After I Stopped Loving Him (Isabella and Ethan) novel Chapter 1022

“Ethan, what if your dreams actually happened?” Isabella’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Do you believe in starting over… being given another shot?”

Ethan stayed silent.

Those strange dreams had messed with him. He’d been so caught up in them that after waking, he couldn’t tell what was real anymore.

But it wasn’t real, he reminded himself. Isabella was alive, healthy. She hadn’t died. She was running her own company now, making good money. She was doing miles better than she ever was in his dreams.

“To be honest, I’m not sure if it was just a dream or something that really happened,” Isabella said softly. “On our wedding night, I cried myself to sleep. It felt like I dreamed an entire lifetime. When I woke up, I was so out of it… I couldn’t separate the dream from reality. I cried for days afterward.”

“You know what I did after that,” she continued quietly.

“I’m sure everyone thinks I’ve changed. Natalie probably even told you I’m not myself, that I’m like someone else now. Maybe even possessed.”

Ethan pressed his lips together, then managed a small nod.

“I don’t really care if it was all in my head or not. Once I realized that if I stayed in love with you and kept fighting with Natalie, it would only end badly for me, of course I decided to change my fate.”

“Ethan, we’re already divorced. Let’s let things end peacefully. I don’t want us to end up like we did in the dream, with nothing good left between us and me dead because of it. I can’t imagine you were any happier after I died, right?”

Ever since that first nightmare, he’d hoped every night to see how it ended, but never did. He needed to know who had killed Isabella in that world.

But after the accident, as he was lying broken and unconscious, he finally saw the end of the dream. He saw the real killer. He saw the gut-wrenching sadness he felt after Isabella died. He finally admitted to himself he’d always loved her… but it was too late.

In that dream, Isabella was gone. Natalie, too. She was headed for the death penalty, completely out of his life. Both women were lost to him, leaving him totally alone. All he could do was visit Isabella’s grave once a year, standing there wishing things had been different.

He’d regretted everything. He kept thinking if only he could go back, if he had one more chance, he would cherish Isabella, give her the life she deserved, and stay by her side forever.

But reality hit hard when he woke up. He and Isabella were already divorced. Even Cynthia and Jackson had split. No amount of wishing could turn things back.