After I Stopped Loving Him (Isabella and Ethan) novel Chapter 3

In her last life, Ethan had used her. This time around, it was her turn to use him.

She was going to make the most of his money and his connections, use his status to open doors for herself, and let his influence keep the harsh world at bay. He might not have loved her, but at least he’d shown her the respect of a wife in public. He always stood up for her if anyone tried to mess with her, well, anyone except Natalie Gates.-

Whenever things got tense between her and Natalie, Ethan never hesitated. He’d always side with Natalie, no questions asked.

Isabella stood by the window for a moment, then closed it, pulled the curtains shut, and went back to sit on the bed. She picked up her phone and checked the time. Five in the morning. She still had a few hours to sleep.

Now that she’d finally figured out how she wanted to live this life, it felt like a mountain had been lifted off her chest. The pressure was gone. She lay back down and let herself drift off, finally free from the nightmares that had haunted her before.

Three hours later...

The sound of steady knocking pulled Isabella out of her sleep.

Seriously? Who was waking her up this early?

She sat up, already annoyed. “Who is it?”

“Isabella, it’s me. Susan,” came the voice from outside her door.

Susan was the housekeeper. Ethan had brought her over from the main Adams estate. She’d been with the family for thirty years, practically watched Ethan grow up.

“Isabella, are you awake yet? You need to get up. Today’s the day you visit your family. Ethan got up early and picked out the gifts for you himself. You should hurry.”

“What’s the rush? The drive is only ten minutes. We could go at noon and it would be fine,” Isabella replied, her tone casual.

“I’m still tired. I want to sleep a bit longer.”

“Susan, go downstairs and let Ethan know there’s no need to hurry. My mom and Jackson aren’t even up yet. They usually don’t get out of bed until noon anyway.”

“There’s no reason to go over so early. It’s just boring.”

She was only the stepdaughter, not their real daughter. If she hadn’t married Ethan, the Lane family wouldn’t have cared about her visit at all. Last time, they’d arrived early, and while her mom was awake, Jackson and Jordan had already gone to work. Her mom had to scramble to call them back just so they could properly entertain their guests.