After I Stopped Loving Him novel Chapter 171

It was all about keeping things polite, a simple back-and-forth that came with being equals in business. After they landed ten contracts, Barbara handed both Isabella and Laura these expensive gifts. They tried to say no, but Barbara wouldn’t have it. She told them straight out if they didn’t accept her gifts, she wasn’t taking theirs either.

“Let me walk you out,” Barbara said, guiding them out of the VIP lounge.

They had barely made it a few steps when the CEO’s office door opened. Harold stepped out, looking like he was either heading to a meeting or about to meet someone important. He stopped when he saw Isabella, blinking a couple of times, just to make sure he wasn’t imagining her there.

“Harold,” Isabella said, greeting him with a polite smile.

“Harold,” Laura chimed in.

Harold smiled back, glancing at Barbara. Barbara quickly explained that Isabella had come by to sign contracts and she’d been in the VIP lounge next door. Apparently, Barbara hadn’t bothered to mention it to him.

Harold gave Barbara a playful look, though he was still smiling. Then he turned to Isabella and Laura. “Do you want to come in for a cup of tea?”

“Thank you, Harold, but we really don’t have time today,” Isabella said, turning him down as gently as she could. “Maybe next time. We’ll definitely come by for tea then.”

Ethan wasn’t a fan of her getting too close to Harold, and honestly, Isabella didn’t want to get involved with his buddies either.

Natalie had mentioned that Isabella wanted to invest in a TV show and open a shop, and Ethan was on board with it. But the older generation of the Adams family didn’t like the idea of their daughters-in-law being out in public like that. Jennifer had even called Isabella about it, but Isabella didn’t care much for Jennifer’s opinion.

Cynthia could guess exactly why Jennifer had come. Women who married into the Adams family almost never worked or appeared in public, unless it was to accompany their husbands or represent the family at big events. The men brought in more than enough money, so there was never any need for their wives to work.

Isabella had only been married for a month and was already going against the Adams family rules. Jennifer was probably here to ask Cynthia to talk Isabella out of it. She seemed desperate to stop Isabella from making her own way in business, from becoming someone powerful in her own right.

But there was something deeper behind it. When Jennifer was young and married into the Adams family, she had to follow all the rules. She had more money than she could ever spend, but almost no freedom. Now she saw Isabella doing everything she once dreamed of but never dared. It just didn’t seem fair. That jealousy was enough to make Jennifer determined to hold Isabella back, no matter what it took.