Their Queen's Back - Chapter 52: Chapter 52

Emily couldn't help cursing Sophia in her mind for being utterly shameless, but at the same time, a pang of envy crept in. "Ugh, why am I even jealous of her?" she thought, her feet cemented to the floor, unable to move.
Seeing Skye actually nod in agreement with Sophia, Emily huffed in frustration, stomped her foot, and stormed back to her room.
Emily thought, 'Seriously? She couldn't even handle such a simple test!'
Emily thought, "Can't she see she's just faking it?"
"Sophia is such a shameless, despicable snake! What a total scumbag!"
Emily clutched the stuffed animal, pounding it with clenched fists as if it were Sophia herself.
Noticing the person by the door had disappeared, Sophia's lips curled into a sly smile.
"Sis, I'll go take my medicine now. If you're tired, just get some rest," Sophia said to Skye.
Skye gave a brief hum in response. Meanwhile, Linda and Jessica were huddled up in their room.
Linda cried to her daughter, "Jessica, what should we do? That little witch Skye actually had the caregiver look after your father—and now your dad yelled at me, saying he doesn't want to see me anymore!"
Linda wiped away her tears, sobbing uncontrollably. Her heart was shattering.
Ever since Skye came back, my life has been miserable—I can't eat well, can't enjoy anything, and have to endure humiliation everywhere. After ten years of glamorous living and being pampered, how could I possibly tolerate such disgrace? Linda thought bitterly.
Jessica's eyes blazed with a storm of hatred. "I won't let anything change—the Hughes family will always be ruled by me and my mother," she thought fiercely.
"Don't worry, Skye's happy days are numbered."
Jessica sneered to herself, "Once the company runs into trouble, let's see how long you can keep your cool, Skye. I can't wait to see just how capable you really are."
The next day at school, Emily noticed people were looking at her differently—even the top students from Class 1 came up and apologized to her publicly.
Megan, a top student from Class 1, was always heading over to Class 10—all because of Emily.
After class, Megan hurried over to find Emily and pulled her into a corner. Looking guilty, she said, "Emily, yesterday was all my fault. Go ahead, punish me! Otherwise, I'll just keep feeling awful about it."
As soon as Megan grabbed her hand, Emily instinctively yanked it back, a little flustered by the sudden contact.
"Meg, what are you doing?" he said. "I already told you, it has nothing to do with you—it wasn't your fault at all. Stop blaming yourself for everything, okay?"
Megan smiled and asked, "Emily, was that older girl from yesterday really your biological sister? I thought your sister was the one beside you."
Of course, she already knew about the relationship between Jessica and Emily. Emily nodded. "Yeah, Jessica isn't my biological sister."
"Your sister must be really impressive, right? I'm dying to meet someone like her. Emily, can you introduce me to your sister next time? She's so beautiful and has such an elegant presence."
Megan's admiring gaze made my heart leap. Just knowing Skye is my sister—a wave of pride instantly washed over me.
"Meg, maybe another time," Emily replied.
"Honestly, Skye and I aren't that close yet,
"Besides, she even hit me before because of Sophia.
"And last night, she even let Sophia share her bed!" Emily fumed, feeling both hurt and betrayed.
"She can't even resist a little temptation, can she?" Emily scoffed to herself, arms crossed in disdain. "Still not past my test—let's see how long she lasts."
Megan said excitedly, "How about today? After school, why don't you ask your sister to pick you up, and we'll all grab dinner together. What do you say?"
Emily made up an excuse, "She's really busy."
The truth was, she didn't even have her contact info—they've only just met.
Megan looked slightly disappointed. She murmured a quiet "oh," said a few words, and then went back to her own classroom.
Just as Emily was about to leave, she found herself face-to-face with Claire, who was leaning casually against the doorframe, arms crossed.
Just thinking about how Claire deliberately cozied up to Skye at the hospital yesterday made Emily want nothing to do with her.
Without so much as a glance, Emily walked right past her, face completely unreadable.
Claire sneered, "Emily, I can't believe you're this dumb. How could Skye have a sister like you?"
Claire's mocking tone, dripping with contempt, made Emily's temper flare up instantly.
"Claire, who do you think you are calling 'Sis Skye'? Shut your mouth!"
Who does she think she is, calling her "Sis Skye"? What right does she have?
Emily didn't even register the word "stupid" in Claire's remark. What really got under her skin was hearing Claire call Skye "Sis Skye"—that made her vision turn red.
Claire scoffed, "Sis Skye said I could call her that—what's it to you, Emily? She helped me out yesterday and even praised me."
"You!" Emily spat through gritted teeth, her eyes blazing with fury.
"Emily," Claire sneered, flipping her hair with a contemptuous look. "If it weren't for Sis Skye, I wouldn't even waste my time on trash like you. Let me do you a favor—don't let people make a monkey out of you, you utter moron."
Claire finished speaking and turned to leave, but Emily stormed over and blocked her path. "Hold it right there! What exactly do you mean by that?" she demanded.
Yesterday, when Claire saw Megan tear up that letter, she'd already begun to suspect something. After overhearing their conversation, she instantly pieced the whole scheme together.
Claire looked at Emily's ridiculously cute face—those almond-shaped eyes tinged with a warm anger, her lips naturally rosy and luscious, unfairly pretty even without a trace of makeup. Short hair, usually the hardest style to pull off, was just perfect on her.
Seeing Emily's adorable yet furious expression, Claire felt an unexpected tug at her heart. Damn it, she just couldn't bring herself to say anything too harsh.
Emily, are you really this clueless, or just playing dumb? Can't you see Megan's been targeting you all along? That love letter—she totally set you up to embarrass you. And those girls who blocked you yesterday? They're all her close friends. Don't tell me you actually think it was just a coincidence.
Emily froze for a moment, caught off guard by Claire's words. "Wait... is she saying Megan set me up?"
No way. Meg is her best friend.
They're super close.
"No way!" Emily thought fiercely.
"Claire, stop trying to sow discord between us! Don't think I can't see right through you—you're just bitter because I hit you yesterday, and now you want to ruin our friendship? Forget about it. I'll never believe you, so just give it up!"
With that, Emily strode away. Claire couldn't believe she'd ever met a girl this clueless—seriously, she was thicker than a brick. "Anyone with half a brain could have figured this out," she thought in exasperation.
Seriously? She actually thinks I'm the one stirring up trouble between them?
"Ruin their friendship?" Claire scoffed inwardly. "Seriously? As if I'd waste my time on their petty drama."
Claire thought scornfully, "Do I look like someone with nothing better to do?"
Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. She can't even recognize when someone's trying to help her.
Claire thought, "What an idiot!"
"Moron, if it wasn't her doing, why would the letter have your name on it?"
With that, Claire turned on her heel and walked away.
Emily slowed her pace. Though the letter had been snatched away in yesterday's commotion, she managed to reclaim it. She caught a glimpse—her name was clearly written there.
"Why would Meg put my name on it?" Emily wondered.
Wasn't she supposed to confess her feelings to Alex? Logically, her name should've been on the letter.
With lingering doubts, Emily spent the whole class thinking about it. "Whatever," she finally thought, giving up on trying to figure it out.
Outside the School Gate, Bubble Tea Shop
Susan and Skye sat across from each other at the bubble tea shop.
Susan took a nervous gulp of her bubble tea, a stark contrast to her usual stern demeanor as a homeroom teacher. Even she didn't know why she felt so tense in front of Skye.
Skye waved her hand dismissively, signaling Lauren to leave.
Lauren gave a respectful nod, opened the door, and took her position guarding it.
Ms. Fisher, let's skip the introductions. I'll get straight to the point—I heard both your daughters applied to Fletcher University abroad, but unfortunately, they were each rejected for different reasons.
Ms. Fisher was flustered. She admitted awkwardly, "It's true—for someone from a family like mine, grades alone just won't cut it for a university like that."
"Yes, Ms. Hughes, that's right."
Susan came from humble beginnings. In Capital City, where every inch of land is worth a fortune, she seemed painfully average—her greatest achievement was becoming a teacher at this prestigious private school.
But inevitably, she ended up being assigned to teach the lowest-ranked class.