The Disowned Heiress
The more the guests whispered, the more the Reynolds looked smaller, not just because of the physical falls they had taken, but because a social currency they were used to spending had been invalidated.
Bella, bleeding, embarrassed and furious with humiliation, tried to clutch at remnants of authority.
She staggered to her feet, forcing a smile that was skeletal, a learned posture of people who still wanted to be believed.
She took a step forward and said, with all the brittle pride she could muster, “I am Bella Reynolds — heiress, top scorer this year, fiancée to Mr Collins.”
It was a title-list repeated like a prayer, an attempt to conjure respect.
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