The Scorned Heiress's Hidden Empire (by Jade Quinn) novel Chapter 151

Chapter 151 Messing With Her

Chapter 151 Messing With Her

Natalie spoke in a calm, measured tone. “It’s always comfy walking a road someone else laid out for you.

“But if you keep walking the easy road, you’ll forget how to walk by yourself.

“So what will you do when that road’s gone? Where will you head then?

“As for serving in the army, I’ve never treated it as some backup plan. Backups are for losers. I’m not one of them.” After hearing Natalie’s words, Kelly had a total lightbulb moment. She stood there stunned for a couple seconds, then smacked herself on the forehead.

‘Damn, what nonsense was I spouting? “Why pick such a tough path as a soldier?”

‘Is any path easy? Office jobs aren’t tough? Nine-to-five isn’t tough? Living under someone else’s thumb isn’t tough? It’s all just different flavors of tough.’

She threw off the covers and sat up, her eyes shining as she looked at Natalie’s back.

“You’re right, all that stuff is just bullshit. The only things that really belong to me are what I’ve earned myself. Nobody can take them away.”

She got more and more fired up, poking her chin with her finger as she stared at the ceiling.

“I used to always wonder what I was lacking compared to others. Was it my fitness? My stamina? Or was it because I’m a woman? Now that I think about it, none of that was the real problem.

“I was always leaving myself an escape route. If I couldn’t run anymore, I’d just think, ‘Whatever, there’s always next time.’ If I couldn’t hold on, I’d tell myself, ‘Forget it, I’m not the strongest anyway.’ All of it was crap!”

She took a deep breath, her voice rising with determination. “Starting tomorrow, I’m not giving myself any escape routes. If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl. If I can’t crawl, I’ll just flop down and catch my breath, then keep crawling. “Anyway, I’m not turning back. If I look behind, all I see is the path I’ve already walked, not the road I’m supposed to take. The road I need is up ahead, so I’ll keep my eyes forward and keep moving.”

When Kelly finished speaking, she looked over at Natalie again and saw that she was already in bed.

Kelly grinned to herself, hyping herself up. ‘Tomorrow, I’m gonna be a brand new me!’

For the next few days of the pre-training acclimation period, the whistle blasted at 4 a.m. sharp every morning.

Forty-seven of us shot out of bed, yanked on our uniforms, and sprinted down the hall to form up on the field.

The first day was a ruck march, the second had us crawling through mud, the third threw in a 1300-foot obstacle course, and the fourth was an armed swim.

Every day brought something new, but one thing stayed the same, Natalie was always the first to finish.

The rest of us were used to it by now. We expected her to be the first back, and even after smashing every event, she’d still be standing tall while the rest of us were sprawled out on the ground like sun-dried loaches.

But Natalie hardly ever spoke. She’d go a whole day without saying more than a handful of words.

A lot of people were annoyed by her arrogant, standoffish attitude, and they’d often try to provoke her, sometimes right to her face, sometimes behind her back.

One of their favorite moves was to shout in front of her, “A girl getting this far is already impressive. No matter what she does, she can’t get any better.”

At mealtime, they’d cut in line right in front of her, but Natalie never said anything or got annoyed. She’d just wave them ahead like she didn’t care.

Sometimes, someone would “accidentally” bump her shoulder during training, and when she crawled out of the mud, someone nearby would purposely splatter her with mud.

She didn’t even react, just wiped the mud off her face and kept moving, totally unfazed.

Someone even snatched the rope she always used in the equipment area, but she just grabbed another one and finished the climb without missing a beat.

Madison and Sebastian were so mad they wer Successfully unlocked! re than once they wanted to jump in, but Blondie would always, intentionally or not, find

.ck.

Kelly was so mad she couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning in bed. “Aren’t you mad?”

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Chapter 151 Messing With Her

Natalie lay down with her eyes closed. “Getting mad is just a waste of energy.”

Kelly buried her face in her pillow, sulked for a while, then blurted out, “Aren’t you worried they’ll think you’re a pushover?” Natalie’s voice drifted up from below, totally unbothered. “Whatever they think, it’s got nothing to do with me.”

Kelly couldn’t believe it. Natalie was strong enough to wipe the floor with all the guys, looked like she’d bite your head off you crossed her, but her temper was actually super mellow, way more easygoing than you’d expect from someone so intimidating.

It honestly felt like messing with her was just like punching air, no matter how hard you tried, it was all for nothing. She ju absorbed it, leaving you feeling totally powerless.

After a few days, people at camp were split into two camps about Natalie.

One group thought she was legit strong, so strong she didn’t need to prove anything to anyone.

The other group figured she was just soft, the type to let people walk all over her and not even say a word. They were sur the moment the head instructor showed up, she’d be the first to lose it and start bawling.

Today was the last day of the pre-training phase, and everyone had their final assessment in the morning.

When the results came out, Natalie took first place by a huge margin. No one else was even close.

As per the rules, two people were going to get eliminated, and this time, the last two in the assessment were Ezekiel Hill and Colton Ford.

These two were the ones who kept messing with Natalie, always trying to get under her skin.

“You all know the rules. The two at the bottom are out,” Noah said.

He stood at the front, scanning each face one by one, his gaze lingering on Ezekiel Hill and Colton Ford at the end.

“But-” Noah paused.

“There’s another rule here. If you get knocked out in the pre-training assessment, you get one shot to challenge the top

scorer.

“You can pick any skill you want. Win, and you stay. Lose, and you’re gone.”

The field went wild.

Whispers crawled through the ranks like bugs, and everyone’s eyes kept flicking back and forth between Natalie, Ezekiel,

and Colton.

Any event, the eliminated gets to pick.

That meant Natalie would have to go head-to-head with them in whatever event they chose.

And then there’s Ezekiel and Colton.

Ezekiel came from a martial arts background, a provincial-level kickboxing champ before he enlisted. Colton was a sharpshooter, known as the “Gun King” back in his old unit.

Both of these are skill-based events, only taught during the main training phase. The pre-training period was all about stamina and endurance. No one had any skill training yet.

Natalie was a beast when it came to stamina and endurance, but that didn’t mean she’d be just as good when it came to specialized skills.

Ezekiel’s eyes lit up. He glanced at Colton, who met his gaze.

Their eyes locked for a moment, then, as if on cue, both turned to Natalie.

Natalie stood tall and straight, her face unreadable.

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