The End of a Marriage (Colette and Matheo) novel Chapter 229

Chapter 229

“It never went away,” Maggie continued, entirely unbothered by his

reaction. Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she leaned slightly

closer. “When she was twelve or thirteen, she used to cut out your

pictures from magazines and newspapers–every article, every photo

from when you started your company or were declared a self–made

millionaire. I remember finding a whole collage under her bed, pink

hearts drawn all over it with sketch pens.”

Graham stared at her, utterly dumbfounded. “A collage?” he echoed,

the words feeling foreign in his mouth.

“I told Master Robert, of course,” Maggie said with a shrug. “Turns

out, he already knew. He thought it was just a phase. You were

handsome, older, and had that mysterious, untouchable air about you.

He was sure it was just teenage infatuation.”

Maggie paused, sighing softly as she gazed up at the ceiling, a wistful smile playing on her lips as if recalling a fond memory. “But he was

wrong about that. Very wrong.”

Graham’s mind reeled. He couldn’t wrap his head around it. Isla? A

crush on him? For years? “You can’t be serious,” he muttered, shaking

his head. “It’s impossible. I would’ve known.”

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Chapter 229

“I’m surprised you didn’t,” Maggie said, blinking as if even she

couldn’t believe it. “Truly surprised. Everyone in the household knew,

Master Graham. It wasn’t exactly subtle. She’d take one look at you

from across the room and blush so hard the hibiscus bushes outside

the window would look pale in comparison.”

He furrowed his brow, his mind reaching back into the past, trying to

summon any memory that aligned with Maggie’s claims.

“You’d send a message home saying you were coming for the

weekend,” Maggie continued, a hint of fondness lacing her voice, “and

she’d practically float around the house. Isla would be twirling

through Thornfield like the happiest little butterfly, picking out her

prettiest dresses, smoothing her hair, and trying on every ribbon she

owned. Then you’d show up, greet your father, and give her a polite

‘hello,‘ and she’d blush so furiously she’d put a beetroot to shame

before scurrying off like a startled kitten.”

The vividness of Maggie’s description struck a chord, Graham

frowned, his mind catching on fragments of memory: Isla’s quick,

flustered exits, her wide eyes whenever he spoke to her, the way she

always seemed to disappear when he turned his attention to her for

too long. I… I just thought she was shy around me,‘ he said, his voice

unusually high–pitched.

“Shy?” Maggie repeated, her laughter bubbling up again. ‘Yes, shy. But

only around you, Master Graham. Only around you.”

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Chapter 229

It felt like the ground had shifted beneath him, leaving him in a state

of disbelief he couldn’t quite shake.

A few hours earlier, Graham had stormed into the study with a head

full of questions and a heart weighed down by doubt. Isla’s reaction

to his touch that evening had left him grappling with uncertainty.

Had he misread her entirely? Had he made a terrible mistake in

pursuing her? The memory of her startled retreat haunted him, a

sharp contrast to the desire he had so vividly imagined between

them.

But now, as he settled into bed, a small smile tugged at the corners of

his lips. Maggie’s words echoed in his mind, softening his doubts.

“She’s skittish only around you, Master Graham.” Isla hadn’t run off

because she feared him. No, she had run because she was

overwhelmed–by him, by her feelings, by the unspoken pull that had

always simmered between them.

The thought made his chest swell with newfound confidence. She was

attracted to him, just as much as he was to her. Perhaps even more so,

if Maggie’s stories of her years–long crush were to be believed.

Graham chuckled to himself, the sound low and rich in the quiet of

the room. Tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow, he would put an end to this

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