The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 185

“Callum will,” Zane said, making us both look at him in surprise.

I thought about how Callum had stayed behind to help search for the rogue. I thought about how he had looked so… disappointed when we talked about Marissa. I wasn’t sure why, but he seemed to be blaming himself, as if the rogues were his fault.

They weren’t, of course. Somehow, though, he seemed to think that it was his responsibility to keep our fellow students safe, and that he had failed. The thought made me soften a little, even if I still thought he was being unreasonable toward me.

I heard voices, then, coming from the common room downstairs. Students were arguing, from the sounds of it. Curious, I decided to head down there to see what was going on. I wanted to know if Bella had been found.

When I entered the common room, I found a group of students gathered there, sitting on various pieces of furniture. Some were standing by the windows, looking outside. A few others were pacing.

“She’s definitely dead!” I heard one boy say. “Same with Marissa! No one survives a rogue attack like that, especially not a single girl!”

“Don’t say that!” another girl, one who I vaguely recognized as Marissa’s girlfriend, cried out. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and she was clutching another girl, who was rubbing her back soothingly. “They’re still alive!”

“You’re being delusional—”

“Don’t be an ass, Darian,” I said. “They might be okay. You don’t know for certain.”

Everyone turned to me. The boy in question, Darian, narrowed his eyes. “What do you know? You’re just the King’s whore.”

I grit my teeth together. “I’m not—”

“Wait—you were there, weren’t you?” Marissa’s girlfriend rushed over to me and grabbed my arms with both hands, shaking me. “What happened? Was Bella still alive when she was taken?”

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly, looking down at my feet. “I wish I could say something that would help. I wish this all didn’t happen to begin with. But it did. Now, all we can do is hope that they’re found.”

The room was silent, all the students looked down. Tears rolled down the girl’s cheeks, and she let out a little sob before her friend came and gently pulled her away.

“This is all your fault, you know.”

We all looked up at the sound of Bianca’s voice. She was standing in the doorway, still wearing her yellow vest, her pink boots utterly pristine. She took a step into the room and pointed at me.

“She endangered Callum and Bella with her recklessness,” she said. “I saw the whole thing!”