The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 364

Liora’s POV

I woke up the next morning with my mind already made up. The moment I opened my eyes, looking up at the ceiling as the first rays of morning sunshine played across the white paint, I knew exactly what I was going to do today.

I was going to tell Callum the truth.

All of it. Who I really was, why I had kept it from him, what it meant for both of us. Every bit of it.

I wasn’t entirely sure what had finally tipped me over the edge and made me decide to rip off the bandaid. Maybe it was the second date, or the kiss outside my door, or the fact that I had gone to bed last night smiling like an idiot and was still smiling now, just as idiotic.

Maybe it was the way he had looked at me outside the bar, in that way he’d never truly looked at me before. Without reservations, without expectations. Like he genuinely cared, and he was tired of trying to hide it or letting his family convince him otherwise.

Or maybe it was just that the list I had been carrying around in my pocket felt heavier every single day, and now that it was missing, I felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

Whatever the reason, the decision was made. And this time, I wasn’t going to go back on it. Callum deserved the truth. Even if it ruined everything we had tentatively built recently, even if he decided he hated me for keeping it from him, I knew it had to come out and I wanted him to hear it from me first.

I sat up, pushed my hair out of my face, and looked at Mia’s side of the room. She was already awake, scrolling on her phone with her short hair sticking up at odd angles.

“I’m going to tell him,” I said immediately.

Mia set her phone down and looked at me. “Tell who what?”

I gave her a flat look.

She sat bolt upright. “Wait. you mean Callum? You’re going to tell Callum? Like, today?”

I just nodded.

My friend’s face split into a grin. “How are you going to do it?”

“I don’t know. Just tell him, I guess.”

“No, no, no!” Mia gave me a stern look. “You have to make it more special than that. Besides, knowing Callum, he’ll probably be pissed. You’ll need to do something nice and sweet if you’re going to keep him from despising you forever.”

I sat up and ran a hand through my hair. She was right. I had kept the truth from Callum for so long, and it had caused a lot of pain for him. I needed to do something nice to soften the blow a little. An apology to wrap around the truth.

Suddenly, I had an idea. I threw the covers off and swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Breakfast,” I said. “I’ll make breakfast.”

Mia smiled. “Mm. Make me some while you’re at it?”

“Don’t push it, kid.”

She snorted and flopped back into bed. “Well, let me know how it goes, okay?”

I waved at her over my shoulder, already shoving my feet into my slippers, and headed downstairs.

The common room was quiet at this hour, as most students were still asleep since it was a weekend. I found a box of pancake mix in the cupboard and started the coffee maker, then got to work making waffles.

Once the waffle iron was heated, I poured the batter into it and dropped a few chocolate chips in for good measure. While that cooked, I poured two cups of coffee. Black for Callum, cream and sugar for me. Someone had abandoned some strawberries in the back of the fridge. They were perfectly ripe. I cut those up and arranged them on a plate, and by the time I was finished, the waffle iron dinged.

Callum was sitting on the edge of his bed. Shirtless, with his elbows propped on his knees, rubbing his hands over his face. The sheets were rumpled, both pillows dented as if they had both been used.

Then, I looked over and saw Bianca.

She was standing on the other side of the bed. She was in her underwear. A matching lace set. She was reaching over to pick up the clothes that were laying on the floor beside his nightstand.

Her clothes.

She straightened, clothes in hand, and looked up. Her eyes found mine immediately.

She smiled.

Without saying a word, and without putting her clothes on, she calmly sauntered over to the door. Her hips swayed as she walked, and her eyes flicked to the tray in my hands. Still smiling, she grabbed a strawberry and popped it into her mouth.

“Thanks,” she said, then brushed past me, shoulder bumping mine.

Silence fell. The other students looked at her, then at me, clearly waiting for a reaction that they wouldn’t get. Not because I didn’t want to react, but because I just couldn’t. I was frozen, still clutching that tray like an idiot, and all the while my heart was shattering in my chest.

I told myself that it wasn’t what it seemed. Bianca must have staged something—why else would people be gathered around Callum’s room at eight in the morning? It had to be just a big misunderstanding.

But then Callum’s head lifted, and he met my gaze, and I knew.

They had had sex.