After I Stopped Loving Him novel Chapter 62

Everyone thought her outbursts and the way she lashed out at Natalie Gates were all Ethan’s fault. He was the one who used her, broke her heart, and pushed her to that edge.

“Not at all,” Harold said, chuckling. “Are you here by yourself? Ethan didn’t come? Or did he run off to find Natalie Gates?”

He kept going, teasing, “We got here last night. This morning we bumped into Jordan and Natalie. I even made a bet with Jesse that Ethan would show up sometime this afternoon or evening.” Harold’s tone was full of thinly veiled sarcasm. He’d always been the most outspoken critic of what Ethan had done to Isabella. It wasn’t just using her, in his eyes. It was playing with her feelings for fun.

Jesse nudged Harold, trying to warn him. The guy was just too blunt, always saying exactly what he thought, never bothering to sugarcoat it.

Harold clammed up quickly. But when he saw Isabella looking calm and unbothered, as if none of this fazed her, he relaxed a little.

“Ethan took me home this afternoon, and that’s when we found out Jordan and Natalie were vacationing here,” Isabella explained. “We were kind of bored, so we decided to come to the beach too. Plus, I can’t say no to fresh seafood.”

Isabella loved seafood.

“Ethan drove for two hours and got tired, so he’s resting back at the house. I just wanted to take a walk, maybe get some sea air.”

Harold matched her pace, walking by her side. “The beach is packed right now. The wind’s strong, and there are a ton of people flying kites.”

“Harold,” Jesse called.

Harold glanced back at him. “Isabella doesn’t really know her way around. It’s not safe for her to go to the beach alone. If we hadn’t run into her, fine, but since we have, there’s no way I’m letting her wander off by herself.” He shrugged. “I’ve got nothing else to do. I’ll go with her.”

Jesse could only stare. He thought to himself, “Harold, do you even remember who she’s married to? Ethan might not get jealous, but this is still not a great look for Isabella.”

“Yeah, you should’ve worn some extra layers,” Harold said, eyeing her outfit.

“I’ll be fine,” Isabella replied.

The two of them kept chatting as they walked, falling into an easy conversation. Jesse found he could barely get a word in. He tried nudging Harold a few more times, but Harold just looked at him in confusion, not picking up on the hints. When Jesse tried to signal with his eyes, Harold just seemed even more lost before finally giving up and ignoring him.

Jesse was left feeling completely helpless. Being friends with someone so oblivious was exhausting.

At the beach, there were people everywhere, flying kites in the breeze. Isabella went off to buy one for herself. When she was little, she’d watched other kids fly kites with envy but never dared to ask for one, scared she’d make Jordan Lane angry. Now, she was free from the Lane family. She could do whatever she wanted. If she wanted a kite, she’d buy it herself, especially since she’d just gotten another bonus from Ethan.