The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 1959

Charlotte: [Are you going to tell him about what happened?]

Stella: [Yes. He has the right to know.]

She had promised Roger she would give herself a week to process everything.

In one week.

She would lay her entire past bare for him.

Charlotte: [Whatever you decide to do, I've got your back.]

—

On the other side of the city.

Veronica Ham had rigorously combed through the list of female psychology majors at The Cabinda University.

Factoring in Samantha's warning about the girl having "powerful backing"...

No one had a background intimidating enough to make the Gates family pause.

So.

Roger's mystery girl didn't go to Cabinda?

If it wasn't Cabinda, the only other logical option was Kingswood University.

If her memory served her right.

The very first guest lecture Roger had given was at Kingswood.

Maybe it had everything to do with that girl.

Veronica thought for a moment before messaging a connection to pull the roster for Kingswood University's psychology department.

She was dying to see just how "powerful" this girl's backing truly was.

—

The next morning.

Stella walked out of her apartment building, clutching her tote bag and fighting back a yawn.

The second she stepped outside, she nearly walked straight into Roger, her heart skipping a dangerous beat.

“Morning.”

Terrified that his aggressive behavior the night before had completely spooked her, Roger was a bundle of raw nerves.

“...”

Stella's grip on her bag strap tightened. She froze in her tracks, lowering her gaze, her voice barely a whisper. “Morning.”

“About last night...”

Roger took two steps forward, closing the distance between them. He carefully studied her face, his voice impossibly gentle. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah.”

Stella nodded, though the truth was she hadn't slept a wink.

By some silent, mutual agreement, neither of them brought up the near-kiss.

Especially Roger.

He had fully expected the skittish girl to avoid him entirely today. Her calm reaction was a massive shock.

It was obvious the reading list had been meticulously curated just for her. She had learned a massive amount.

“For the first phase, you'll have to grind a bit to build a rock-solid foundation,” Roger explained. He casually picked up his iPad and forwarded a newly compiled document of notes to her inbox. “If you hit a wall, you can ask me anything, anytime.”

“...”

Stella opened the email attachment, gave it a cursory glance, and then shot Roger a deeply unamused, skeptical look.

Roger blinked, momentarily caught off guard, before coughing awkwardly to cover his tracks. A wicked, unapologetic smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You can only use the same trick once.”

“I genuinely didn't have time to organize these ones properly.”

He definitely hadn't deliberately kept the notes fragmented just to force her to come to him for help.

“Right.”

Stella looked away, though she couldn't stop a tiny, fond smile from blooming on her lips.

The car pulled up to the gates of Kingswood University.

Stella stepped out and stood by the window to say goodbye.

“Hold on.”

Roger pulled out a sleek little tin and handed it to her, his voice dripping with affection. “I had the old fox's factory custom-make these. They aren't too sweet, heavy on the peach flavor.”

“Anthony's factory?”

Stella took the tin, her brow furrowing in confusion.

“Yeah.”

Roger chuckled softly. “The little princess at home was throwing a fit for Flamin' Hot Cheetos, so the old fox had his people build an entirely new production line just to make snacks to keep her happy.”