The second aliya of Vayeira begins at 18:15, with the end of the Sarah-denying-having-laughed episode. It then goes on to focus on S'dom and the other cities. This happens in the middle of a column, not near a "paragraph" break of either sort, so the division isn't dictated by those boundaries so far as I can tell. Nor is 18:15 a "down" note that we wouldn't want to end an aliya on.
So why is 18:15 the first verse of the second aliya and not the last verse of the first one?
Answer
Ephraim Stulberg, in an interesting article on the subject of the division of Aliyot (available here), suggests that as an extension of the theme of ending on a good note, the 'divisors' tried to end aliyot with dramatic and uplifting messages as a climax to the aliya. His examples are: Gen 9:17, 13:4, 13:18, 19:20, 28:22, 33:5, 33:20, 42:18, 49:18, Ex 9:16, 14:8, Lev 9:23, and Num 14:7. He lists Gen 18:14 as a possible member of this category, because it is quite exciting and climactic when Sara first hears she will have a child.
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