Never Again Yours (Isadora and Magnus) novel Chapter 176

“Oh?” Deanna’s sharp gaze flicked over the file in Isadora’s hands, but she made no move to take it. “Miss Vaughan, are you turning your nose up at my gift?”

Isadora drew in a deep, steadying breath.

She knew Deanna had been waiting for her today, deliberately setting this meeting. Otherwise, with the Vaughan family’s modest standing in the business world, how could they possibly have caught the eye of the Fitzgerald matriarch?

Not to mention, the Fitzgeralds were one of the most elite families in Capitolion. Every season, the world’s finest new jewelry designs were sent straight to their door for their choosing.

Isadora lifted her eyes and met Deanna’s gaze. Her voice was unwavering. “I don’t want to make a deal with you.”

Deanna’s lined face was unreadable, but her deep-set eyes fixed on Isadora, unwavering.

Her voice, worn with age, betrayed no emotion. “What’s this, then? Have you set your sights on Victor? Want to be the next Mrs. Fitzgerald?”

Isadora’s hand trembled as she clutched the file, her expression shifting, her throat tightening painfully.

“Mrs. Fitzgerald, I know my position is awkward and I’m hardly qualified,” she said, her voice low but steady. “I don’t want to marry into your family, but I... I care about Victor. I’m sorry, but I won’t leave him.”

As the words left her mouth, the crushing weight in Isadora’s chest seemed to lighten, if only a little.

She was still Isadora—at her core, always bold in love.

Ever since she realized her feelings for Victor, she’d hesitated, she’d been afraid, even tried to pull away. But in the end, she chose to follow her heart, no matter the risk.

She couldn’t even pinpoint when she’d fallen for him. Maybe it was that night he looked at her with such unexpected gentleness as the city lights blurred by. Maybe it was when he shielded her from malice with a simple, “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Her feelings for Victor were different from what she’d once felt for Magnus. This went deeper, wilder.

She was certain—she loved Victor.

She loved his reckless charm, his wild spirit, the way he lived as if nothing could hold him back.

And she wanted, desperately, to hold onto him.

Deanna’s eyes flashed with a hint of coldness.

“You young women these days are greedy,” she said coolly. “If you won’t take these shares, I can just as easily give them to your brother, or to Pearl.”

Isadora stared, momentarily stunned.