After I Stopped Loving Him (Isabella and Ethan) novel Chapter 996

How did it end up like this?

Who could possibly have done this to Isabella?

If Isabella hadn’t died, Cynthia would still be here too.

Their divorce had set everything in motion. He and Isabella split up, and then someone killed her. Cynthia followed soon after. Two lives, just… gone.

If he’d known divorce would end up costing Isabella her life, he never would’ve gone through with it. Even if they argued every day, even if she had totally given up on him, he still shouldn’t have let her go.

As long as they were married, she would have kept the Adams name. The people who wanted to hurt her never would’ve dared, not with the Adams family’s influence.

“Ethan. Ethan.”

Jordan, Natalie, and Jackson burst into the hallway. Jackson’s face was like paper as he hurried over. “Ethan, how’s your mom?” His voice was tight, worried.

Ethan lifted his eyes to Jackson’s. Jackson saw the redness, the tears hanging on his lashes, and his heart dropped. He felt weak, stumbling a little. Jordan caught his dad right away, easing him into a seat.

“Dad,” Jordan said quietly, “Mom didn’t make it. The doctors did everything they could, but her injuries were too much. She couldn’t be saved.”

Ethan’s voice shook. “They moved her… her body to the morgue. They’re waiting for us to decide what happens next.”

Jackson finally broke down. Tears ran unchecked down his cheeks as he started talking to Cynthia, like she might still hear him. “Cynthia, how could you leave like this? Isabella suffered so much, but you, you should’ve stayed strong. We still had a life together. How could you bring yourself to just… go?”

After Isabella died, Jackson remembered warning everyone to keep it from Cynthia. He just knew she wouldn’t survive losing her only daughter. He’d begged them all to keep it a secret, hoping the news would never reach her.

But his fears had come true.

Natalie had wanted to prepare some offerings for Isabella and was secretly making arrangements. Cynthia noticed and asked questions, and Natalie just couldn’t keep it hidden anymore. As soon as she told Cynthia the truth, tragedy struck all over again.

She resented her mom too. Cynthia always tried to be the perfect stepmother, giving Jordan all her attention, leaving Isabella feeling ignored and unwanted.

Every time she clashed with Natalie, Cynthia would just tell her to put up with it, not to overthink. She always said that Natalie and Ethan had grown up together and it made sense for them to have a tight bond.

Honestly, the only relationship Isabella didn’t ruin was with Laura. Laura’s place was the one spot Isabella could actually relax and just breathe.

With everyone else, things never seemed to work out. She always ended up on the outs with people—and all of it was because of Ethan.

After she got her heart broken for the last time, she asked for a divorce. She walked away from Ethan, planning to go to Laura’s place to recover, and Laura had promised to travel with her, take her away for a while so she could start to heal.

But Isabella never made it there. She died on the way, never getting her chance at a fresh start.

Now, she was gone, her body about to be cremated. In death, all the grudges and debts fade away. However she’d been in life, whatever mistakes she made, Zachary knew he couldn’t hold anything against her anymore.