Never Again Yours (Isadora and Magnus)

Chapter 24

Isadora let out a cold laugh. "The one who gets to bask in your affection and the Vaughan family fortune is Pearl, not me! Why should I be the one to marry for the sake of the family?"

"You... you ungrateful girl!" Richard's face darkened. "This isn't your decision to make! Unless you can find someone better than Magnus, you'll marry him whether you like it or not."

Eleanor quickly tried to calm him, smoothing his chest. "Please, Richard, don't get so worked up—it's not worth risking your health. Isadora's been impossible lately; she talks to me the same way."

After a long silence, Isadora finally looked up. "So as long as I find someone more impressive than Magnus, I don't have to marry him?"

Richard snorted. "If you can manage that, I won't force you to marry Magnus!"

But in Capitolion, only Victor-the crown prince-outranked Magnus, with a wealth and power that dwarfed even the Vaughans. Yet the Fitzgeralds were the pinnacle of high society; there was no way they'd ever even look twice at the Vaughans.

In other words, Isadora didn't stand a chance.

Hospital.

Gideon finished setting Elise's IV, then pulled Magnus out of the hospital room, unable to hide his frustration.

"Magnus, you know how fragile Elise is. Why would you let her go into the water? She nearly drowned tonight-she could have died at any moment!"

Isadora's words "We're even now." A heavy, dark shadow

only soured his mood further. "And where were you, then? You're supposed to be her doctor. I pay you a fortune to look after her, yet you let this

guilty. "You know as well as I do, Magnus-*you're* the

disdain. "Gideon, know your place. If you can't stay professional, if you're too emotionally

Magnus strode back into the

pale and fragile. When Magnus entered, she opened her eyes and whispered weakly, "Magnus, did

his gaze unreadable. "You shouldn't have

wanted to

"Elise, I'm going to marry

a moment, tears shimmered

that mean you're leaving

a headache coming on, but he forced himself to

to grant your

seemed to shrink at his words, her body wracked with sudden coughing. Gasping for breath,

heard the commotion

Half an hour later.

stepped out into the corridor and

"Magnus, we've finally found a matching donor for Elise. If all goes well, she'll have a heart transplant next month. Until then, she can't