The Divorce That Brought Us Back novel Chapter 140

Maloney had no intention of letting Nora off the hook that easily.

Standing behind her in front of the full-length mirror inside the closet, he fastened a stunning ruby necklace around her snow-white neck, clasped a matching bracelet around her delicate wrist, and finally picked up a pair of earrings. Massaging her earlobes gently, he slowly guided them into place.

It took a while to get them perfectly secured.

Nora shrank her neck slightly, her patience worn thin by the fussing. She let out a helpless sigh, blinked her sleepy eyes, and murmured, "Let me do it."

"Don't move," Maloney commanded softly.

Nora: "..."

She stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror.

Fresh out of the bath, she was wrapped in nothing but a pure white towel, covering only the essentials.

Barefoot, her tiny toes rested lightly on the top of Maloney's shoes.

Her slender legs were slightly bent.

She leaned her entire weight back against his chest.

Nora barely reached his shoulders.

It was something they rarely noticed in their day-to-day lives.

But now, standing together in front of the mirror, she looked incredibly delicate, practically enveloped by his broad frame.

Sensing her gaze.

Maloney suddenly lifted his head, their eyes locking in the reflection.

His dark, intense gaze simmered with tightly coiled restraint.

It made Nora shiver.

"All done," Maloney whispered.

"O-okay," Nora stammered, hurriedly lowering her head.

The teardrop Pigeon Blood rubies swayed with her every movement.

They looked like beating hearts—rich, vibrant, and wildly passionate—making her luminous skin glow even brighter.

Maloney leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to the tip of her ear.

"I'm sorry," Nora whispered, her voice trembling.

Maloney paused. "For what?"

"I..." Nora didn't quite know.

She just had an instinctual feeling.

He felt like he was angry.

She turned around in his arms, wrapping her hands around his neck and leaning into him, trying to soothe him.

Only then did he finally realize that she wasn't rejecting him.

Nora simply revered the destructive power of money.

She knew intimately that the root of all her childhood suffering was tied to wealth.

Money, power, status.

Greed was the architect of misery.

She had witnessed firsthand how desire twisted human nature. She had grown up too fast, become too perceptive too early, and she absolutely refused to let money poison her relationship.

To her, the warmth and security of genuine affection vastly outweighed any material luxury money could buy.

Maloney understood her completely.

Wealth was inherently destructive.

People tend to fear the exact thing they value the most.

Nora was terrified that money would build a wall between them, which was why she refused his gifts without a deeply rooted emotional reason.

She craved pure, unadulterated devotion.

And that was the easiest thing in the world to give her.

Because when it came to Nora, the one thing Maloney had in absolute, overwhelming abundance was devotion.