All Chapters of ISABELLA (The Night that ruined me): Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

103 Chapters

FIGHTING FOR US

ISABELLA POVThe law office was sleek…quiet, cool, intimidating in that polished kind of way. Floor- to -ceiling windows framed the city, casting long shadows across marble floors. I hated how sterile it all felt. Like nothing human ever happened here.But maybe that was the point.Xavier walked ahead, confident like always. Camille lingered beside me, her fingers brushing my arm for reassurance.“You okay?” she whispered.No.But I nodded anyway.A woman stepped out of a glass office. Early forties, tailored navy pantsuit, dark braids pulled into a clean twist. Her eyes were sharp, but not unkind.“Mrs Houston? I’m Amara Wells. Please, come in.”Her office was neat, understated. No clutter. No chaos. Just the steady presence of someone who’d won more battles than she’d lost.I sat on the leather chair across from her, Camille beside me. Xavier stood by the window, quiet for once.Amara folded her hands on the desk. “I’ve reviewed the preliminary notes Xavier sent. I understand you’re

Last Updated : 2025-06-09

LET'S MAKE IT OFFICIAL

XAVIER POV The text came in at exactly 3:02 PM.Amara: “He’s been served.”I stared at it for a moment. Then smiled.It was done.Everything I’d laid out, every quiet conversation, every whisper in Isabella’s ear… it had all led here. Drake was on the defensive now, exactly where I wanted him. And Isabella had taken the step herself. That was important.I didn’t want to force her into this. I wanted her to believe it was her choice. Her instinct. Her need to protect Eva.And now she has.I slipped the phone into my pocket and walked out onto the terrace. The city looked quiet from up here. Clean. Predictable. I liked that. Things made sense when you had the right perspective.Isabella was inside, playing a board game with Eva. I could hear her laughter…soft, tired, but real. She’d had a hard Day. Signing those papers hadn’t come easy. But she did it. For her daughter, she said.I knew better.Part of her did it for herself.Part of her wanted out. Out of the chaos Drake brought into

Last Updated : 2025-06-10

CLASH WITH EVELYN

ISABELLA POVEva hadn’t laughed in two days.Not really. Not the wild, belly-deep kind that used to echo through the house like a song. She still smiled when I tickled her. She still nodded when I asked if she was okay.But she wasn’t bubbling.She wasn’t her.It started with silence. Lingering too long at the breakfast table. Dragging her feet when it was time for her cartoon hour. Then yesterday, she asked if her daddy was sick.I knew what she really meant.And today, as I braided her hair, she finally whispered it.“Mama… I miss Daddy.”I froze.My fingers stilled in the middle of the braid, tangled with her curls and my guilt. Her reflection stared back at me from the vanity mirror … big eyes, soft and wet at the corners.“I know, baby,” I whispered. “I know you do.”She nodded solemnly, looking down at her lap. “Can we call him?”I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Not today, sweetie.”She didn’t argue. Just… nodded again. Quieter. Smaller.I watched her walk away after I finish

Last Updated : 2025-06-12

LET'S GET MARRIED

By the time we got home, Eva was already asleep in Camille’s arms. Her head resting on her godmother’s shoulder, fingers still curled around that rainbow plush. I held the door open silently, and we laid her down gently on the living room couch.The moment I heard her soft, even breathing, I stepped outside and closed the door behind me.I needed air.The evening breeze kissed my skin, but it did nothing to cool the heat in my chest. The entire mall encounter played on loop in my head …Evelyn’s voice, the crowd, the phones recording, the looks. The words.“Bitch with no foundation.”“Jumped into Xavier’s arms.”“Custody judge’s worst nightmare.”I leaned on the balcony railing, squeezing my phone in my palm like it had answers. A breath left me shakily. I didn’t even know if it was from exhaustion or rage anymore.Maybe both.Out of habit, I opened Instagram. Notifications poured in. Mentions. Tags. DMs.And then I saw it.Trending: #IsabellaHoustonScandalThe headline sat there like

Last Updated : 2025-06-13

MARRIED AGAIN

XAVIER POVThe night before everything changed, the quiet in the house felt heavy, like the calm before a storm. Isabella sat at the small kitchen table, her hands wrapped tightly around a cup of tea, eyes distant but focused on nothing in particular. The soft hum of the refrigerator was the only sound filling the silence. I stood nearby, leaning slightly against the counter, watching her with a strange mix of triumph and something deeper… something I didn’t often allow myself to feel.Tenderness.This was the moment I’d waited for. Not just weeks or months…years.I walked toward her slowly, careful not to break the fragile peace hovering in the air between us. Her shoulders tensed at my approach, but she didn’t pull away. That had to count for something.“Isabella,” I began softly, my voice low and deliberate, “you’re sure about this? About Drake, the contract, everything?”She looked up at me, her eyes tired but steady. A flicker of doubt passed over her face before she spoke.“It’s

Last Updated : 2025-06-15

BROKEN

DRAKE POVThe moment I saw her… everything inside me froze.Isabella.She stood just outside the registry court, sunlight casting a soft glow around her like she belonged in another world. A world without pain, without me.Her hand… was in his.Xavier.The sight hit me like a punch to the chest. I stopped walking, my breath caught somewhere between my ribs. My fists clenched at my sides. I hadn’t seen her in days, not since she ran into his car and disappeared.Every night since then had been hell.I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t eat. Couldn’t think straight. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her crying, heard the sound of her voice breaking. I wanted to fix it. All of it. I was going to.But now?Now she was here, with him.I forced my legs to move, crossing the street slowly. My heart pounded in my chest, loud enough to drown out the traffic and the buzz of the city. My eyes stayed locked on her, desperate for a flicker of something…regret, love, anything.She froze the second she saw m

Last Updated : 2025-06-18

COURT CASE

ISABELLA POVA week.That’s how long it had been since I saw the pain in Drake’s eyes, since I heard his voice crack as he said, "I won’t let this animal father my child."That moment still played in my head like a record on repeat, even though I tried to bury it under a hundred reasons why I had to protect Eva… and myself.But nothing could prepare me for today.The cold courtroom felt like a place where families came to fall apart, not find resolution. The high ceilings and polished wood gave off a strange mix of power and silence, like it was designed to make people feel small. And in that moment, I did.I sat beside Xavier at the claimant’s table, my fingers clenched so tight around my handbag that my knuckles ached. My lawyer whispered something to me, but I couldn’t hear her. My eyes were locked on the bench across from me…on them.Drake.Evelyn.Two storms wrapped in expensive fabric.Drake didn’t look at me. Not once. His jaw was tight, his eyes hollow, but the weight of his

Last Updated : 2025-06-20

INDISPENSABLE TO HER

It had been a week since the court session.A whole week since I stood in front of a judge with my heart pounding and my daughter’s future dangling on the edge of decisions, evidence, and strained arguments.But what lingered the most wasn’t the courtroom. It was the look on Drake’s face…shocked, wounded, and betrayed. It haunted me. I kept seeing him walk out of that room, not as a man defeated, but as a father whose world had just tilted.I sat by the window now, Eva curled beside me on the couch, humming softly as she colored in her book. Her little fingers clutched the red crayon tightly as she focused on making Xavier’s tie in the drawing just right. A family portrait. Me, her, and Xavier. No Drake.A lump rose in my throat.Xavier had been good. Supportive. Steady. He brought us breakfast, ran baths for Eva, made sure I rested. He talked to the lawyers. Smiled at the neighbors. He even baked a pie..burnt the crust, but tried anyway. He was painting the picture of a perfect partn

Last Updated : 2025-06-20

ASKING TO BE MY DAUGHTER FATHER

DRAKE POV It had been seven days of silence.Seven days of waking up to nothing but the cold echo of a house too big and too quiet. No little footsteps. No giggles. No morning voice calling me daddy. Just me. Alone.I’d stared at the court documents more times than I could count. I couldn’t bring myself to tear them up, but I also couldn’t file an appeal. Not yet. The words blurred together every time I tried. My chest tightened with every sentence, every clause that said someone else might raise my daughter.I’d lost her.But not in my heart.I sat on the edge of the couch, hands laced together, eyes locked on the photo on the wall. The one Isabella took of Eva and me in the park. Her arms wrapped around my neck, cheeks squished against mine, both of us smiling like the world didn’t have sharp edges.I couldn’t let go. I wasn’t ready to be erased.After pacing my living room like a man lost in a storm, I made a decision.I had to see Isabella.No lawyers. No shouting. Just me… askin

Last Updated : 2025-06-22

WAY TO KEEP HER

XAVIER POV The court gave Isabella sole custody.It was everything I planned for. Everything I’d worked toward, step by step, piece by piece.And yet… I hadn’t won.Not really.I could see it in her eyes.She should’ve been relieved…happy even. But the woman sitting on the garden bench now looked more shattered than victorious. Her shoulders were hunched. Her eyes stared blankly ahead, not watching Eva play, not really seeing anything.She was here. With me. With Eva. We were the “family” everyone saw and believed in now.But I could feel it. The distance. The tension. The ache in her chest that didn’t go away, no matter how tightly I wrapped her in this carefully built life.She still loved him.No matter what Drake did… no matter how badly he broke her… she was still his.And that infuriated me.I took a slow sip from my coffee and pulled out my phone. My thumb hovered over the screen before I finally typed.“First phase is done. We got custody. But I haven’t won her. She’s still i

Last Updated : 2025-06-28

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