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The End Of a Marriage
Chapter 218
Graham Lancaster as her husband? The thought was almost
laughable. Yes, she was drawn to him–how could she not be? His
commanding presence, the way his deep voice seemed to wrap around
her like velvet, the way his eyes seemed to burn into her soul as if he
could see every thought she tried to hide… It was intoxicating. He
was intoxicating. And she had felt that pull for years, even when she
had been too young to understand it.
But attraction wasn’t enough. Not when Graham was so infuriatingly
arrogant, so confident in his ability to control everything and everyone around him. Isla knew that if she said yes to his proposal,
she would be handing over her freedom. He would keep her under his
thumb, deciding her every move. That was the kind of man he was–a
man who thrived on power, on control.
A flicker of bitterness tugged at her lips. Deep down, she couldn’t
shake the suspicion that his proposal wasn’t about love or even
companionship. It was about possession. Graham didn’t just want her
in his house; he wanted her in his life, tethered to him by a ring on
her finger and vows she couldn’t escape.
And then there were the other women. Graham’s reputation preceded
him–a trail of stunning, sophisticated women, each more glamorous
than the last. Isla couldn’t remember ever seeing him with the same
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Chapter 218
woman twice. They were the kind of women who looked like they
belonged in glossy magazines, their beauty sharp enough to cut glass,
their confidence undeniable.
How could she ever compare? A nineteen–year–old girl, awkward and
untouched by experience, standing in the shadow of women who had
likely seen and done it all. How could someone like her possibly hold
his attention?
Her chest tightened as an unwelcome thought crept in. She wasn’t even considering his proposal… was she? Isla shook her head, trying
to banish the idea. But the question lingered, stubborn and
persistent.
What if she said yes? What if she accepted?
Her imagination betrayed her, spinning images that made her pulse
race. Graham wouldn’t waste any time–she knew that much. He
would seduce her with the same ease he used to command a room.
His touch would be deliberate, confident, setting her skin on fire with
every brush of his fingers. He would whisper things in her ear, his
voice low and smoky, words that would make her knees weak and her
resolve crumble.
She gulped down water from the jug on her nightstand, trying to cool
the heat rising in her body. He would ravish her. That much was
certain. He would make her crave him, make her body ache for his,
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Chapter 218
and when he finally had her–completely, utterly–he would move on.
The thought sent a cold shiver through her, snuffing out the warmth that had built in her chest. Isla could see it so clearly: him walking away, leaving her behind like a broken doll, discarded and forgotten.
She wasn’t like the women who came before her. They could brush off
his rejection, move on with their lives.
But her? She was already too attached–to the house, to him. If she
let him in, if she gave him the power to destroy her, she wasn’t sure
she would survive it.
Another image flashed in her mind, unbidden and maddeningly vivid:
tangled sheets, his lips on her skin, his body pressed against hers, consuming her in ways she couldn’t even imagine. The heat of it
made her cheeks burn, but it was quickly overshadowed by fear.
No. She shook her head, pushing the thought away. She couldn’t do this. Whatever Graham’s reasons–whatever underhanded motive lay behind his proposal–she couldn’t say yes. She had already lost too much. Her parents, her stepfather… every loss had carved another
piece out of her heart.
She couldn’t afford to get a husband, when it was a certainty that she was going to lose him too..
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Chapter 218
The steady tap, tap, tap of Graham’s pen against the polished
mahogany desk echoed through the quiet study, a rhythmic betrayal
of his growing frustration. The conference call droned on, voices
filtering through the speaker as his team debated yet another detail
of the delayed mega–market project. Normally, he’d be in the thick of
it, commanding the discussion, steering decisions with a precise,
calculated authority. Instead, he was here–stuck in the middle of
nowhere, on a sprawling ranch in Georgia, hundreds of miles from the
pulsating energy of New York City.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
