Their words were meant to comfort and guide Isabella, to help her accept Nicholas’s attitude and let go of her obsession.
After all, they were a family and would see each other constantly. Being too fixated would only lead to more awkwardness in the future.
But to Isabella’s ears, their words were like fuel poured on a fire.
Let Nicholas go? Why should she be the one to let him go?
Not meant to be? It was obvious that country girl Serena had stolen him from her!
Future brother-in-law? She would never accept that!
They… were clearly playing favorites!
They were trying to appease Serena by forcing her to give up on Nicholas, forcing her to abandon her only hope of marrying into a top-tier family!
They wanted her to hand Nicholas over on a silver platter!
Their hearts and minds were filled with nothing but Serena. Her twenty years of companionship and devotion were worthless in their eyes.
Isabella clenched her fists violently, keeping her head bowed to hide the rage and hatred that were about to erupt from her eyes.
Her carefully manicured nails dug so deep into her palms that they left angry red marks.
She bit her lower lip so hard that the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.
She would never let Serena win.
Nicholas was hers.
Everything the Lancaster family had would be hers!
Serena would not take anything from her.
***
The black Maybach glided through the night.
Serena leaned back lazily against the seat, her eyes focused on the encrypted core data from the institute spread across her lap.
This time, Serena's fingers stopped completely, hovering over the document.
She finally lifted her gaze, her clear, cool eyes landing on his face.
The flowing city lights outside the window swept over him, tracing the impossibly perfect contours of his profile, making him look as alluring as a demon in the flickering shadows.
Those narrow, almond-shaped eyes held an unabashedly aggressive charm in the dim light, their depths dangerously captivating.
"Your face," Serena's lips curved slightly, though her voice remained flat, "is definitely enough to give someone ideas."
Nicholas's eyebrow arched, and the smile in his eyes deepened, like ripples spreading across a spring pond.
"It’s just that I’m not interested in a relationship right now," Serena added.
"As long as my face can make you have ideas, then… there’s a chance."
The man’s deep voice drew out the words, laced with a captivating and unshakeable confidence. "And once there’s a chance, I have all the patience in the world to make sure those ideas about my face… turn into the idea of being in a relationship with me."

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