Se connecterI set the glass down on the table before I dropped it or shattered it. My hands were shaking too hard to trust my own motor functions.Bianca was still talking, something about her plans for the future, about alliances and trade agreements and all the things a proper heir should care about. But I co
Liora’s POVI stood frozen, the glass of punch still clutched in my hand so tightly I could feel the glass starting to crunch under my grip, as Bianca walked into the grand hall on my father’s arm.She looked like a queen already. The gown, the tiara, the way she held her head high as she surveyed t
I thought about Mrs. Oakes’ office and the letter with the gold trim and my father’s seal, and all the times I had opened my mouth and closed it again because I was being told to keep it a secret.I thought about Callum on the floor of that root cellar, pulling the rope off my wrists.I opened my mo
Liora’s POVI smelled cheap detergent and something faintly musty underneath the faint trace of fast food somewhere nearby. I blinked my eyes open and found a low, popcorn ceiling hanging above me, a large water stain in one corner.I frowned. The last thing I remembered, I was in a dark room. A cel
Callum’s POVEvery time I blinked, I saw her there. Liora. On the floor of that cellar. On her side. Still in the dress my mother had given her with her wrists behind her back, dirt on her cheek, and her skin as white as snow.It was my fault. All of it.I sat in the back seat with her head in my la
I wasn’t sure how much time passed before I heard the knock.Mia glanced at me. I sat up.The door opened and Callum stepped inside. The first thing I did was look at his face to see where we stood. He looked calmer than when he’d walked away, but not entirely settled. He glanced at Mia and Zane.“C
Liora’s POVI wanted to explain myself. I wanted to tell everyone that the rumors weren’t true—that I had merely been having dinner with my father and nothing more. And that the panties on the floor were mine, but that someone had stolen them from my dresser. I hadn’t placed them there.And yet, th
“You ruined my dress,” I hissed.The guard shrugged. “Principal’s orders.”I grit my teeth and whirled on my heel, storming away. But I didn’t return to my dorm; rather, I snuck off into a side corridor, then located the door that led backstage. I slipped through and climbed up the ladder to the mai
Liora’s POV“I heard Ella and Adam won the popular vote,” my father said from across the table as he cut his steak with an ornate silver knife. “They asked for a trip to the planetarium. I thought that was nice.”I thought so, too. It was a whole hell of a lot better than Bianca getting her way in t
Liora.“What are you doing here?” I blurted out. I glanced over her shoulder to see that the King’s apartment door was shutting behind her, as if she had just come out.Liora didn’t answer right away. She just stared up at me, lips parted, just like…Dammit.Just like last night.When I had almost







