A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust by Sally Garcia

"Yeah. Calliope's not exactly the forgiving type, is she? Did she leave the Jewell family to guilt-trip Lisette into leaving too?"

"Poor Lisette, she didn't deserve that!"

"Calliope's got a personality problem. The whole Jewell family isn't fond of her. How's that Lisette's fault?"

"Wow, Portia, have you fallen under Calliope's spell too?"

People around Portia were quick to voice their thoughts, rallying behind Lisette. They glanced at Portia with a mix of disdain and disbelief.

"Can't you guys see? Lisette's putting on an act," Portia said, exasperated with her classmates.

"Class president, aren't you supposed to be fair? You really believe Lisette's not acting?" Portia asked, hoping for some backup.

have a good time today," the

Clap! Clap! Clap!

round of applause

doorway, her entrance commanding

"Weren't you just talking about me? Now that I'm here,

the campus.queen bee, and their entire year knew her. Despite all the gossip behind her

You did what you did, and now we can't talk about it?"

was Eva, who had never seen eye-to-eye with Calliope since high school. A boy she liked had a crush on Calliope, and she had turned Calliope into her arch-

your ears checked. What I said was I'd prefer it if you said it to my

almost disarming. She pulled up a chair and sat before Eva, poised and

changed, shaped by the pressures of society. But Calliope seemed to

something en