The Rejected True Heiress (Liora) novel Chapter 31

Chapter 31

There wasn’t.

And somehow, that stung more than it should have. I cursed the delusion that allowed me to feel hope.

“You’ve been staring at that page for ten minutes,” Drake said from the desk to my side. “You’re either in love or losing your vision.”

I didn’t glance up. “You’ve been talking for five. You’re either bored or desperate to be helpful.”

He scoffed. “You need a fight. Come down to the training yard, get the brooding out of your system.”

“No. Underclassman exams are today. The grounds are closed. Even you should know that.”

“That’s tragic. I was hoping to knock some sense into you.”

“Your form’s garbage. Would’ve been a waste.”

His chair creaked as he slumped back in surrender, and that’s when I noticed Zane, leaning at the window, thumbing through his phone. No girls. No smirking commentary. No shallow complaints about his hair or the council snacks. Just him. Still. Focused.

Which, frankly, was more alarming than anything he could have said.

“You lose a bet or something?” I asked, arching a brow.

Zane glanced up, a faint grin tugging at the corner of his mouth, though it never reached his eyes. “Just checking something.”

“Like what?”

He pocketed his phone. “A friend.”

I blinked. “You have those now?”

“Don’t sound so shocked. Even I perform the occasional good deed.”

“That what you’re calling it?”

He rolled his eyes and pushed off the ledge. “Relax, Saint Callum. I’m not rewriting the heavens. I helped Liora out. That’s all.”

Something in me went still. “You what?”

“She was getting railroaded. Nearly expelled. It was so funny, I nearly let it happen.”

“But you didn’t.”

Chapter 31

+15 BONUS

“Nope.” He dusted off his jacket. “It was too fun watching her throw their own rules back at them. And the look on her face when I came through the window? Pure gold.”

“So she’s…taking the exam today.”

“Yep,” he said, grinning. “That’s why I’m heading there. I want to see the ending.”

“You have an exam this afternoon.”

“I’ll skip.”

“You’ll skip?”

He stretched, casual as ever. “I don’t need the grade. And this is more entertaining.”

“You’re skipping your exam to watch her?”

He glanced over his shoulder, unreadable. “Why not? You jealous?”

I said nothing.

“Toby,” I called. The younger student leaned into the doorway.

“Yes, sir?”

“Cover for me.”

Toby blinked, confused. “Uh… yes, sir.”

Zane let out a low whistle as I caught up with him. “Didn’t think you’d actually follow. That curious?”

“No,” I said. “I just don’t trust you not to set something on fire.”

“I’m the model of subtlety.”

“Tell that to the chair you incinerated last semester.”

He shrugged. “That was a dare.”

We walked the rest of the way in silence. But inside, I was restless. I told myself it was caution or duty or concern. Anything but what it actually was, the need to see her again, and the hope that maybe I hadn’t been entirely wrong.

When we got there, the hallway outside the examination room was quiet, but there was tension in the air, like the building itself was holding its breath.

Through the glass window of the classroom, I saw her. Liora sat at the front of the room. Her expression didn’t waver. Her hand moved steadily over the paper, the pencil held between her fingers like it was simply an extension of her.

Chapter 31

+15 BONUS

The teacher, one of Bianca’s favorites, hovered over her like a vulture. I didn’t like the way his eyes followed her every movement. I liked even less the way he whispered something to the assistant standing beside him, both of them frowning.

“She’s going to be accused,” I muttered.

Zane nodded. “Probably.”

“Of cheating?”

“Yep.”

“But she’s not.”

“Nope.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’ve seen her notes. And because she’s smarter than most of us.”

I watched her for another moment, this strange mix of resentment and admiration tightening in my chest. I had spent so long hoping she was someone else. Someone worthy of being my equal. She was wolfless… and that shouldn’t matter, but it did. Yet here I was. Watching. Waiting.

She handed in the test with the same quiet confidence that made everyone underestimate her, before it

happened.

The accusing, and Liora holding her head high, with no blood or nobility to back it.

Zane shoved his hands in his pockets. “Still think she’s just a girl you can forget?”

I didn’t answer, because in truth, I had no idea.

Chapter 32