Chapter 3

Gloria watched in disbelief as the butler and the servants were moving her things out.

I looked around the spacious room with satisfaction and nodded. "By the way, Mom and Dad, is my transfer all sorted out?"

Mom playfully tapped my nose. "It's all taken care of. You'll start tomorrow, and you'll be at the same school as your brother and sister, so you can all look out for each other."

I was practically buzzing with excitement. Finally, this poor Riverbend student got to try the Kingsbury curriculum. What a dream come true!

*****

The next day, when I walked into the classroom, the teacher asked me to introduce myself and pointed me to an empty seat next to a guy.

The guy was passed out on his desk, totally clueless that he had a new seatmate. The next class was a math quiz, and I gave it my all. By the time I handed in my test, I was almost crying.

Man, the Kingsbury curriculum really is as tough as they say. I thought, feeling both exhausted and impressed.

Just when I was still buzzing with excitement, Gloria swaggered over with her little clique in tow.

Gloria put on her most sincere look. "Hey, Chelsea, are you keeping up? That quiz was no joke. Was it tough for you?"

The ponytailed girl next to her snickered, half covering her mouth. "Come on, do we even need to ask? She's just some hick from the sticks. Who knows if she's ever set foot in a real classroom?

"I heard from the authorities that Riverbend's schools are way behind. Like she could ever keep up with us. She only got into our class because she's the Ward family's princess. She's just here to tank our average."

"Kara, don't talk about Chelsea like that!" Gloria tugged at Kara's sleeve. "She just got here, it's normal if she's struggling. We should be helping her out."

Kara scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Gloria, you're way too soft. But her? She's cold-blooded! Just got back and already snatched your room!"

I picked up my textbook and fanned myself. "Get lost, you smell like an idiot."

Kara's face turned red with rage. "Country bumpkin! How dare you talk to me like that."

My temper flared. Who the hell does she think she's messing with? I kicked the desk over, and the whole class erupted in screams.

My seatmate, who had been sleeping, shot up. "Holy crap, is there an earthquake?"

I grabbed Kara by the collar of her uniform. "Hey, if you're that bored, why don't you go shovel some cow crap at the edge of the village? Keep running your mouth, and I'll drag you to the bathroom and make you rinse it out with toilet water!"

Gloria pulled me away and stood protectively in front of Kara. "Chelsea, don't do this! Kara was just sticking up for me, she—"

I wasn't about to let her finish. I shoved her hard. "Sticking up for you? What do you even have to whine about? You're just a fake heiress, born to a Mom who steals babies! If your criminal mother hadn't swapped us as infants, the real heiress wouldn't have had to suffer for eighteen damn years!"

Gloria stiffened, her face draining of color. "Chelsea! You—"

The whole class went wild.

"Wait, Gloria's the fake heiress?!"

"Oh my god, and it was Gloria's own Mom who switched them? Isn't that straight-up human trafficking?"

"Chelsea really got screwed over..."

Since my parents had raised Gloria for so many years, they didn't want her to get dragged through the mud, so they never made the truth public. To everyone else, they just said they'd found their long-lost daughter.

Gloria probably thought I'd never go against my parents, so she felt safe showing off in front of me. She never expected I'd spill the truth right in front of the whole class.

Kara clearly hadn't seen that coming, but she still shot back, "So what? Gloria's been with the Ward family for years. She's got grace, she's got manners, and she's always top of the class! You, a country bumpkin, think you're even in the same league as Gloria?"

I stared at her, completely speechless. "Her Mom stole my life and she got to live the life that should've been mine.

"And now you're standing here, looking down on me—the actual victim—and praising the one who stole everything? Girl, did a dog eat your brain and your sense of right and wrong?"

Kara was so stunned she couldn't get a word out for a while, but finally snapped, "All that talk means nothing! A bumpkin will always be a bumpkin! Just wait till the quiz results come out. You'll see, someone like you is just a barnyard hen, while Gloria's a soaring phoenix!"