The Divorce That Brought Us Back novel Chapter 210

Nora's smile tightened.

Was Seraphina deliberately dragging up her old childhood engagement to Sebastian just to sow discord between her and Maloney?

Hah. What a vicious little trick.

Nora wasn't afraid of falling into the trap.

The trap wouldn't work on her anyway.

What she was afraid of was this getting back to Maloney. If he got upset, he'd be insufferably sarcastic for days.

Especially since Maloney had just tried to escort her upstairs, and she had stubbornly refused and pushed him away.

If any drama erupted, she'd never hear the end of it.

Nora racked her brain, frantically scrambling for the perfect response in a matter of seconds. "I liked Alistair too. He was wonderful to me, and I'll always be deeply grateful to him."

Seraphina's eyes darkened. Refusing to let Nora pivot the conversation, she asked point-blank, "But did you like my brother?"

Nora didn't miss a beat. "No."

She quickly added, "I always viewed him as an older brother."

"Oh—" Seraphina shot Sebastian a profoundly loaded look.

Sebastian's gaze remained heavily fixed on Nora.

Nora refused to look at either of them. She stared straight ahead, her smile completely frozen like a mannequin.

She desperately wanted to bolt.

She was entirely ill-equipped to deal with someone like Seraphina.

Extroverted, domineering, utterly shameless, a brilliant actress, a master manipulator, exceptionally social, fiercely disciplined with her emotions, and incredibly skilled at maintaining her facade of being warm and magnanimous.

Even when dealing with enemies or instigating conflict, Seraphina projected an aura of intimate friendliness.

If Nora snapped at her right now, Nora would be the one who looked aggressive and unhinged.

Seraphina kept an iron grip on Nora's arm. Pulling her attention away from Sebastian, she turned to Nora and suddenly declared, "But my brother loves you."

"He never actually wanted to break off the engagement. He's always loved you."

"He regrets it. He regrets not marrying you sooner, and he wants to win you back—"

"Seraphina!" Sebastian's harsh voice cut through her rapid-fire monologue. "Enough!"

"Fine, fine, I'm done." Seraphina rolled her eyes at him and clamped her mouth shut.

What a useless man. He was too cowardly to confess his feelings and too cowardly to admit his regrets.

Seriously, what was the point of a man like that?

Seraphina possessed an innate talent for bringing men to their knees, effortlessly playing with their affections as if it were a game.

She understood men.

With the singular exception of Maloney Jameson.

Maloney's mind didn't operate like an ordinary man's.

Which was precisely why Seraphina had fallen madly in love with him at first sight among all the heirs in The Gated Community.

Normal men were painfully easy to read.

She could clearly see right through her own brother.

Sebastian was emotionally repressed to a pathetic degree.

Seraphina had been front and center for the entire tangled history between Nora and Sebastian.

When they were younger, Sebastian had looked down on Nora. He viewed the arranged marriage as a humiliating joke, so he distanced himself from The Gated Community to escape the gossip.

As they grew older, he realized Nora was actually quite impressive. But his pride refused to let him admit it. He left the situation suspended in limbo, hoping someone else would push the marriage issue so he could simply 'reluctantly' agree.

He refused to make a move, refused to fight for her, yet expected everything to perfectly fall into his lap. The world didn't work that way.