The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 373

Many students cheered. A few looked at each other in confusion, maybe a little disappointment. Some of the ones surrounding me turned my way, looking for a reaction that I refused to give. I tightened my grip on the strap of my bag and made a silent decision then and there that I was definitely not attending that wedding.

Bianca lifted both hands, quieting the crowd once more.

“I have another announcement,” she added. She paused, smiling. Her gaze swept across the crowd, and for a brief moment, it landed on me and sharpened.

I felt my stomach twist painfully.

Her gaze moved away. Her smile grew, and she placed a hand on her belly.

“I’m pregnant,” she said.

Chaos ensued. Students cheered. Guys whistled. Girls screamed. One of Bianca’s cronies, standing beside the table, threw confetti into the air. Because, of course, the whole thing had been planned down to the last detail.

Including the part where Bianca made sure I heard all of it.

And all the while, she stood on the table, soaking up the praise like a sponge with mold in the center of it.

It had been one thing when my classmates were gossiping about the rumor. At least then, I’d had the ability to tell myself that I didn’t care. That it didn’t matter. That it might not even be true.

But now I had heard it from Bianca herself, directly from the horse’s mouth, and there was no more beating around it.

Bianca was pregnant. It was declared publicly, with enough certainty to mean that it was real.

I wanted to say yes, that I was fine. But I wasn’t. I couldn’t. I just stood there numbly, trying desperately not to let them see my tears, and it wasn’t working.

“I… need to go,” I managed. My voice was thick, my throat tight.

Mia tightened her grip on my shoulders. “Talk to me.”

“What’s there to say?” I choked out with a laugh that had no humor in it. “It’s over. Dating him was a mistake. I’m over it.”

Mia and Zane exchanged looks that clearly indicated neither of them bought my lie.

But I wasn’t just lying to them. I was lying to myself. And I was going to keep lying to myself until I genuinely believed it. Until my heart turned cold and all of this stopped mattering.