The Rejected True Heiress (Liora) novel Chapter 101

Liora

I’d expected a simple path back to the library, but Callum’s house was anything but simple. Its halls twisted and doubled back on themselves, more of a labyrinth than even my father’s castle.

Every turn was polished marble, heavy carved paneling, bookcases that stretched from floor to ceiling. I’d been trying to retrace my steps back to the library, but the place was a maze, and the voices from the main rooms, polite, cultured, and so distant from the world I knew, kept shifting like echoes.

I turned left, then right, then realized I was nowhere near where I thought I’d be. I was running silently past a door when it nearly swung up, hitting me. I stumbled back, hand over my mouth, ducking behind a book shelf as it closed inches form me.

Who I saw, only made me shrink more.

A tall woman swept out of the corridor ahead, dressed in a low-cut black gown. Her long black curls, braided and tied with such precision it looked like it could have taken hours, fell almost to her waist. Everything about her was sharp: her dress, her jaw, even the cool focus of her eyes.

And of course, I recognized her. Anyone would.

Callum’s mother.

And she… did not like me.

I didn’t even want to imagine what she’d do if she caught me wandering around here. Not with the kind of influence she held at school. Not with the influence she held over Callum.

She swept down the like she was born to glide, silk skirts whispering along the floor, turning away from me.

I breathed relieved, and started to step backward slowly back down the other side of the hall silently.

I was nearly to the corner when she seemed to pause, like she’d realized something. Smelled something.

Panic jolted through me.

Before she turned her head fully toward me, I silently bolted back around the corner and pressed myself flat behind the shadow of a massive knight’s armor. The cold metal was like ice against my back as I held my breath, trying not to make a sound.

Bootsteps echoed across the marble floor. Not just hers. Guards. Two of them swept into view, their sharp movements sending a ripple of panic down my spine. They stopped right at the intersection—just feet away from me. One of them glanced down the near where I was hiding.

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