The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 169

“What?” I glanced around, then spotted her. Bella. She was standing a ways ahead of us in line, completely by herself. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to see us. “Is this going to be a problem?” I asked.

Zane shook his head, although he looked uncertain. “Yes. Well… I think.”

“Zane… You said not to worry about her.”

“I know I said that,” Zane muttered, raking his fingers through his blond hair, “but… Well, I sort of bumped into her the other day, and I thought she was you from behind, and I, uh…”

“Zane…?”

“Look, I just put my arm around her, okay?” He held his hands up in surrender. “But she took it totally the wrong way. Thought I was flirting and wanted to get back together with her. Then, when I told her I thought she was you, she got pissed. I still have a bruise on my shin where she kicked me.”

“You’re kidding me.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Look, just… Avoid her tonight. It’s gonna be crowded anyway. It’ll be fine.”

Zane nodded affirmatively. Soon, it was our turn. We gave our tickets to the rather bored-looking girl in the ticket booth, who stamped our hands with glow-in-the-dark marker and sent us on our way.

Soon enough, I had forgotten about spotting Bella entirely. In fact, I’d forgotten about everything else outside that concert venue. Nothing else mattered, not when I was listening to the guitar riffs and harmonies of my favorite band in the entire world.

For a little while, life was simple. Nothing existed outside dancing and singing along to the music. Zane, who wasn’t even that much of a fan of the band, even joined in on the fun.

Halfway through the show, an intermission was called before the second half of the show. “I’m gonna take a leak,” Zane shouted over the din, handing me his wallet. “Wanna get us some snacks and meet me at the food stands?”

“Sure.” I took his wallet and we parted ways.

The lines for the food stands were already practically stretching outside by the time I made it. I managed to find a soft pretzel booth that didn’t have too long of a wait, and when it was my turn, I bought us each a pretzel, a drink, and cups of melted cheese. I grabbed our food and waited on the sidelines, leaning against the wall and munching on my pretzel while Zane took his sweet time.

Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me. I turned, expecting it to be Zane.

“Callum, wait!” I called out. He froze, and I said quickly, “I wanted to talk about—”

“Talk about what?”

Bianca suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Her pink head-to-toe outfit made her stand out amongst the masses of spikes and dark leather. She folded her arms, eyeing me suspiciously.

I was about to respond when I looked down and saw it. The one thing on her body that wasn’t pink, but rather blue.

My mother’s brooch.

It was hanging from a ribbon around her neck.