Chapter 2
Early the next morning, Isabella received a reply email.
“Welcome back to the team! Please report to headquarters in the United Kingdom in 15 days with your documentation.”
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Lindsey raised an eyebrow at her. “Isabella, it’s been ages since you went surfing. Want to clear your head a bit?”
Back when she was trying to please James, she’d changed her entire personality. She even gave up her hobbies and took up flower arranging and latte art–just because he liked them.
But today, as she caught her reflection in the glass window, her eyes were calm and steady.
“Sure,” she said. “I’ll grab my board and swimsuit.” She’d decided–today, she was going to shine again, just like before. Lindsey blinked in surprise, then cheered and followed her out the door.
At the beach, Isabella immediately became the center of attention. Her fair skin, crimson lips, and strappy swimsuit turned every head.
Lindsey sighed in genuine admiration. “Back then, one look from you and those trust fund boys would be falling over themselves, desperate to do anything for you.
“James has terrible taste. He’s spent too much time in nightclubs to understand what a real gem looks like.”
Isabella ran her fingers over the surfboard. The board’s cool surface sent a chill through her fingertips.
She’d always been radiant.
But ever since moving into the Keane’s residence, the elders there had looked down on her, saying she was too wild to be a fitting wife for James.
She had endured it all for him.
Because he liked gentle, quiet women, she’d stowed away her beloved surfboard and motorcycle, clumsily trying to act like some upper–crust heiress.
She’d even learned knitting from Jessie. Her fingers were pricked and dotted with blood, but she’d stuck with it.
Isabella tried so hard to please him. And yet, he hadn’t said a single word. He just tossed the hand–sewn ornament aside like it meant nothing.
The next time she saw it, it was in shreds–torn apart by the Keane family’s guard dog.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Isabella shook off her emotions and walked toward the sea.
An hour later, she emerged from the waves, soaked and clutching her board, only to find Bradley Jewsbury, heir to the Jewsbury Group, approaching her.
“Didn’t think I’d see a woman surfing in Washington. Want to race?”
Isabella lifted her gaze and met Bradley’s eyes–he was impressed.
A long–buried spark of rebellion suddenly flickered to life inside her.
19.39%
If James didn’t care about her, then why should she keep pretending to be the obedient, demure wife?
She was leaving him soon anyway–why not let herself go, just this once?
Her red lips parted in a soft smile. “Sure.” Just then, a wave of excitement rippled through the crowd. “Mr. Keane is here!” someone shouted.
Isabella’s heart skipped a beat. She turned–just in time for a huge wave to
crash over her.
The icy water engulfed her. She struggled to resurface, but her leg suddenly cramped.
Just as she was about to lose consciousness, a pair of strong arms grabbed her and hauled her toward the shore.
She had barely caught her breath when she looked up–straight into James’s stormy, unreadable eyes.
From beside him, one of his friends whistled and snickered.
“Mr. Keane, it looks like your wife’s already cozying up to another rich
kid.”
“She’s wearing something that revealing, practically draped all over him- any closer and they’d be kissing. Does she even care that you’re watching?”
James turned his gaze away, his tone calm. “I trust her. She’s not that kind of woman.”
But the chill in Isabella’s bones told her otherwise.
That wasn’t trust–it was certainty.
He was sure that she loved him so much, she’d never dare betray him.
Because to him, she simply didn’t matter.
The wind tugged at James’s tailored suit as he turned to leave. A second later, an unusual flash of jealousy crossed his normally indifferent face.
Isabella’s heart skipped. She followed his gaze.
Under a beach umbrella, Jessie was chatting and laughing with a rich young man, dressed in a white swimsuit.
Without a word, James strode over and smoothly stepped between them, taking off his coat and wrapping it tightly around Jessie.
“It’s chilly out here. Let me take you home.”
Lindsey rushed to Isabella’s side and threw a towel over her shoulders. When she saw what James had done, she couldn’t help but curse under her breath.
“His wife nearly drowned, and he couldn’t care less―yet here he is fussing over his stepmother! And here she is out here flirting with some guy, but he’s not calling her shameless, is he?!”
Isabella acted like she didn’t hear. Eyes red, she stared at the two figures ahead, forcing herself to look away only after a long moment.
But Jessie’s voice still reached her ears.
“Let go of me!
“All these years, you’ve ignored me like I didn’t exist. You couldn’t even say hi. And now you suddenly care?
“If I don’t matter to you, then what I do is none of your business!”
James froze. His tall frame stiffened, and he suddenly seemed unsure of himself.
“That’s not it. I just… I…” His Adam’s apple bobbed, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Isabella’s chest tightened with a cold, bitter ache. She knew exactly why he couldn’t speak. Because James had feelings for Jessie–feelings he shouldn’t have.
Jessie’s voice cracked with tears. “James, your dad left me behind when he died. You’re the only family I have left. Don’t treat me like this. Can’t we just go back to how things were?”
James avoided her gaze, his voice low and rough. “I’m married now… I can’t keep thinking only about you.” Jessie turned to look at Isabella. “Is it because of her?” Then her tear–filled eyes darkened with jealousy and hatred. “You married James, yet you’re out here shamelessly flirting with another man in public. Since James won’t do anything, I’ll discipline you for him!”
Before Isabella could react, Jessie marched straight over.
Slap!
A loud, sharp smack landed across Isabella’s face.
She barely had time to process the sting when Jessie raised her hand again and struck with full force.
Slap!
Cold, soaked, and shaking, Isabella couldn’t stay on her feet any longer. Her vision went black, and she collapsed into unconsciousness.
