After I Stopped Loving Him (Isabella and Ethan) novel Chapter 19

Ethan turned and went back inside.

Isabella hurried off to the bathroom, making sure to keep up her performance. If she was going to act, she’d do it convincingly.

A few minutes later, Jordan and Natalie returned. The butler walked over. “Dinner is ready,” he said.

Jackson smiled at Ethan. “Ethan, Isabella, come on. Let’s eat.”

Ethan stood up, reached out to Isabella, and took her hand. Together, they walked into the dining room, fingers still intertwined.

At the table, Jordan was practically doting on Natalie, attentive to her every need. Ethan, not wanting to be outdone, started piling food onto Isabella’s plate. The two couples almost looked like they were competing to see who could be more in love.

Isabella was genuinely enjoying herself, eating happily. Sure, it wasn’t her favorite food, but she wasn’t picky. She found it all tasty, especially surrounded by this lively atmosphere.

Natalie, wearing disposable gloves, carefully peeled two shrimp for Jordan.

Ethan watched, a little jealous. The woman right next to him was just focused on eating and hadn’t paid him any special attention, even though he was paying her a pretty generous fee.

As if she sensed his mood, Isabella looked up, saw Natalie peeling shrimp for Jordan, then glanced at Ethan. Suddenly, it clicked. She quickly picked up a few shrimp and put them on Ethan’s plate.

“Babe, you shouldn’t just be serving me. You need to eat too. Here, have some shrimp. Shrimp shells are good for calcium, you know, so eat them with the shells on,” she teased.

She had no intention of peeling shrimp for him. In another life, every time they ate together and there was fish or shrimp, she’d carefully pick out the bones and peel his shrimp for him, trying to be the perfect, caring wife. But what did it get her? Nothing. Ethan never ate what she gave him. He was always worried she’d drug his food and try to seduce him. When she died, he’d never once touched her, all because he was saving himself for someone he loved but could never have.

She wasn’t about to waste her effort like that again.

Her words hung in the air, and everyone at the table turned to look at her. Natalie, halfway through peeling a shrimp, hesitated, caught between finishing what she started and just handing Jordan the shrimp with the shell still on.

“Isabella, didn’t you just say shrimp shells are good for calcium? Why aren’t you eating them?” Ethan asked, his voice low and a little menacing.

“I’m not low on calcium,” Isabella replied, her voice steady. “I don’t need it.”

“So you’re just going to turn down my kind gesture?” Ethan’s eyes grew colder.

Isabella didn’t even look at him. She set down her chopsticks.

“Jackson, Mom, I’m done,” she announced. “Babe, take your time.”

She shot Ethan a quick wink, grabbed a couple of napkins to dab her mouth, then stood up and walked out.