After I Stopped Loving Him (Isabella and Ethan) novel Chapter 436

Cynthia let out a small, self-mocking laugh. “I always thought I was a good woman, but look at me now. I couldn’t keep my family together, couldn’t keep my husband. I spent twenty years building this life, and now I have to hand it all over to someone else.” She shook her head. “Maybe being a good woman just means you lose in the end.”

There was that old saying. When a man gets rich, he goes bad. When a woman goes bad, she gets rich. Cynthia had always been the good one. Deborah was the other kind, and honestly, Deborah had gotten way more from Jackson than Cynthia ever did. Cynthia knew the truth. She and Jackson never had kids, and most of his money was made before they got married. If they’d fought this out in court, she’d barely get anything. Only by going along quietly and agreeing to this peaceful divorce could she walk away with fifty million. For most people, that was a fortune. More money than they could ever dream of earning. With that, plus everything she already had, Cynthia could live comfortably for the rest of her life. If she managed things well, there’d still be plenty left for Isabella to inherit one day.

“Cynthia, don’t say that. I’m the one who let you down,” Jackson said quietly, his voice heavy with regret. “Tell you what, I’ll give you another ten million. It won’t be in the divorce agreement, so please don’t let Jordan or Deborah find out.”

“Jackson, almost all your money was earned before we got married. I never wanted to take anything from you. Whatever you give me, I’ll accept.”

Jackson looked at her, almost like he was seeing her for the first time. “I know you’re genuine. You married me to give Isabella a safe home, to keep her from being taken away by the George family. It was never about the money. The extra ten million is my choice, not yours.”

Cynthia nodded. “Thank you for that.”

Sixty million. She’d expected a few tens of millions, never this much. Anything more than that just felt unreal.

“Okay.”

After a few beats of silence, Jackson spoke again. “Cynthia, could you talk to Ethan for me? Ask him not to make things harder for the Lane Group.”

Cynthia gave him a look. “Jackson, why would Ethan do that? He and Jordan have been friends since they were kids. He’s not out to get the Lane Group. Sometimes projects just don’t work out. It’s not always personal. Maybe you should also think about whether the Lane Group is really up to the task.”