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Home / Romance / CRAVING ISABELLA / Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

All Chapters of CRAVING ISABELLA: Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

202 Chapters

161.

ISABELLAI don’t give him what he wants immediately. Hello! I just had five full gulps of water. So I just stand there for a second, watching him… taking note of the way his eyes soften, the way he's looking at me just because he wants a kiss.Then I sigh, like I’m doing him a huge favor.“Fine,” I mumble.I lean in slowly this time, dragging it out just to annoy him, and then I kiss him properly. And just like that, everything feels… okay again. For now.Then I start packing. Suitcase.Clothes.Two weeks.Two whole weeks away from him.I drag my suitcase out from under the bed with a huff, flipping it open and staring at it. Before I can even start folding anything, my phone buzzes. Chloe calling. Of course. I don’t hesitate... I pick up immediately.“Heyyy?”“Bella!” Chloe screams into my ear.I wince, pulling the phone slightly away. “Jesus, are you trying to make me deaf before your wedding?”"Sorry girl. I'm just excited to hear from you.""Well, you don't have to be. I'm comin

162.

ISABELLA With the way my best friend sounded over the phone, you'd think that she got everything handled and stuff like that. But the moment I step into her place, it's chaos that greets me. "Bella, oh my God, thank God you're here..." Chloe rushes toward me. Her hair is in a messy bun, and she's holding... a tiny pink shoe? A single tiny pink shoe. I blink. “…Hi?” “She has too many things!" Chloe blurts, waving the shoe. “Why does a two-year-old have more shoes than me? Bella, look at this! Look at this!” She shoves the shoe closer to my face. I gently push her hand down. “Hi to you too. I missed you.” “I’m serious!” she insists, spinning around. “I haven’t even packed my own stuff because I’m trying to pack Nadia’s things and I don’t know what she needs and what she doesn’t need and what if I forget something important and she cries the entire time and everyone blames me and—” “Chloe.” She keeps going. “...and Leo’s mom will definitely blame me, you know she will

163.

ISABELLAChloe places a hand over her stomach. "Baby two?" she says, half confused. I want to tell her that she can't look like that when it's only just a suggestion. But then she goes ahead to say... "When I'm barely coping with Nadia?""Who's having baby two?"Chloe and I both turn. Yeah. There she is. Sarah, standing by the door, one hand still resting on the handle. She's dressed simply... jeans, a loose top, hair pulled back... but somehow she still looks put together. Like the calm and observant Sarah we both know.Damn. We must have been so deeply engrossed in our conversation for us not to have noticed the door unlock and push open itself.Sarah's eyes move from Chloe... to me... then briefly down to Chloe's hand still on her stomach. "...Did I miss something?" she asks.Chloe immediately drops her hand. "Nothing. She's being ridiculous." "I did say maybe," I correct.Sarah enters the room fully, closing the door gently behind her. “What did you say maybe about?” she asks, w

164.

ISABELLAUm.... Okay? For a minute, I don't react. Not because I didn't hear her. Buy because my brain does that annoying thing where it hears... and then just refuses to process."What?" I ask.Chloe swallows, her fingers tighten slightly around the test. "I said..." she breathes out shakily, "I think it's positive."I step closer. “Let me see.”She hesitates. Then slowly… hands it over. I take it carefully, like it’s fragile. Like it matters more than it should for such a small piece of plastic. My eyes drop to it. And there it is. Clear as day. Two lines.“…Yeah,” I murmur.Chloe’s breath catches. “Yeah… what?”I look up at her. “…That’s not a ‘maybe’ line, Chloe.”Her face goes blank. Like completely blank.“No,” she says immediately. “No, no, wait... maybe it’s one of those faint ones. You said those can be confusing. People argue about those all the time..."“It’s not faint,” I say gently.“It could be lighting!” she insists, voice rising slightly. “Bathroom lighting is weird...

165.

ISABELLAI wake up to silence. Now in my head, there should be two types of silence. The peaceful kind, then the wrong kind. The one I wake up to is the wrong kind. I'm sure that's why my eyes snap open and I squint at the ceiling, disoriented for a second before my brain slowly catches up with my body. I'm not the only human that experiences that, right? The unfamiliar room. The oversized bed. The heavy drapes.Then I turn my head. And I see the clock."Oh my God."I boly upright so fast I nearly smack my head on the headboard. "I'm late." I throw the covers off, nearly tangling myself in them as I scramble out of bed. My foot catches on the edge of the rug and I stumble forward, barely catching myself on the dresser, which I don't find cool at all."Okay. Great start, Bella. Fantastic."I drag a hand through my hair as I move. Bathroom. Toothbrush. Water splashes everywhere because apparently my coordination has decided to take the day off.I brush too fast and when I spit, I miss

166.

ISABELLAAfter breakfast, and Nadia is settled with the other kids, I head for Chloe's room. I don’t even bother knocking. I push Chloe’s door open with my hip, already talking. “You have a sister-in-law demon and you just… forgot to mention it?”Chloe, who is sitting cross-legged on the bed with a notebook in front of her, blinks up at me slowly. “…Good morning to you too?”“Don’t ‘good morning’ me,” I say back, pacing into the room. “Who is Tina and why is she acting like she’s the bride, the maid of honour and the wedding planner??”Chloe stares at me for a second. Then... very unhelpfully... she starts laughing.“Chloe!”“I’m sorry!” she gasps, holding her stomach. “It’s just... your face right now...”“My face is valid,” I snap. “There's a valid reason why my face is like this. I walked downstairs and she was assigning breathing schedules. Breathing, Chloe.”Alright, she did not do that. I'm just exaggerating.“That sounds like Tina,” she says, still laughing.“Oh, you know this

167.

ISABELLA"Bella! Please. Not now."Her tone is bad. She must really feel worked up. I hold up my hands in surrender. "Fine. Not now." I mutter. But my eyes linger on her for a second longer. She does look exhausted. Overwhelmed. And yeah… I don’t like it. It's her wedding week. She's not supposed to be keeping a secret like this from Leo. It's eating her out from the inside. “…I’ll handle things,” I say quietly. “You just sit here and get some rest okay?"She gives me a small nod. Good. She doesn't have to say the words. That's all I need. I turn and head for the door, pulling it open and stepping out into the large hallway. The second I do, I walk straight into someone. "Oh..." "Careful..."We both stumble slightly, and I steady myself just in time to see Sarah struggling to balance a very unhappy, very loud little human in her arms. Great. Nadia is crying. Her fists are all clenched and the hiccups that I personally think makes kids dramatic is also there. I can't think of a rea

168.

ISABELLASarah just stares at me like I’ve grown a second head. "Who are you,” she says slowly, “and what have you done with Isabella?”I roll my eyes. “Oh, relax.”“No, I’m serious,” she presses, stepping closer. “You? Ask Tina for help? The same Tina you just said you don’t trust?”I sigh, shifting my weight. “I said I don’t trust her completely. Not that she’s useless.”“That’s new.”“Desperate times,” I mutter. Then, a little quieter, more honest, “And Chloe deserves better than something rushed and half-assed because I was too stubborn to accept help.”Sarah studies me. "Okay. Wow. Growth.”“Don’t make it weird.”“I’m making it weird,” she grins.I shake my head, but there’s a small smile tugging at my lips. “I’ll put my pride aside. Just this once. We do this right. No stress for Chloe. No last-minute anything. She gets something nice.”“Damn,” Sarah says softly. “You’re serious.”"I’m always serious.”“You literally forgot the party.”“Okay, not always,” I admit.She laughs und

169.

ISABELLA“Good,” she says. “Now that we’ve established that you’re capable of making wise decisions under pressure...”“Don’t push it,” I cut in.She ignores me. Of course she does.“We move on to execution.” She flips the page again. “Venue, not here.”I blink. “Why not here?”“Because,” she says patiently, like she’s explaining something to a child, “this house is chaos. People coming in and out, family everywhere, zero privacy. Chloe won’t relax.”She’s not wrong. I hate that she’s not wrong. Fuck. I hate that she's always not wrong. What does that tell of me? “Fine,” I mutter. “So where?”“I’ve narrowed it down to two options,” she says, turning the clipboard so I can see. “Small lounge setting, intimate, controlled. Or a private rooftop dinner vibe.”I glance at the paper, then back at her. “You’ve really been planning this.”She shrugs lightly. “Someone had to.”Okay. That stings a little. I cross my arms tighter. “And the guest list?”“Already filtered,” she says. “Of course t

170.

ISABELLAIf you had told me this morning, that I would willingly let a lady named Tina boss me around, I would have laughed in your face. Now, I'm standing in the middle of a dimly lit rooftop, holding a clipboard while Tina adjusts fairy lights.Life comes at you fast.The place is… okay, fine... beautiful.Soft lavender tones everywhere. They are definitely not tacky. Just beautiful. There are sheer drapes tied to the railings, moving gently with the evening breeze. Small round tables are set up with candles in glass holders, each surrounded by tiny sprigs of dried lavender. There’s a long table off to the side with food... nothing heavy, just finger foods, pastries, fruit, and small desserts.And the drinks. Color-coordinated. Of course they are. Light purples, pinks, clear sparkling things that look harmless but probably aren’t.Tina’s idea of 'controlled,' apparently.I glance down at the list in my hand again.Bridal party:MeSarahMayaFionaTinaAnd then… a few others. F

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