“Laura, ready to head home? I’m here to pick you up.”
Jesse walked in, stopping short when he saw a room full of big guys scattered around the shop. It took him a second, but then he understood and shot his friends a knowing smile.
“Jesse, you’re here for Laura? Come sit, take my seat.” Ethan jumped up right away and waved him over.
Harold wasn’t far behind. He stood too, reaching out to pull Jesse his way. “No, Jesse, sit here.”
“Come on, I offered first,” Ethan insisted, grabbing Jesse’s arm.
Jesse wasn’t their rival in love. Actually, he could be their secret weapon. Laura, the girl he liked, was Isabella’s best friend, and Isabella trusted Laura more than anyone. If Laura put in a good word, maybe Isabella would finally notice one of them. That meant both guys were falling over themselves to win Jesse over.
Jesse looked from Ethan to Harold, then at the girls. He understood exactly what they were up to. Not wanting to pick sides, he untangled himself from their hands and walked straight to the counter.
“Laura, it’s late. I don’t like you heading home alone. Let me drive you.”
Laura shut down the computer, grabbed her bag, and turned to Isabella. “I’m heading out. Lock up when you’re done, okay?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
Laura and Jesse left, glancing back at the coffee shop a couple of times as they stepped out.
In the car, Laura buckled up and glanced at Jesse. “Ethan’s finally starting to panic. Should’ve thought about that sooner.”
“He was really old, no family left. The local government is handling everything now. No one knows how his phone ended up with someone else or who got it deactivated so quickly.”
Laura let out a frustrated sigh. “These people are way too sneaky.”
“They’re not done with Isabella. They’ll try something again. We don’t know when, so just make sure she’s careful. She really shouldn’t be driving home alone at night.”
“Even if she’s tough, if she runs into someone who knows what they’re doing, she could be in real danger.”
Laura nodded. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow. I’ve already told her to be careful, and Ethan’s arranged for bodyguards. She wanted to turn him down, but after all this, she agreed. The only condition is, she’s paying their salaries herself.”

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: After I Stopped Loving Him (Isabella and Ethan)
Author, please get your characters names right. You always messing them up!...
I wish Harold will win Isabella's heart. I was so sad when Isabela was taken for granted coldly and cruelly by her supposed to be husband, and trapped,mocked and humiliated non stop by Natalie. This was so cruel, both don't deserve Isabela' forgiveness I wish for a happy ending between Isabela and Harold, he has the right to be happy after the long wait....
Frankly, the story initially was going quite good and the pacing was just right. unfortunately after Ethan got the dream of his past life, the story has been going in circles. Ethan's spouting the same nonsense every time he sees Isabella, they both have same conversations over and over. The authors monologue too has been the same for almost 400 chapters. Irrespective of which character the writing the just a repetition of what someone had gone through in the past and what made a certain character feel the emotions. York got introduced in 800 chapters yet nothing significant happened till date. Isabella is soft with Harold and kind of disgusted with Ethan, yet it is not entirely clear with whom she might end up. If she stays single i am fine with it but the story is clearly about Isabella and Ethan so almost 1000 chapters without seeing any progress in their relationship is frustrating. Except for being blindly in love and few aggressive instances with Isabella, Ethan actually isnt a bad person so i am fine if he can win her back. Even though Harold is coming off as a good second lead, i am somehow unable to warm upto him. Even the bad people in the story are not really facing any real consequences. I hate Jackson for his hypocrisy. I hate Jordan and Natalie for their self-righteouness and selfishness. I also hate Deborah, except when she is handing it out to Natalie. I am almost on the verge of dropping this story....
Why are they acting like kids 🤣😭...
Ethan is actually not that bad if we take out his blind love for Natalie...