The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 421

Callum’s POV

Every time I blinked, I saw her there. Liora. On the floor of that cellar. On her side. Still in the dress my mother had given her with her wrists behind her back, dirt on her cheek, and her skin as white as snow.

It was my fault. All of it.

I sat in the back seat with her head in my lap and stared out the window at the dark highway sliding past. Zane was driving silently, his knuckles clenched tightly around the steering wheel. I watched the rise and fall of Liora’s chest, and every time it rose I felt something in me unknot slightly, and every time it fell I waited for it to rise again.

Finally, I spotted the large, blue hospital sign off the nearby exit. I leaned forward, but Zane drove right past it.

“Zane, we need to take her to a hospital.”

“We can’t.”

“What?” I asked.

“There’s a motel about eight minutes up the road,” he said. “We’ll take her there.”

“But she’s sick—”

“I know. But we can’t take her to a hospital.” He met my gaze in the rearview mirror, and something in his eyes gave me pause. “Just trust me on this one. Please.”

“You have to give me a reason, Zane.”

“I…” His gaze flicked to Liora in the mirror. “I can’t. And I’m sorry for that. But I need you to trust me anyway.”

I looked down at Liora. A strand of hair had fallen across her face and I moved it, tucking it back behind her ear. She didn’t react.

I wanted to grab that steering wheel and force Zane to turn around, but it was too late anyway. The exit was long gone, and the set to his jaw told me that he’d fight me every step of the way. I just wished I knew why.

I laid Liora down on the bed closest to the window and pulled the comforter up over her. She was still in the dress, and suddenly I realized that I had left our bags at my parents’ house. We were definitely never seeing any of those things again. Oh well.

I sat on the edge of the mattress and pressed the back of my hand to her forehead. Still cold, but not as bad as before.

I exhaled slowly.

The whole drive over, I had been turning it over and over in my head. The invitation to dinner. My parents’ unexpected warmth toward Liora, which I had wanted so badly to believe was real that I had been foolish enough not to see the glaring red flags. And yet, Zane had seen all of it.

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you,” I said.

Zane had dropped into the chair by the window. He looked up.

“I shouldn’t have taken her there.” I said. “I knew exactly what my parents were capable of and I brought her anyway because I wanted… I don't know what I wanted.”