บททั้งหมดของ The Forgotten Wife's Comeback: บทที่ 61 - บทที่ 70

[Isabella Hayes]Adrian and I didn't speak again after that phone call.There was nothing left to say until mediation, where we'd finally put an end to everything we'd once been.The meeting was... civil.Painfully so.Neither of us argued. Neither of us begged. We'd already exhausted every conversation that mattered. All that remained were signatures, legal formalities, and two people quietly walking away from a marriage neither of us recognized anymore.There was still the matter of the money.The account Adrian had opened for me remained under his control, so our lawyers agreed it would be simpler for him to transfer everything into it. Once the divorce was finalized, he'd either reclaim the account or move the funds back into one of his own.It didn't matter.None of that money would ever touch my hands.I was leaving this marriage the way I'd entered it—with nothing that belonged to him.The twelve and a half million dollars from his family's settlement was only the beginning.Th

[Isabella Hayes]“It is true, Ethan. There’s no reason for me to stay here just to be verbally abused then forgotten in a year or two. Why shouldn’t I pack up everything and move? I’ve got my clothes. Adrian put them in a storage unit. He let me keep the entire wardrobe. It was generous, I guess. But what am I going to do with all those clothes? They’d make me look like I’m still clinging to the person who loved him.” My fingers tingled as I ran them through my hair. “I want a fresh start. Is that too much to ask?”He was silent. I felt the rise and fall of his chest as he took in each breath.“Why don’t you let me help you?”My face spoke before I could figure the words out, putting on a frown. I forced my head up, staring into his deep brown eyes.“I cannot rely on someone else, Ethan. What if we stop being friends? Then what?”He shook his head, already disagreeing before the last question came past my lips. “I am offering to help you do something for yourself, like a business. Con

[Isabella Hayes]I don’t think I have the emotional strength for this stupid city.Why am I being blamed for something I didn’t even do? I logged out of my socials. I’ve blocked everyone from my former life, so why?I didn’t do anything. The divorce shouldn’t even be public knowledge. This is all Adrian’s fault.For posting that goddamn picture. It’s like he couldn’t wait to add more humiliation to my plate, and now look at the mess he’s created?Who’s paying for it? Me, obviously. No one is asking why the same woman Adrian was photographed with over one month ago was wearing a wedding ring. No, the most important thing is blaming me and calling me a failure of a wife.God, I hate this suffocating town.Ethan was right. Fading away isn’t going to do anything. These people are going to drag me to hell and back. Then a few years from now they’ll move on. They won’t remember the harm they brought to my mental health.Olivia will live a happy life while I remain the fool who wanted to lea

[Isabella Hayes]Several days had slipped by since Ethan convinced me to move to Arella.Three weeks. That was how long he’d given me to pack up my things, say goodbye to the people who mattered, and decide what I wanted the rest of my life to look like.He'd promised I wouldn't have to work for the first year. I could settle in, breathe, and focus on building the business idea until it was something he could actually invest in.The thought had terrified me at first. I mean, I didn’t have any experience owning my own business. I barely had any good work experience.But now... it almost excited me.For the first time in years, the future didn't feel like a prison sentence. It felt like a blank page.If only the present would stop trying to destroy me.Leaving Naomi's apartment had become nearly impossible.Every morning brought another headline about me.Another blurry photograph that made it look like I was fraternizing with men.Another fabricated story about the multiple affairs I'd

[Isabella Hayes]Just as I surrendered myself to whatever they had planned, footsteps thundered through the apartment.The voices outside my bedroom cut off."Shit.""Go!""The other one wasn't bluffing. We'll come back for her."Their words tumbled over one another before they bolted. Heavy footsteps pounded across the apartment, growing fainter with every second until the front door slammed shut.Then another set of footsteps chased after them.Silence.My lungs finally remembered how to breathe.A broken sob ripped out of me before I could stop it.They were gone.They were finally gone.My entire body shook so violently my teeth began to chatter. I curled in on myself, arms wrapping around my stomach as if I could somehow hold myself together.Who were they?Why me?What would have happened if whoever scared them away had arrived a minute later?The questions crashed into me one after another until I couldn't tell whether I was crying because I was alive or because I had come terr