Never Again Yours (Isadora and Magnus) novel Chapter 135

It's just a shame, really. Over the past few days, **not a single member of the Vaughan family** had come to visit her in the hospital—only Richard bothered to call.

She couldn’t say she was disappointed.

She’d grown used to it.

It wasn’t until after she was discharged, on her very first day back at work, that Eleanor finally showed up, late as always.

She walked into Isadora’s office.

“Isadora, I just got back from London and only now heard about your car accident. I wasn’t avoiding you on purpose. Are you alright?”

Isadora didn’t even look up, her eyes still fixed on the paperwork before her.

“I’m alive, aren’t I? That’s all that matters.”

Eleanor had been whisked off to London on a last-minute shopping trip by Pearl. She’d been sulking over Isadora’s recent promotion, and Eleanor had reluctantly gone along. She hadn’t expected to return home only to discover Isadora had been hospitalized after a car crash.

Deep down, Eleanor suspected Pearl had known about the accident all along, and had purposefully kept it from her, dragging her out of town. But with all the grievances Pearl had suffered lately, Eleanor decided it was better to just turn a blind eye.

Eleanor didn’t take offense at Isadora’s chilly tone.

“So, why were you at the Fitzgerald family’s hospital?”

Isadora finally set down her pen, leaned back in her chair, and looked her mother dead in the eye. “Did you really come all this way just to ask me that?”

Under Isadora’s piercing gaze, Eleanor grew flustered and coughed twice to steady herself.

“In a few days, it’ll be your birthday party. I wanted to ask if you’d be willing to celebrate together with Pearl this year. No need to make her wait until the next day—after all, you two do share a birthday.”

Isadora let out a dry laugh. “You really do dote on Pearl, don’t you? For years, you insisted on letting her have the main celebration, and I had to wait until the day after to mark mine. Funny, I don’t remember you ever making this kind of request for me.”

Eleanor’s cheeks flushed a deep red.

Forget it, she thought. Lately, this daughter of hers seemed ready to explode at the slightest provocation.

Eleanor tried again, testing the waters. “What about Magnus? I thought maybe I could invite him to join us and help celebrate.”