The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 545

The box sat open on his desk, and he was holding the photograph.

“She never wanted you to know,” he said, without looking up. “I argued with her about it once, the day you first picked up a training blade and Marcus came to me white as a sheet because you had nearly taken his eye out on your first day.” He set the photo down gently. “She only ever wanted to protect you from the bloodshed she saw throughout her career. I hope you know that.”

I swallowed down the lump in my throat and looked away. “I spent my entire life thinking she was a setback. I had no idea that she was a warrior.”

My father’s smile was watery and thin. “It was a long time ago, Liora. Despite everything… her mental illness took away the woman who used to wear these medals. I think you saw a flicker of her at the end, but…”

His voice trailed off. He didn’t need to finish. We were both thinking it anyway. My mother had succumbed to her sickness, only breaking free long enough to end it all for good. That didn’t change the years she’d spent trying to keep me locked up, sheltered from the entire world, obedient and quiet, even when she saw me rattling the bars of my cage like a trapped tiger. She didn’t stop trying to keep me locked up, and those final moments hadn’t changed that.

My father sank into his chair, and for the first time I noticed how tired he looked, how much older than he’d been a season ago. “That moment in the corridor cost me everything I had. Months of clawing at the inside of my own skull, and all I managed was one hallway and a handful of words.” His jaw worked. “It should have been more. All of it should have been more.”

“Dad.”

“I let her in, Liora.” He looked up at me. “The spell came later. First came the night of passion. I was fully in my own mind that night, but I took her to my bed anyway because I couldn’t control myself. All too similar to the night Bianca was made.” He wrung his hands in his lap. “I’m a weak man, Liora. Lustful and pathetic.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is. I created all of this, by my own hand, because I could never be faithful to my wife. To you.”

My heart sank. He was quiet for a moment, his thumb moving along the edge of the desk. “Once your mother is laid to rest, and the kingdom is in order, I intend to abdicate.”

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