The Rejected True Heiress (Liora) novel Chapter 65

Callum

“How’s the lighting?” I barked back to Thomas, following behind the stage with a clipboard.

“All good.”

“And sound?”

“They reported, no hick ups in the mics.”

I was ducking behind a tapestry with Thomas, both of us just having checked security routes while also happening to dodging Bianca’s gravitational pull. She'd been orbiting all night, waiting to lock me into some perfectly rehearsed dance or photo or future.

But I had work to do.

“You're going to have to talk to her eventually,” Thomas muttered, straightening the collar of his formal jacket like it might shield him from Bianca's inevitable wrath beyond the stage.

“Eventually implies there's still time,” I said, checking my watch. “I'm on borrowed minutes.”

He snorted. “You planned this entire event. Shouldn’t you be basking in the glory? Spending time with you’re arrangement? Aren’t you supposed to be announcing your official engagement tonight?”

“Delegation exists for a reason.”

He snorted, but I caught that look on his face. “Callum, are you sure you should go through with—”

“Not now, Thomas. Come on, we should check the back.”

In truth, I’d already triple-checked every seating chart, lighting cue, and musical transition. The staff was more than capable. There was nothing left to do, except be seen. And that was the part I hated most.

Eventually I sent Thomas off to check on the bathroom staff and I tossed my tie over my shoulder, finally alone.

But I couldn’t stop moving, ever if I wasn’t sure we’re I was going.

My feet settled on the spiral staircase, past the velvet rope meant to keep students out. The second-story balcony over looking the ballroom and stage was technically off-limits for tonight.

But I just wanted a moment alone.

I leaned against the balustrade, watching the glittering movement below. Dresses in every impossible shade: crimson, emerald, periwinkle, gold. Laughter spilled like champagne. I should have felt proud. This was everything I built, everything I was expected to maintain.

The lights, the noise, the way everything gleamed like it was trying too hard to impress. I couldn’t even enjoy it. The second I stepped down there, it’d be the same routine, girls lining up for a turn on the dance card, Bianca pretending she owns my time, and if I was lucky, a reporter elbowing through security for a headline about the “Alpha heir’s favorite waltz.”

My shoulders sank under the weight of it all.

Still… the event itself? Perfect. No crises. No chaos. A clean success.

And then—

Liora.

Give me a reason, Liora, and I think I’d do it. I’d throw the rest away.

The legacy. The pressure. My father’s voice in my head.

I’d tell her the truth. That every time I see her, I forget to breathe.

That she makes me feel like more than their puppet prince. Like someone real.

But… she didn’t.

She didn’t look up.

Her gaze never even skimmed the balcony.

And I wasn’t who she was looking for in the crowd. I knew that.

My jaw clenched. My fingers stayed locked around my wrist like a cuff.

Of course she wasn’t looking for me. Why would she?

I gave her no reason to.