A Fake Heiress’s Guide to Love and Power novel Chapter 199

It was strange–despite the whole field stretching between them, both could feel the other’s gaze resting on them, unmistakable and magnetic.

“Got it, thanks.” Alessia pulled a baseball cap over her hair–the same one she’d left. in the car earlier, retrieved by Larkin at her request.

Once his errand was done, Larkin didn’t linger. He made his way back to Cole, just as the race was about to begin.

Stella lined up in lane three, Lucy in lane five. The crack of the starter’s pistol echoed, and Stella launched forward with textbook form. Her explosive speed put her on par with the track team’s best, and in a heart–pounding finish, she snatched first place by a hair’s breadth.

But most eyes weren’t on the winner–they were fixed on Lucy, who had stumbled and fallen right at the starting line.

While Stella and the two other qualifiers waited for the cheers, they were met instead with a collective gasp.

“Great job, Stella!” Alessia’s voice rang out from the stands just as Stella, still catching her breath, glanced back at Lucy. Stella managed a triumphant grin and punched the air.

Up in the bleachers, Justin scrolled through his camera roll, but he wasn’t satisfied with any of his shots.

“Hey, want my number? I got a few good ones. I’ll send them to you later,” Liam offered. Justin didn’t hesitate.

“Thanks.” He pulled out his phone and brought up his contact code.

Liam quietly scanned it, adding him as a friend without another word.

Down on the track, Stella approached Lucy. After all, they were classmates–no matter how prickly things got between them, she couldn’t just leave Lucy behind, especially in front of the other classes.

“Lucy, can you stand?” Stella asked.

Lucy’s forehead was slick with sweat. She managed a tiny shake of her head.

“Where’s the nurse?” someone muttered.

“Lessie, can you come here?” Stella didn’t wait for the school nurse; her first instinct

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was to call for Alessia.

Hearing Stella, Alessia finally made her way down. The crowd parted on its own, giving her space as she knelt beside Lucy, not immediately inspecting the injury.

“Everyone, give her some air. It’s too crowded here. Can someone check if the nurse is coming?”

On a normal day, the school nurse had little to do, but sports day was a different story. The school typically brought in extra doctors from a nearby clinic, with an ambulance on standby. No one expected it to take this long for help to arrive.

“I checked–they said there was a case of food poisoning over at the West Field. A whole class got sick, so all the doctors went to help. I barely got an answer before running back,” Pierce reported, breathless and sweating.

Before the race, he’d already flagged the issue to a teacher, who tried to talk Lucy out of running. Lucy, stubborn as ever, insisted on competing. No one could persuade her otherwise.

Now, with dread creeping in, Pierce had rushed to find the nurse as soon as he saw Lucy fall. Though he came back empty–handed, he immediately relayed the situation.

“Sorry for the trouble, captain,” Lucy murmured, lips pressed tight, eyes filled with frustration.

She’d only raced to prove herself–prove to her father that she was worth more than his illegitimate daughter, to make him regret skipping her last sports day. Now, she’d only ended up causing problems for everyone else.

“Don’t apologize! You did it for the class. What’s a little trouble? It’s senior year, wanting to give it your all is completely normal,” Pierce said, dabbing at the sweat on his forehead, not a trace of blame in his voice.

“Where does it hurt?” Alessia’s tone was calm and clinical, giving nothing away.

“My ankle… twisted it,” Lucy replied, glancing at Alessia.

“Anywhere else?”

“My stomach…”

Alessia understood and asked no more. She carefully examined Lucy’s ankle with gentle hands.

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