After I Stopped Loving Him (Isabella and Ethan) novel Chapter 468

“I thought if I made her Mrs. Adams and gave her everything that came with it, she’d forgive me for lying. She loved me so much. I never believed she could be this angry…”

“I was just naive. Selfish too. I really thought I mattered more to her than I did. I hurt her way deeper than I realized.”

“She’s given up on me. All she wants is to get away.”

Ethan turned around and punched the wall a few times. His voice was rough with regret. “What have I done?”

Jesse stepped closer and laid a hand on Ethan’s shoulder but didn’t say anything. Harold didn’t move. Ethan still saw him as competition, a threat. Anything Harold said or did would probably just make things worse.

When Harold first heard Isabella was hurt, he’d been anxious and worried. He quietly asked his own people to find out what happened, but in public, all he could do was visit her at the hospital under the excuse of tagging along with Barbara, Isabella’s business partner. He couldn’t just show up every day, no matter how much he wanted to.

Hearing Isabella ask for a divorce made Harold’s heart tighten. Ethan’s pained expression said it all—he finally cared about her. He didn’t want the divorce.

But Ethan had screwed up from the beginning. He’d pushed Isabella away, and of course she was done with him now. He brought this on himself.

Harold wanted to ask if Ethan was really going to go through with it, but he kept his mouth shut.

Ethan just stood there, silent. The tension was unbearable.

“Ethan.” Harold’s voice was firm. “Those wedding gifts were always hers. Natalie never should have kept them, and you should’ve stood up for Isabella from the start. But you didn’t. You let it go because it was Natalie. Now you act like getting them back is some huge favor. That was your responsibility from the beginning. Do you expect her to thank you? You were the one who hurt her, not the other way around.”

Ethan nodded, pain etched on his face. “Yeah, I know. I messed up. I’m an idiot. A total jerk.” He patted his pockets, searching for cigarettes that weren’t there. His hands dropped to his sides, helpless. “I’m so frustrated. I just want a smoke, or a drink. Anything.”

Jesse let out a long sigh. “None of us smoke, Ethan.”

He patted Ethan’s shoulder again. “You really need to think this through. If you keep going like this, nobody’s going to be okay. You’re good at heart, but you’re stuck on Natalie. She isn’t yours anymore, and you still can’t let go. You’re only hurting yourself, and everyone else too.”

Ethan leaned back against the wall, staring at Harold for what felt like forever. Finally, he said, “I promised Isabella. Once she’s out of the hospital, we’ll go file for divorce.”