Chapter 54
“Henty!” She rushed toward him, hands outstretched. I was so worried! What happened to you?
He brushed past her without answering and moved to the window. His jaw was set, shoulders tense with strain.
Isabella followed him, her carefully practiced charm ineffective. This wasn’t the response she had expected. Henry had always been attentive to her needs. always responsive to her distress.
‘I had such a terrible nightmare, she began, her voice artificially trembling. “It was awful… I was completely alone, and then-
‘It was just a dream, Henry interrupted coldly. “Why make such a fuss over something that wasn’t even real?”
Isabella froze, her carefully constructed image showing slight cracks under his unexpected harshness. In all their years together, Henry had never spoken to her this way.
“But it felt so real,” she continued, forcing tears to well in her eyes. “In my dream, Sophia was there… she was hurting me, and no one would help. I was so scared, Henry. I needed you.”
Henry turned to look at her, his expression unreadable. “No one would hurt you while I’m around,” he said, but his tone lacked its usual enthusiasm. “You
know that.”
Something was wrong. His words were right, but his mind seemed elsewhere.
Isabella studied him carefully, noting the slight dishevelment of his usually perfect appearance, the distraction in his eyes.
Then she noticed it–a faint red mark on his neck, partially
A remnant of intimacy between a man and woman.
idden by his collar, but unmistakable to her knowing eyes.
Her fingers curled into tight fists, her nails digging painfully into her palms. She maintained an expression of innocent distress, but fury burned inside her.
That bitch. That damn bitch.
Sophia Wilson had always been an obstacle, an annoyance, an unwelcome third party who ruined what should have been her perfect love story.
But this–this crossed a line. That woman had actually touched Henry, her Henry, leaving her mark on him.
“Will you stay with me tonight?” Isabella asked, suppressing her anger beneath a vulnerable exterior. “I’m still so frightened.”
Henry distractedly checked his watch. “I have an important meeting early tomorrow morning. If I stayed here all night, I wouldn’t get any sleep.
“You could sleep here,” she suggested, invitingly pulling back the covers.
The private nurse attending to Isabella glanced between them before discreetly slipping out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her.
*Remember in high school,” Henry said with an awkward laugh, “when I wanted to sleep in your bed to… what did I call it? ‘Discuss biology? And you told me sleeping together wasn’t good for our health?”
Isabella stared at him in disbelief. He was actually using a teenage excuse to avoid her invitation?
“That was different,” she said carefully. “We were children then.”
“Were we?’ His smile didn’t reach his eyes.
Isabella felt panic rising in her throat. This wasn’t her Henry. Her Henry would never reject her advances, never speak to her with this strange, Something must have happened between him and Sophia tonight–something significant.
“At least sit with me until I fall asleep?” she asked, forcing her voice to remain soft and pleading. “Please?”
t tone.
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Chapter 54
Henry nodded reluctantly, taking a seat in the chair beside her bed.
“Alright.”
Isabella obediently closed her eyes, her mind racing bene
her peaceful expression. Henry’s mind wasn’t present tonight, but she wouldn’t give up.
As her breathing slowed, pretending to be asleep, she carefully adjusted her position, letting her silk robe fall slightly open. One porcelain shoulder emerged from the fabric, followed by the gentle curve of her breast. Another adjustment, and more smooth skin was revealed.
Through barely–opened eyelids, she watched for his reaction
But instead, Henry simply reached forward and gently pulled the
familiar darkening of his eyes, the slight parfing of his lips that always preceded desire.
up, securely tucking them around her exposed skin. His touch was careful.
960 ing to maintain her composure.
Faced with this unprecedented rejection, she could barely breathe,
What was happening?
Minutes passed in stifling silence. Finally, she heard Henry rise from the chair, his footsteps moving away from the bed. The door opened and closed with a soft click.
The moment she was alone, Isabella’s eyes snapped open, all pretense of silent fury.
sleep instantly vanishing. She sat up in bed, her fists pounding the mattress in
“Sophia Wilson,” she hissed, her beautiful face contorted with rage, “why won’t you just die?!”
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