After I Stopped Loving Him (Isabella and Ethan) novel Chapter 313

Peter always favored Paul and picked on Dennis, who was honest and a bit naive. Even when Dennis was still around, Peter would show up all the time, looking for favors or handouts. The whole family was the same—lazy, stingy, and just plain impossible to deal with. Honestly, their lives were probably a mess.

Cynthia took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm. Her voice was cold and steady. “Paul, just tell me what you’re really after.”

Paul grinned. “What could I possibly want? I just want Isabella back in the family. By the way, she should be using the last name George now. Why is she still calling herself Lane?”

Isabella had married into serious money. Even the tiniest bit from her husband would be enough for the whole George family to live it up. If Isabella changed her name back to George and officially rejoined the family, they’d be connected to the wealthiest family in the city. Paul could already see his own kids landing cushy jobs at The Adams Group, all thanks to Ethan. Life would be easy for them.

The Georges were broke, and Paul figured Ethan would never just watch his wife’s family struggle forever. If Ethan handed over even a few million, that would set them up for life. Paul let his imagination run wild with the possibilities.

“Cynthia, I’m really just here for Isabella. I won’t keep you any longer. I’m hanging up,” Paul said, and ended the call before Cynthia could respond.

He didn’t give Isabella her phone back right away. Instead, he turned it over in his hands, eyeing it. “Isabella, this phone looks pretty expensive. Is it?”

Isabella reached over, snatched it out of his grip, and stuffed it back in her pocket. Her voice was cool. “It’s not. Just a couple hundred bucks.”

Paul didn’t buy it, but he didn’t push the issue. Instead, he tried a different angle. “Isabella, now that you know I’m your uncle, why not treat me to a meal? I haven’t eaten all day.”

“Isabella, you’re my niece. How can you not come home? You should change your last name back to George. Your dad won’t be able to rest in peace otherwise.”

“We’re family. You can’t just walk away from family.”

“Your father’s been gone over twenty years. You were little then, and your mom remarried, so I get why you never visited his grave. But now you’re grown. You make your own choices. Don’t you think you should go back and see your dad?”

Isabella remembered Cynthia telling her that her father was buried in the George family’s ancestral graveyard. Some distant relatives still lived there, looking after the place. If she and Cynthia ever went back to pay their respects, the whole George family would hear about it immediately. Cynthia had always worried that Peter would find out, so for more than twenty years, she had never taken Isabella back to visit Dennis’s grave.