The Rejected True Heiress (Liora) novel Chapter 64

Liora

I hadn't worn heels in a few months, but tonight I moved like I was born in them.

Because I prctially was.

Click. Click. Click.

Each step down the marble staircase echoed like a countdown, like the past calling me home.

The ballroom stretched out before me, impossibly vast, trimmed in gold leaf and polished white. Marble columns framed the glistening windows. Glass chandeliers floated like starlight, scattering fractured light over everything: the silk gowns, the gloved hands, the carefully curated smiles. A live string quartet played something soft and expensive in the corner, as if even the music had been taught manners.

And then it stopped.

The music, the noise, the chatter. It all dropped the second I appeared.

Well, I was used to that… but not as Liora Belrose.

I paused, letting them look. Letting them see.

My gown wasn’t some boutique designer piece. I made it myself. (Okay, with some help from Mia, my seamstress savior.) stitch by careful stitch. A twilight blend of deep purples and silvers, embroidered with last minute black thorns that coiled along the hem and spiraled around the corset like armor. My mother’s brooch to my chest—a curling silver moon I remembered tugging on as a child.

It wasn’t royal. It wasn’t rebellious.

It was mine.

I walked the rest of the way down, each step slower than the last.

And of course, the whispers followed.

“She actually came.”

“Wearing that?”

“Bold, considering what she is.”

“Wolfless and proud,” someone sneered.

“But she’s… kind of gorgeous—”

A light smack of a fan, shushing her.

I smiled, my head held higher than any crown.

I passed Bianca near the drink table, her dress practically screaming look at me. Tight, red, glittering and cut just so. She narrowed her eyes at me, lips twisting up into a smirk that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

I didn’t look away, just smiled back.

Her smirk wavered.

Mia was in the middle of a dance with Zane, her face lit up like a lamp when she saw me. She mouthed, You look amazing. And she meant it.

Zane’s jaw ticked. For once, he had nothing smug to say.

I didn’t break stride.

The announcer cleared his throat at the front of the ballroom, drawing attention toward the podium where a stack of parchment waited. The exam results.

Right. That was tonight, too.

He gave a ten-minute warning until the announcements.

I’d almost forgotten.

I only took the exams to prove a point, to make sure they couldn’t say I didn’t deserve to be here. But the rest of them? They studied, lost sleep, obsessed over rankings.

And yet… none of that mattered now.

All I wanted was to enjoy these last moments as a nobody—

No.

As a wolfless.

My eyes drifted back to Mia.

A wolfless that mattered.

There it was. That one. The word that should’ve sent her running back into whatever little hole she crawled out of. But no. She smiled. Not nervously. Not with shame. With her chin up, spine straight, like she hadn’t a care in the world.

I nearly choked on my drink.

“She’s chatting with Mister Tarrow,” hissed someone beside me. Jessica, probably.

Sure enough, she was. The same teacher who couldn’t be bothered to flunk her during the practical exams. What did he even see in her? Pity? Or something worse?

“She got lucky,” I said, loud enough for my girls to hear. “Let her enjoy the moment. It’s the only one she’s getting.”

That earned a few giggles. Good. They needed reminding who tonight was really about.

As if summoned by my thoughts, Principal Albrecht strolled over, his velvet-trimmed suit and gold cufflinks catching the chandelier light like he wasn’t the most boring man alive.

“Miss, Our Female Alpha,” he nodded, voice smooth as old bourbon. “I trust your enjoying the night?”

“Of course,” I smiled, all polish. “Though some guests seem... underdressed.”

His gaze drifted to Liora, still making the rounds like she belonged. His lip curled, barely.

“We believe in equality here,” he said flatly. “But some students mistake charity for status. No matter. The scores will speak for themselves.”

I let that hang there.

“So I did get the highest marks, then?”

He didn’t answer. Just raised a knowing brow.

“I see,” I said sweetly, already imagining the crown on my head. “Thank you for your assured fairness, sir. It means a lot.”

As he moved toward the stage, I didn’t bother to hide my smirk. Step one, check.

Besides getting the highest marks, I also had the one thing in the world she never would.

Callum.

I spun on my heel, silk skirt flaring dramatically, and headed straight into the crowd to find him. After all, the real show was just beginning.