The Divorce That Brought Us Back novel Chapter 14

Nora kept reassuring Jasmine, but inside, she was suffocating with panic.

She couldn't stop her entire body from trembling.

The scene that had just played out was like a thorn buried deep in her chest. It forced her to picture a future where Seraphina stepped out of Maloney's car, and Maloney defended Seraphina while hurling insults at her. Would she be able to stay as icy and composed as Cassidy?

She couldn't.

She absolutely wouldn't be able to handle it.

No.

She had to finalize this divorce immediately.

She was a coward, and she needed to run.

Jasmine's voice snapped Nora back to reality. "Should we head home?"

Nora nodded dazedly, her voice weak. "Yeah."

Jasmine gave her a worried look. "I drove today. I'll drop you off."

"Okay," Nora murmured.

Once inside the car, Nora suddenly remembered that she had promised to call Maloney after her hangout. She quickly typed out a text to let him know she was already on her way back.

Almost immediately after the message delivered, Maloney's call came through.

Nora scrambled to pick it up.

"Nora," Maloney's voice drifted through the speaker. It was that familiar deep, steady tone, calm and gentle, yet laced with a subtle edge of displeasure. "Didn't we agree I'd come pick you up?"

Nora stammered out an excuse. "M-my friend was heading this way anyway, so she just offered to drive me..."

Maloney went quiet for a moment before giving a clipped reply. "Got it."

He hung up.

Nora sat stiffly in the passenger seat, her spine rigidly straight. She clutched her darkened phone against her stomach. Her heart was pounding erratically, and the paralyzing anxiety simply wouldn't fade.

She didn't know if she was terrified about the looming divorce conversation, or if she was just scared that Maloney was angry she had gone home without him.

Probably both.

The car rolled to a stop at a red light.

"Nora." Jasmine turned to look at her, her brow furrowed in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Nora said softly.

"You look awful."

"Do I?"

When Seraphina had gone abroad to study, Maloney had stayed single for six entire years, waiting for her.

Until Nora practically stumbled into the picture.

It had been an exhausting day.

Jasmine dropped Nora off, her mood thoroughly ruined, and immediately drove back to her own place.

The second Nora stepped through the front door of her villa, Maloney's car pulled into the driveway.

"Nora."

Maloney called out to her as she was kicking off her shoes in the entryway.

"Ah, you're back," Nora said, her expression unnatural, her guilt practically written across her forehead.

She quickly offered an excuse. "I was worried you were busy and didn't want to bother you. Plus, Jasmine lives in the neighborhood next door, so it was convenient for her to drop me off..."

Before she could finish her sentence.

Maloney closed the distance with long strides and scooped her up into his arms with a single motion.

Startled, Nora gasped. "Wh-what are you doing?"

Without even taking off his shoes, Maloney carried her straight into the living room, deposited her onto a single armchair, and knelt with one knee between her legs. He braced his hands on the armrests, his imposing frame completely caging her in.