The Rejected True Heiress (Liora) novel Chapter 106

Liora

The car door shut with a solid click, and before I could take a proper breath, the engine purred to life.

I turned my head toward the window and didn’t look back.

The long drive stretched ahead, the mansion shrinking behind us until the ornate gates closed us off from that world entirely. Outside, the trees blurred together in streaks of green and gold, but all I could see were the thoughts piling up inside my head.

I hadn’t taken in the scenery coming here, but after leaving, I couldn’t help but think his land was beautiful. Filled with dark pines, moss, and stones, but like how his family looked.

Callum.

I hadn’t expected him to help, let alone every really talk again. Not after everything. Not after the way I left things at the dance.

And yet, there he’d been calm, patient, pulling books off shelves for me, like it was the most natural thing in the world. No questions I couldn’t answer, no accusations. Just… help.

I expected him to press for more after his grilling under the bleachers, and after sharing some of his past with me. Like a trade. But he didn’t.

I pressed my forehead lightly against the cool glass, exhaling.

And now I couldn’t stop thinking about it, about him. The way his voice had softened when he offered to guide me to the right shelves. The way he’d stood so close when he reached for a book. How, despite my every effort to stay composed, the tension had buzzed between us like an open flame.

And all I’d done in return was barge into his home, his mother surely giving him a smack down, and let Zane pull me into a mess that could cost him.

Which, of course, led me to Zane.

I glanced to the front seat. I didn’t even know what to make of him anymore.

Why would he even want to help me? Why the sudden interest?

Was this about me—or what he thought I could give him? Was I just entertainment?

The question needled at me, digging deeper with every mile. Had he figured me out? Like really figured me out? My identity? Was he trying to back me into a corner, to use me?

Or was he just playing another one of his games, the way he apparently always did?

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