Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 25

Chapter 25 

Penelope choked on her words, utterly humiliated. 

Standing nearby, Nora watched her mother’s pale face, a storm of complicated emotions churning in her chest. 

Over the years, she had grown entirely accustomed to this blatant favoritism. 

Jade was the legitimate princess of the Reed family, draped in designer clothes and worshipped by everyone around her. 

And Nora? 

She was just the baggage her mother had dragged along from a previous marriage. She was taught to be grateful just to have food on her plate and a bed to sleep in. 

She never complained. 

She knew better than anyone how hard her mother had fought to secure her place in this wealthy household. 

But she never expected that the very first person to ever stand up for her would be Hudson Lancaster. 

A man she had known for less than twenty-four hours. 

Hudson didn’t spare Penelope another glance. 

He bent down and lifted the small suitcase. 

“Since you clearly don’t know how to spoil a daughter…” He turned, his dark eyes locking onto Nora. “I’ll take over from here.” 

Penelope stiffened. 

Nora was equally stunned. 

The warm hallway lights glowed behind Hudson, casting a hazy, golden halo around his broad shoulders. 

It made Nora’s heart skip a beat. 

Hudson didn’t linger. He wrapped his fingers around Nora’s wrist and led her toward the stairs. 

As he passed Penelope, he paused for a fraction of a second, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. 

“From now on, she’s mine. I won’t allow her to suffer even the slightest grievance…” 

He was tall, his imposing shadow easily swallowing Penelope whole. The intoxicating scent of cedarwood mixed with a faint trace of tobacco rolled off him, so suffocatingly dominant that Penelope forgot how to breathe. 

“Not even from her own parents.” 

Penelope opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She watched helplessly as the two of them disappeared around the staircase landing. Her legs buckled, and she nearly collapsed onto the floor. 

She pressed a hand to her violently pounding chest, her back drenched in a cold sweat. 

Thank God… 

Hudson just thought she was mistreating her step-daughter, Jade. 

He had no idea that the woman he was so fiercely protecting wasn’t Jade at all. 

Soon, the sound of running water echoed through the room. 

Nora sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers anxiously twisting the fabric of her skirt. 

Were they… really going to sleep in the same bed tonight? 

The mere thought of sharing a bed with Hudson brought a devastatingly familiar wave of suffocation crashing over her. 

She closed her eyes, desperately trying to fight down the crushing weight in her chest. 

It had been a long time since she felt this kind of panic. 

Intimacy anxiety. 

Her therapist had diagnosed it as a trauma response, a lingering shadow from a nightmare she 

survived in her childhood. 

She had been honest about it with Edmond Sterling. Over the two years they had dated, the most intimate things they had ever shared were holding hands and embracing. 

Edmond had been respectful and never forced her into anything. 

She had honestly started to believe she was finally cured. 

But right now… 

Nora clenched her skirt, her knuckles turning bone-white.