. She’s always been so kind and considerate. She must have chosen Ascend for another reason.】

I let the thought hang in the air for a second before adding the masterstroke.

【Wait… what if she’s planning on treating the whole school? Maybe she mentioned it to our class first so we wouldn’t feel awkward when she made the big announcement. A surprise for everyone before graduation?】

The effect was instantaneous. Jessica, a girl in the back row who lived for gossip, shot up from her seat.

“No way, Scarlett! Are you really treating the whole school? That’s amazing!”

The classroom exploded.

“Wow! Ascend? I’ve only seen that place on TV!”

“Scarlett, you’re the best! That must cost a fortune!”

“Of course she can, she’s a Sterling! She’s probably treating the whole school, not just our class.”

Scarlett’s smile froze on her face. Her fingers dug into the edge of the lectern, the veins popping on the back of her hands. I saw a flash of pure panic in her eyes. According to the comments, her original plan was just to look generous in front of our class, win some points, and put me in my place. A simple, effective power play.

Since she wanted to look generous, I was happy to help. All I did was push her onto a much bigger stage.

Now, with Jessica’s outburst, every eye in the room was on her. The entire school was almost a thousand students. At three hundred dollars a head, she was looking at a bill of around three hundred thousand dollars.

She was clearly not happy about it.

She opened her mouth, probably to backpedal, to find some excuse. So, I gave everyone another little nudge.

【Or… maybe I got it all wrong? Maybe she never intended to treat anyone. Of course. A place like Ascend isn’t for people like me. I was getting ahead of myself, thinking I could ever belong in the same room as her.】

The mood in the room shifted. The other students’ expressions turned speculative. If she backed down now, after that thought, she’d look like a cheap, manipulative bully.

Scarlett’s face was a patchwork of red and white. She stared at me, her eyes burning with a hatred so pure it was almost beautiful. But dozens of phones were already out, secretly recording. If she said no, the perfect persona she’d spent years building would shatter.

After a long, tense silence, she took a deep breath and forced a smile that looked more like a grimace.

“You’ve all worked so hard this year. Consider it my treat. A dinner at Ascend for the entire student body, to wish you all luck on your finals!”

The room erupted in thunderous applause.

“Scarlett is a legend!”

“You’re my hero, Scarlett!”

“What’d I tell you? She’s a Sterling. A few hundred grand is pocket change to her.”

The look Scarlett gave me promised murder. She was probably furious enough to spontaneously combust. The thought made me ridiculously happy.

Meeting her venomous gaze, I slowly, deliberately, lifted my chin and mouthed two silent words.

Thank you.

The comment feed was going insane.

【HOLY SH*T! The villainess just roasted her alive! She totally backed her into a corner!】

【You can plan for the enemy, but you can’t plan for idiots. What was that Jessica girl thinking?!】

【Wait a minute, isn’t our girl supposed to be a reincarnator? How did she not see that move coming?】

【A thousand people at Ascend? That’s like, 300k. The villainess played her HARD.】

3

The final bell for study hall had barely faded when I packed my bag and took the long way home, through the poorly lit alley that was always deserted. The comments had already told me that Scarlett would be waiting.

Sure enough, as I rounded the first corner, five or six guys with cheap dye jobs and bad attitudes stepped out of the shadows, blocking my path.

A moment later, Scarlett emerged behind them, her shadow stretching long and distorted under the single flickering streetlamp.

“Well, well, Chloe. You’ve grown a backbone.”

She strolled toward me, her voice dripping with venom. “Who gave you the nerve to play games with me?”

I lowered my eyes, making myself small, feigning fear. “Scarlett, what are you talking about? I don’t understand. Did I do something to make you mad?”

My mind, however, was broadcasting something else entirely.

【What is she doing? This isn’t right. She shouldn’t be able to hear my thoughts. She must be bluffing, trying to trick me into admitting I have a power.】

Scarlett let out a cold, sharp laugh and lunged forward, grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking my head back. “The dinner at Ascend. That was you, wasn't it?”

“How did you know?” The words slipped out before I could stop them. I immediately clamped my mouth shut, widening my eyes as if I’d revealed a secret.

The performance worked. Her face lit up with smug triumph. She let go of my hair and patted my shoulder, her touch a mockery of comfort. “Did you really think your pathetic little schemes were a secret? To me, you’re nothing but a clown.”

She flicked her chin toward the goons. “Do it. And remember, stick to places clothes will cover. No visible marks.”

They closed in. Fists and feet landed on my back, my sides, the pain so sharp I curled into a ball on the filthy asphalt, able to do nothing but let out choked sobs. Scarlett just stood there watching, a cruel smile on her face, as if she were enjoying a particularly satisfying movie.

After what felt like an eternity, they stopped.

Scarlett walked over and used the toe of her expensive shoe to tilt my chin up. She looked down at me, her face a mask of contempt.

“Three hundred thousand dollars is nothing to me, Chloe. I don’t care about the money. But you… you should care about whether your parents live or die, shouldn't you?”

My eyes shot open in genuine fear. “What are you going to do?”

She smiled. “Your mother having that street-sweeping job? That’s a gift. From me.” She drew the words out slowly. “What do you think would happen to your family if I had her fired?”

I trembled, scrambling up from the ground and onto my knees. I bowed my head and begged, knocking my forehead against the cold, gritty concrete.

“I’m sorry, Scarlett! I was wrong! It was a moment of stupidity, I’ll never go against you again! I’ll do whatever you say, just please… please don’t hurt my parents!”

The impact sent stars through my vision, but I knew the act had to be convincing.

It was. Scarlett’s smile widened. She bent down and patted my cheek, her touch condescending. “See? That’s much better. Remember your place. Crushing you is as easy as stepping on an ant.”

With that, she turned and walked away, her entourage trailing behind her.

I stayed on the ground until the sound of their footsteps disappeared completely. Then, slowly, I pushed myself up. The terror in my eyes was gone, replaced by an icy calm. The throbbing pain in my body was real, but it was nothing compared to the path I had to walk.

The comments were scrolling furiously.

【YES! That’s how you do it! You can’t go soft on a snake like her!】

【Teach her a lesson! Let’s see her try to scheme against our girl now!】

【Scarlett is too kind. If it were me, I’d have her whole family run out of town.】

【The party this weekend is going to be epic. Scarlett will be the star, and that little witch will be crying in a corner somewhere.】

【Exactly. A villain should know their place. Trying to fight the main character is just pathetic.】

I leaned against the brick wall, dusting off my clothes. A small, unnoticeable smile touched my lips.

Pathetic?

They would all soon find out who the truly pathetic one was.

The grand feast at Ascend was just another trap I had set for her. And she was walking right into it.

4

At the weekend party for the whole school, Scarlett was the undisputed center of the universe. She wore a champagne-colored silk gown, a diamond necklace glittering at her throat that probably cost more than my house.

The moment she saw me standing hesitantly at the entrance, she turned. A flicker of triumph crossed her face as her eyes swept over me.

“Chloe! You finally made it.”

She gathered her dress and glided over, her voice pitched just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. “You’re so practical, Chloe. Wearing your school uniform to a party. It’s… refreshing. So clean and simple compared to all of this.”

Her words were a masterclass in backhanded compliments, and they drew a ripple of quiet, cruel laughter from the surrounding students.

Someone raised their voice. “A uniform? Chloe, are things that bad at home? You can’t even afford a single nice dress?”

I looked down, feigning embarrassment, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw a waiter passing with a tray of champagne flutes. Right on schedule. As the comments had predicted, the show was about to begin.

A second later, someone “accidentally” bumped into the waiter. The tray tilted, glasses shattered on the floor, and golden liquid splashed all over a nearby student’s designer dress.

The waiter, a middle-aged woman, went pale. She bowed frantically, apologizing over and over. “I’m so sorry, so sorry! It was an accident!”

“Are you blind?” the student shrieked, pointing at the woman’s face. “Do you have any idea how much this dress costs? You’re going to pay for this!”

Just then, a voice from the crowd mused aloud, “Hey, doesn’t she look familiar?”

Another voice chimed in instantly. “Yeah! She’s the one who sweeps the streets near our school! I think… I think that’s Chloe’s mom!”

A lightning bolt of silence struck the room.

Every single head swiveled from the terrified waiter to me. Their gazes were now filled with a mixture of mockery and disgust.

“So Chloe’s mom is a street sweeper…”

“No wonder she wore her uniform. They really are that poor.”

“Scarlett is such a saint for even inviting her. I’d be worried she’d stink up the place.”

Scarlett stood in the middle of it all, a faint, pleased smile on her lips. “Don’t say that, guys. You’ll hurt Chloe’s feelings. It’s not her fault her mom sweeps streets for a living.”

The comments were a chorus of praise for her cruelty.

【Savage! A total fatality! The villainess is completely humiliated.】

【Best move ever! Paying a few hundred bucks to hire her mom as a server just to expose her in front of the whole school? Genius!】

【A stinky, dirty street sweeper for a mom. If I were the villain, I’d just go die of shame.】

【And Scarlett didn’t even have to say a word! She let everyone else do the dirty work for her. So smart!】

I remained silent, counting down in my head. Three… two… one…

“What is going on here?”

A deep, commanding male voice cut through the chatter from the doorway, carrying an authority that could not be ignored.

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