Never Again Yours (Isadora and Magnus) novel Chapter 343

Isadora hadn’t told Victor yet.

Tonight, she’d already promised Eleanor: once The Vaughan Group found a successor and they wrapped up the last details, the two of them would move abroad for good.

She wasn’t afraid of neighborhood gossip or whispers behind her back.

But she didn’t want her child to inherit that same scrutiny the moment they were born.

So when Victor brought up marriage, it would’ve been a lie to say she felt nothing at all.

Isadora lifted her gaze and met his eyes. “Victor, you don’t need to marry me just because of the baby,” she said quietly. “I told you before—I can handle this on my own. You don’t owe me anything. This is my decision.”

Victor’s brows drew together. “Who told you I’m doing this for the baby?”

Did she really think he’d only marry her because of the child?

As if a baby alone could tie him down.

What a joke.

Victor had never cared much for the idea of children.

The only reason this mattered was because it was Isadora’s child.

He stared at her, his dark eyes unblinking, her features so delicate—and now, tinged with distance.

“Isadora,” he said, his voice low, “a baby isn’t enough to make me decide to get married. Did you ever consider I might just want to—because I care about you?”

Isadora dropped her gaze. “You once said you liked my body. I remember.”

Victor winced inwardly.

Why had he ever said something so thoughtless?

Now, of course, she’d never let him forget it.

He reached out, his long fingers gently brushing her hair, his tone resigned. “Let me take that back, then.”

He leaned in, his breath warm against her ear, and said, with careful precision, “It’s you I like. Only you. Nothing else matters.”

Isadora froze, every muscle tense.

“Isadora!” came a voice from the house.

She turned, catching a glimpse of Eleanor stepping out onto the porch.

Isadora quickly pulled off her jacket and handed it to Victor. “I have to go.”

“That’s it?” he asked, incredulous.

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lit one, and stood there as the smoke curled around him—his features hidden in the gloom, only briefly illuminated by the flicker of his lighter.

After a while, he flicked the cigarette to the ground, crushing it beneath his shoe until only a smudge of ash and ember remained.

He took out his phone.

“Come out,” he said when the call was answered. “Let’s have a drink.”

*

Isadora hurried inside.

Eleanor’s gaze drifted past her, lingering a little too long. “Out for a walk this late at night?” she asked, voice casual but eyes sharp.

Isadora shifted, a bit awkward. “The moon’s nice tonight. I just needed a little air.”

Eleanor let it go. “I just got off the phone with your aunt. With us moving in a couple of months, I asked her to start looking for a place for us.”

She noticed Isadora had gone quiet, lost in thought.

“Isadora, what’s wrong?” Eleanor asked gently.

Pulling her shawl more tightly around her, Isadora looked up at her mother. “Mom, if a man wants to marry a woman while she’s pregnant… do you think it’s because he loves her, or just because of the baby?”