“What?” Caught off guard, Isabella asked in puzzlement.
“You lived in my house because you wanted to replace me, right? You asked him to adopt you so you could live in his home and spend time with him every day. Finally, you managed to seduce Jasper. Isabella, you’re a lot more sophisticated than I thought you were.”
As she walked towards Isabella, Lily said resentfully. “To be honest, I hated you from the moment I saw you. I hated you from the moment Jasper brought you home. Women’s intuition has always been accurate.”
Isabella took a deep breath because she was exhausted. “Have you been thinking about this every day for the past few years?” she asked after a brief pause.
“What do you mean?” Lily asked, frowning.
“He abandoned you, but you blame it all on me. Why can’t you just accept reality? Why did you…”
“It seems you don’t even know that Jasper was the one who told me to kick you out of the house,” Lily interrupted Isabella.
And Isabella froze when she heard Lily’s words. Under her gaze, Lily slowly took a ring box from her handbag and placed it on the table, continuing, “Jasper proposed to me with this ring. He told me at the time that after we remarried, he would send you back to England.”
Isabella fixed her gaze on the blue ring box and couldn’t help but shiver. In the light, the wedding ring on her ring finger shone like moonlight.
“What are you trying to say?” Isabella asked, trying to remain calm.
“Because you left America angrily, Jasper came to England to find you. He agreed to be your boyfriend because he thought you were dying of AIDS. He had no feelings for you at all! He did it because he was your adoptive father and he thought he was supposed to be responsible for you! This responsibility is like a shackle that restricts him from breaking free!”
“Bullshit! That’s not true!”
Lily sneered as she asked, “You know more about this than I do, don’t you? You’ve lived in his house for years, so he’s used to you being around him. Let me ask you, have you two ever had physical contact?”
These words pierced Isabella’s heart like a knife. Isabella couldn’t help thinking to herself, Damn it! Jasper and I have been together for three years, but he has never taken the initiative to make out with me. He’s always patient with me, and that attitude made me feel like he still treats me like a child. It’s so annoying!
***
Anna and Peace stood outside the door for a long time. They were both worried because they couldn’t hear anything inside.
After a while, Jasper arrived. He asked anxiously as he dashed toward the door, “Where’s Isabella?”
“They’re still inside,” Peace said, pointing to the room.
Jasper then tried to open the door. Seeing that, Anna immediately stopped him, saying, “Wait! Isabella said she would solve the problem herself. Just leave her alone.”
“She won’t be able to solve it,” Jasper said quickly. The next second, however, he was surprised that no matter what he tried, he couldn’t turn the knob.
Anna had never seen Jasper so nervous, so she was terrified. “Peace, go get the key from the front desk,” she said.
Without further ado, Peace rushed to find the waiter, but Jasper had kicked the door open before she left. Then the three of them found that Lily was the only person left in the room. Anna and Peace dashed into the room and looked at every corner. They did not, however, see Isabella.
“Where is Isabella, Lily?” Anna asked as she made her way to the couch.
Lily sat calmly on the sofa as if this had nothing to do with her. “She’s gone,” she said coldly and contemptuously.
“Where?” Peace asked.
Lily cast a glance at the table. “I’m not sure and I don’t care about that.”
“What did you say to her?” Anna asked once more.
Rolling up her sleeves, Peace shouted, “Stop asking, Anna! She’s definitely here to sabotage the wedding. Lily, tell me where Isabella is, NOW!”
Fearing that Peace would cause trouble, Anna immediately stopped her.
“Lily, what did you say to Isabella?” Jasper asked indifferently after he made sure that Isabella wasn’t in the bathroom.
Lily stood up and set her cup down. She looked resentfully at Jasper and said, “You finally talk to me. I didn’t do anything other than tell her the truth. If she wanted to leave, I have no right to stop her.”
“What did you say to her?”
Sneering, Lily pointed to the table and said, “I’ve just come to return the wedding ring to you. I had to give it to your wife because you’ve been too busy lately. I wasn’t expecting her to break down when she saw this. She’s still as impulsive as ever.”
When Anna and Peace looked over at the table, they noticed a blue ring box with Isabella’s wedding ring next to it.
“What’s going on?” In disbelief, Peace asked.
Jasper approached the table. He didn’t even look at the ring box Lily had brought. Instead, he took the ring from the table. He then found that there was a note pressed underneath the ring.
Anna was close to him, so she could see what was written on this note. It only had one sentence: “I don’t want to get married. Leave me alone, please. Don’t bother looking for me.”
After seeing the ring and the words on the note, Jasper fell silent. Anna, who also fell silent, felt that her heart skipped a beat.
Realizing that it was pointless for her to stay there, Lily picked up her bag and said, “Alright. I should leave now that I’ve returned the ring and told her the truth. We don’t owe each other anything anymore, Jasper.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to leave?” Peace asked loudly. She tried to stop Lily from leaving.
“Peace! Relax!” Anna shook her head and told her not to get involved. Then she whispered to Peace, “Isabella is an adult now. She’s capable of making rational decisions. Now that she chose to marry Jasper, she would not abandon her marriage because of a few words from Lily. If she gives up, it will indicate that she’s not mature or ready enough to get married. All of this has nothing to do with Lily.”
The lounge was extremely quiet after Lily left. Sighing, Anna asked, “Jasper, why don’t you send someone to find Isabella? She shouldn’t have already left the island.”
“That’s not necessary,” Jasper grumbled as he clutched the note, “If she hasn’t figured it out yet, I’ll give her some time.”
“Why?” Peace asked, surprised.
“Nothing can change the fact that she is my wife now. I’m not going to leave her alone for long.” He replied coldly.
Peace wanted to say something to comfort Jasper. However, when she saw his somber expression, she shut her mouth. She secretly grabbed Anna’s arm and asked her what to do.
Anna frowned, thinking she’d overestimated Isabella. After everything Isabella had been through, Anna once thought she had become a mature adult.
Isabella shouldn’t have left without explaining herself, no matter what Lily had said to her or what had just happened here. She’s in her twenties, and she shouldn’t have left with total disregard for anyone else’s feelings, leaving Jasper to clean the mess for her. What the hell was she thinking?! Anna thought.
After exiting the lounge, Peace asked Karl to contact the police and ask them to locate Isabella.
At that moment, Anna said, “We don’t have to go look for her. She’s an adult. She can look after herself.”
“But she didn’t have her bag with her when she left! Isabella probably didn’t bring any money. What if she’s in danger?”
“She asked for it. If she wants to leave, then let her leave. She married on the spur of the moment and left without explanation. She’ll only realize she was wrong if she goes through some pain,” With a calm expression, Anna said.
Peace knew Anna was still upset with Isabella, so she gazed at her in silence.
“Get some people to keep an eye on Lily,” Anna said after a while.
With his brow furrowed tightly, Karl sighed every few moments.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.