Chosen By My Mate's Father-in-law novel Chapter 40

40 /85

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Approval

After Jasmine left, Isabella sat with her father and Michelle in one of the sitting rooms. Butler Jones lit the fire, and once her father had his final glass of red wine in his hands, their butler retired for the night.

“Michelle, why don’t you get your short story so your sister and I can read it?” her father suggested from his favorite maroon chair by the fire.

Michelle blushed. “Okay...but you guys have to promise not to laugh. Remember, it’s supposed to be creative, and it’s about time traveling, so don’t expect the writing to be all academic or anything...”

“I’m sure it’s very well written,” Gareth said, causing a shy grin to bloom across Michelle’s face.

Isabella’s heart warmed as she watched their interaction. It seemed that Jasmine’s arrival hadn’t just helped boost Michelle’s grades. Ever since Jasmine came, her dad and Michelle seemed to be growing slowly closer each day.

After they read the story, both of them praising her captivating writing, Michelle went to her room.

Isabella stayed in the room with her father, trying to concentrate on the book she had just started. But her eyes kept straying to her phone in her lap. When she talked to Elliot earlier, he had promised to call her when her dinner ended. She had texted him right after Jasmine went home.

But now, an hour and a half later, her phone remained silent. Elliot texted thirty minutes ago, a short message telling Isabella he was busy, but she was a little hurt because her fiancé always kept his promises.

There was a voice in the back of her head that was telling her something wasn’t quite right with Elliot. Isabella had written it off as pre-wedding jitters, but she’d been noticing that her future husband seemed to always be busy. And whenever she asked what he was so occupied with, his answers were pretty vague. Since their wedding was drawing closer, this made her stomach knot with anxiety.

Not for the first time, she wanted a close girlfriend whom she could talk to about problems like this. But the sad truth was, Isabella didn’t have any friends. She knew that the ones she did have were only spending time with her because of her high status, or because they wanted to gain her father’s attention.

There had been countless times when a ‘friend’ had tried to use Isabella’s name to get into an exclusive club, or they always demanded Isabella cover the bill when they went out. It always crushed her deeply when that happened. No one ever wanted to seem to get to know her for who she was.

The only girl her age that she met who was different was Jasmine. Isabella had enjoyed talking with her today and had considered pulling Jasmine aside before she left to ask her opinion on her worries about Elliot. But Isabella didn’t want to burden her further since Jasmine had enough to worry about with her father’s complicated situation.

Gareth lowered the report he was reading for work and noticed her worried expression.

“Is everything alright, Isabella?” he asked.

She sighed. “Yes...it’s just Elliot promised he would call tonight. It’s getting late, and he still hasn’t called.”

As soon as she mentioned her fiancé, her father frowned, narrowing his eyes. It was the same expression he wore whenever she mentioned Elliot. She wondered why he didn’t seem to like her future husband that much. Elliot was always respectful to her dad and went out of his way to earn his approval.

“Isabella,” her dad said, and sighed. “This isn’t the first time Elliot has left you waiting by the phone. Why do you settle for this kind of treatment when you deserve the world?”

She raised her chin and looked her father in the eyes. “Elliot loves me, Dad. From the first moment we met at Alpha Rafael’s funeral, I knew he was different from all the Alpha candidates.”