The Rejected True Heiress (Liora) novel Chapter 88

Liora

I hadn’t planned on walking these halls again. Not as Liora the nobody. But here I am, and after last night, there’s a strange satisfaction in it. Another day lived on my own terms, why wouldn’t that make me smile?

By the time Mia and I walked into the hall, the whole school was buzzing like a hive. Everywhere I turned there were whispers, heads leaning together, phones pulled out under desks as if one blurry photo could make them part of something bigger.

I didn’t need to guess who the center of attention was.

Bianca was impossible to miss.

She came down the hall like she owned it, her heels clicking out a rhythm that made everyone turn their heads. One hand curled around her books, the other lifted just enough to catch every scrap of light on the brand-new ring glittering on her finger.

A diamond the size of my thumbnail, and I would bet every coin I had that it cost more than the entire east wing of this school. It didn’t just catch the light, it threw it in people’s faces. And of course every single step she took was so it would.

And just beside her, because of course he would be, was Callum.

Callum, with his perfect posture, his perfect uniform, looking like he’d just stepped out of one of those brochures the academy sends to lure in new families. Even with everything that happened last night, he managed to look untouchable, like none of it left a mark.

Thomas was walking next to him, talking fast about something on a clipboard, budget numbers, from the sound of it. Callum nodded here and there, his eyes never really leaving the papers.

I stared at them both for a moment, and then let my lips curve in the smallest, coldest smile.

What a perfect couple. Picture-perfect, untouchable, built for this world.

With a smirk, I kept my head down and kept walking.

“Liora!” someone whispered behind me, and then came the giggles.

I ignored it.

I’d almost made it to class when Bianca’s voice cut across the hall, sweet as poisoned sugar.

And I… I looked away, too. The feeling tasted like iron in my mouth.

Bianca saw it and smirked wider.

“Oh, come on,” she said, tilting her head. “You used to have a little bite to you, didn’t you? Where’s that edge? Gone soft trying to be girly now? So sad no one wants you, not even when you’re dressed to the nines. Boo.”

The hall snickered.

You know… maybe today is the day. My father would be wanting me back, and how much longer was I willing to put up with this? I could just… end it. On my terms.

I took a slow breath and stepped forward.

“You want the truth?” I asked. My voice was steady, low enough that the giggles started to fade. “Fine.” I shrugged, “You want to see why I’ve been hiding? You all want a show? Then watch closely.”