After I Stopped Loving Him (Isabella and Ethan) novel Chapter 808

Isabella grabbed an umbrella and handed it to Harold.

“You must be tired too. Head home and get some rest. Let’s both try to get an early night.”

She walked him to the door. Harold lingered, not quite ready to go. He looked back at her.

“Isabella, can I take you out for breakfast tomorrow?”

She shook her head with a small smile. “Susan always has breakfast ready for me when I come downstairs.”

“Just tell Susan she doesn’t need to cook for you tomorrow. Let me treat you. And if you’re busy, I can bring it to your office.”

Isabella paused, thinking it over. “How about I treat you instead? Thanks for calling Stephanie to help me out earlier.”

Harold’s face lit up. “Then I’ll come by early. If I get here soon enough, I’ll even cook breakfast myself. That way you can try my cooking.”

She laughed. “I’m supposed to be treating you, and now you’re offering to cook? I’d feel bad about that.”

He shrugged, grinning. “It’s no big deal. I’ll be happy if you’re willing to give it a try. Even if it turns out terrible, as long as you don’t mind, I’m satisfied.”

She let him stew for a while, then finally spoke. “How many times do I have to tell you? You need to respect Isabella, and stop smothering her. You two just got divorced. She’s still angry and hurt. Chasing after her like this won’t help—it’ll only push her further away. You have to give her some space. Isabella is like sand in your hand. The tighter you squeeze, the faster she slips away.”

Ethan burst out, “Grandma, didn’t you see Harold hanging around her all the time? If I don’t try harder, Harold’s going to win her over!”

Stephanie looked at him, her voice steady. “If Harold wins her over, that means she’s learned to love again, and that Harold’s actually a better match for her. You should give her your blessing.” She paused. “But who gave Harold this chance? You did. You were the one who pushed your own wife toward your best friend. Now you’re jealous and panicking—where was all this when it actually mattered? When you first chased after Isabella, what did I tell you? Did you even listen? I told you, if you were going to marry her, you needed to treat her right, let go of Natalie, and cherish your wife. Natalie already belongs to someone else.”

She looked right at Ethan. “But what did you do? You got married in the morning, and by that night you laid out your conditions for Isabella. Did you even think about how she felt? How desperate, how angry, how heartbroken she must have been?”

“You never cared about her feelings. You never felt sorry for her. You treated her like she didn’t matter, just because she had no one behind her, because she was Jackson’s stepdaughter and the Lane family wouldn’t help. So you took it out on her, thinking you could get away with anything.”