The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 453

“If we can’t—and I’m not saying we can’t, for what it’s worth, but I think we should consider that as an option,” Callum said, “then we have each other. That’s all that matters. Us.”

“My family matters,” I said. “My inheritance matters.”

Callum glanced at me. “I’m not saying it doesn’t.”

“It sort of came out that way,” I shot back.

Callum’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he clarified. “I just think you have to consider your options. We can’t always win, Liora. Maybe an inheritance isn’t the most important thing in life.”

“It is when it comes to my life,” I said.

“And what if that gets taken from you, and there’s nothing you can do about it?” he asked, inclining his head. “What then?”

I looked down at the forest floor, not sure how to answer that. I looked at my bare feet digging into the dirt, my torn skirt, the knife strapped to my leg and the red scar stretching across my thigh.

Right now, I certainly didn’t feel like much of a princess. I supposed I wasn’t anymore, not really, not in the eyes of my family or the kingdom, whether they were spellbound or not. But my royal life was all I had ever known. Despite the few months I had spent away at school, and no matter how much I loved the freedom and personal exploration those months had afforded me, I had always expected to go home and take the throne. It was destined for me since before I was born.

But now…

Now, Bianca was wearing a tiara, and my father was looking at her in the same way he used to look at me. With pride and adoration, and the promise of a kingdom.

I shook my head. “I won’t give it up. Not for anything in the world,” I said. “I’ll die fighting for it if I have to. My kingdom is more important than anything else.”

Zane arrived within the hour, clearly having just woken up. He gave us both a strange look when he saw our disheveled states, but we were too exhausted to explain right now. To his credit, he understood that; or maybe he was too sleepy himself to want to think about it at the moment.

The car ride back to campus was silent. Callum dozed off beside me with his head against the window, but I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t.

I kept thinking about what he’d said. About what we would do if there were no other options.

Run away. Never look back. Leave it all behind, because to him, the most important thing in the world was our love.

I wished it were that simple. But it wasn’t.