Reborn: Apocalypse Ready. War Goddess by My Side novel Chapter 21

Rebom. Apocalypse Ready War Goddess by My Side

Chapter 21 Not an Object

“I said we could still be friends. If you keep acting like this, I’m going to…”

Steven cut her off with a raised hand.

“Stop right there.”

Lilliana blinked.

“Lilliana,” Steven said, “do you have any idea how self–centered you sound right now?

“What do you mean I found her just to spite you?

“Do you ever get tired of making everything about yourself?”

The color drained from Lilliana’s face.

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“Let me be completely clear with you. I don’t have feelings for you anymore. Stop coming to bother me, and go back to being the campus beauty you love being so much.

“You’ve still got Timothy and his whole crowd falling over themselves for you.

“So spare me the wounded act.

“Bianca isn’t some prop I brought along to needle you. She’s Bianca. She’s a person, not something you get to rank against yourself.

“Show some respect.”

Both Bianca and Lilliana went absolutely still at the same time.

But for completely different reasons.

Bianca’s eyes had gone bright and glassy with emotion. Her chest ached with a warmth she hadn’t expected.

The shame that had been curdling inside her just moments ago dissolved completely.

In his eyes, she’d never been the lesser one. She’d never been something that could be tossed aside or compared against someone else.

She looked down at her wrist where Steven’s hand still rested.

Something warm and quiet settled deep in her chest.

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Chapter 1 Not an Object

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Lilliana’s chest was a different story entirely. It felt hollow, like something had been removed from it without her permission.

He snapped at me!

A hot, stinging wave of anger rose through her, tangled up with something thinner and more fragile underneath it.

“You…”

Steven let out a short, dismissive breath. “Figure out where you actually stand before you start talking.

“You’re beautiful right now, and sure, everyone in this school treats you like you hung the stars. But that doesn’t mean the whole world revolves around you.”

Lilliana’s chest rose and fell in sharp, uneven beats. Her skin had gone flushed, a vivid, furious pink creeping across her cheekbones.

It was the first time any boy had made her feel like this.

“Steven…”

Steven looked at her flatly. “Something else?”

“You are going to regret this.”

Steven laughed, open and genuine.

He would not. He already knew what Lilliana became. He’d been in the presence of the Ember Eternal. Why would he trade that for a campus beauty?

“Lilliana,” he said, his voice still easy. “Let me ask you something.”

She stared at him.

“If you’re an S–rank, would you genuinely be friends with someone who’s B–rank or C–rank?”

“Of course I…”

The words formed in her mouth and then stopped dead.

“Let’s head home.”

And he meant every word of it. Because he knew exactly what happened to Lilliana after her awakening. She looked at no one from before as worth her time, least of all old classmates who hadn’t kept pace with her. What was the point of forcing closeness with someone who’d one day feed you to the beasts without blinking?

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Chapter 21 Not an Object

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Lilliana stood frozen on the path.

She watched them walk away until they disappeared from sight, and she still hadn’t moved.

The feeling that settled over her wasn’t anger, exactly. It was something closer to defeat.

I’d been outpaced by that girl?

How?

And what possessed Steven to ask that particular question?

It had come out of nowhere.

There was no reason he should have known what she kept locked up quietly behind that composed exterior.

She’d maintained her distance from everyone. She’d been waiting for Divine Awakening to tell her who was worth her time.

After a long silence, she let out a cool, sharp breath through her nose.

“Steven, I don’t think I’m wrong at all. Once I awaken a high–ranked Divine Sigil, anyone below my tier becomes a liability, plain and simple.

“Since you’re so sure of yourself, let’s find out whose Divine Sigil ranks higher when the time

comes.

“If yours beats mine, then I will come to you.

“The strong rise and the weak fall. That’s just the way of things.”

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