The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 469

Liora’s POV

By the time I made it back to campus, the sun was starting to set and my stomach was rumbling for dinner, but I felt to osick to eat. Shirley rumbled to a stop in her usual spot. I put the car in park and sat there for a moment, staring at the steering wheel.

During the long drive home, I’d come to a painful and unfortunate conclusion: Mrs. Oakes was right. I knew she was right. A fake breakup was the only way to buy myself enough time to figure out how to stop Belinda and Bianca without putting Callum directly in their crosshairs.

But the thought of it made my stomach twist into knots. This wasn’t going to be an easy discussion to have. And given how things had been going lately, there was a non-zero chance that it would be our last.

Gathering my breath, I grabbed my bag and headed up to my dorm. When I opened the door, I found Mia, Zane, and Callum all sitting there. Mia was on her bed with her laptop, Zane was sprawled in the chair by my desk, and Callum was leaning against the wall near the window with his arms folded.

They all looked up when I walked in. I could tell right away that they had been waiting for me. I hadn’t told anyone where I was going because I didn’t want them to insist on coming with me and potentially putting themselves in danger, and now I was going to face the consequences. But that was the least of my worries right now.

“Where have you been?” Mia asked, shutting her laptop with a snap.

“Out.” I set my bag down and closed the door behind me.

Zane sat up straighter. “Out where?”

I hesitated, then said, “The witch’s academy.”

Mia gasped. Callum pushed away from the wall. “You did what?” Callum barked.

“I needed answers.”

“So you went alone?” His tone was sharp. “Without telling anyone?”

I opened my mouth, but before I could speak, Zane cleared his throat. “Maybe we should all just take a breath here,” he suggested. “No need to start arguing.”

I looked at him. “Right. We’ll figure something out.” I took a breath. “Can we talk? Privately?”

Zane and Mia exchanged a glance, but I held up my hand and nodded my head toward the door. “Let’s go for a walk,” I said. Callum didn’t argue, and followed me out of the room.

We left the dorm and headed toward the old path behind the campus, the one that led into the woods. It was quiet out here, just the sound of leaves crunching under our feet and the occasional bird twittering in the branches overhead. Summer had officially arrived, a little early but wholly welcome.

I waited until we were far enough away from campus that nobody could overhear us. I stopped, then turned to him and decided to just say it before I could think about it too much.

“Mrs. Oakes thinks we should break up.”

He froze mid-step and stared at me.