A False Heiress's Guide to Love and Power

Chapter 470

“I miss my grandma, Miss, my grandma’s going to be okay, right?”

Alessia’s mind was drifting in and out, Susannah Holt’s trembling voice echoing in the darkness. Alessia opened her mouth, meaning to comfort the girl, but no words would come. Her chest tightened; her breathing grew shallow, her vision blurring at the edges. Just as sleep threatened to pull her under, Alessia bit down hard on her tongue, forcing herself to stay awake.

“Miss? Miss, what’s wrong?” Susannah’s panic was immediate and contagious, her fear swelling in the cramped darkness.

“I’m fine… Your grandma’s fine too. I’m just, a little tired. I need to rest for a bit,” Alessia managed, her voice little more than a whisper.

“No, you can’t sleep! You said you can’t sleep, remember?” Susannah sobbed, but she remembered Alessia’s warning and kept talking, desperate to keep her teacher conscious.

Fumbling in the darkness, Susannah’s small hand finally found Alessia’s–it was cold as ice. Tears welled up in Susannah’s eyes; her hands trembled as she tried to cup Alessia’s, as though she could warm

her back to life.

She called Alessia’s name again and again, but Alessia could only muster the faintest response, as if she might vanish at any moment.

and, just as

pleaded, biting back her sobs, forcing herself to stay calm for Alessia’s sake. She talked to her teacher, knocked on the stone, then talked some more, refusing to let the

struggling to stay awake,

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Chapter 470

curled in a feeble smile; faces she’d known flickered before her eyes–until, at last, she saw Cole, right before they parted, with that

thought. “If only I’d just told him how much I cared, how happy he

Cole had said again and again that he wanted to visit, but Alessia

only to be caught by Susannah and nearly

barely able to keep a straight face at Cole’s rare look of flustered embarrassment. She’d been cross with him that night, not wanting him to risk another secret trip. The journey was long, his job demanding; she’d rather he rest

how she felt. But missing her became too much; even knowing she’d be upset,

day. If only

Alessia’s eye, even as

she was slipping away, a faint noise