Never Again Yours (Isadora and Magnus) novel Chapter 13

The next day, Isadora went to the nearby mall to replace her lost phone and get a new SIM card.

The moment she turned on her phone, a flood of messages came pouring in.

She barely had time to glance at them before her phone started ringing—Eleanor Vaughan was calling.

Eleanor was Isadora’s biological mother, the matriarch of the Vaughan family.

Isadora froze for a split second before answering.

Eleanor’s sharp, annoyed voice cut through the line.

“Isadora, what exactly have you been up to these past two days? You haven’t answered any of my calls or texts. Am I even your mother in your eyes? Honestly, why can’t you be as thoughtful as Pearl?”

Almost without thinking, Isadora replied, “I was kidnapped. That’s why I lost my phone—”

Eleanor let out a cold laugh. “Kidnapped? That’s the best excuse you can come up with? Are you just that desperate to squeeze money out of the Vaughan family? You’re exactly like your adoptive mother—unbelievable. Sometimes I can’t even believe you’re my own daughter.”

A familiar, sharp ache twisted in Isadora’s chest.

Every time Eleanor was angry at her, she would say things like this.

Isadora was the true heiress of the Vaughan family.

Before she was recognized and brought home, she was known as Isadora Lowry.

Twenty-three years ago, Eleanor, the elegant wife of the Vaughan Group’s founder, gave birth in a private hospital.

Elsewhere in the same hospital, a nurse named Carla was also giving birth to her own daughter, Pearl.

Pearl was born with a congenital condition.

Eleanor had looked her up and down with cool scrutiny, her brow wrinkling in disapproval. “You’ve dirtied the Italian rug I had custom-made just last month with your shoes.”

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “What on earth are you wearing? Is this really how Carla raised you for twenty years? Showing up to meet your elders looking such a mess. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, considering what kind of woman Carla was. Clearly, she didn’t teach you any manners or proper habits. Now that you’re part of the Vaughan family, we’ll have to break you of all your bad ways.”

Prescott Vaughan, Isadora’s older brother, was openly furious. “I only have one sister—Pearl. Who is this outsider? Mom, Dad, I don’t accept her!”

Her father, Richard Vaughan, was more reserved, his expression unreadable. He neither welcomed nor rejected her, simply saying, “From now on, you’re my daughter. You and Pearl will have to get along.”

Pearl, meanwhile, looked at Isadora with a mixture of resentment and smugness, as if to say, “See? Even if you’re their real daughter, I’m still the one they love.”

Then, putting on a show, Pearl stepped forward and said, “Mom, Dad, I’m sorry. Since my sister’s come home, maybe it’s time for me to leave.”

Eleanor’s composure finally cracked. “Pearl, what happened twenty years ago was Carla’s fault—not yours. You’ll always be our precious girl, for me, for your father, for your brother. I would never let you leave us.”