“Silly girl, you’ll always be my daughter. No matter how weak I might seem, I’ll always take your side.”
“We both know what she’s really like. Now that she’s pregnant, everyone in the Lane and Gates families is focused on her and that baby. If anything happens, both families will point fingers at you.”
“I’d rather you offend her. She was never truly good to you anyway. So what if you cross her? It’s better than letting her set you up and end up taking the blame for everything.”
For the first time, Isabella actually believed her mom was on her side. All those years, Cynthia had always told her to hold back, not to clash with Jordan, to be nice to him. Isabella used to think her mom didn’t love her.
But it turned out her mom was just waiting for her to grow up, to find a good place to land.
Only, she hadn’t landed anywhere good. Ethan was definitely not her happy ending.
She started leaving early in the morning and coming home really late, just to avoid seeing him. That was her way of slowly letting go of her feelings for Ethan. She planned to wait until she was financially independent, with enough savings tucked away, before she even thought about bringing up divorce.
Otherwise, Ethan could crush her with barely any effort. Even if her shows became hits, he could ruin her studio in an instant.
Since she had no escape plan yet, she had no choice but to stick it out, living with Ethan for now, sometimes playing along with his act just to make sure her monthly allowance kept coming in.
You have to put up with the small stuff if you want to win the big battles.
She laughed to herself. She really was her mother’s daughter. Both of them knew how to endure.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Isabella asked, not understanding. She followed her mom’s gaze and her eyes grew wide with shock.
She thought maybe she was seeing things, so she rubbed her eyes and looked again. But no, it was definitely him.
“Mom… is that Jackson? Does he… does he have another family?”
They both saw Jackson walking with a beautiful woman, probably in her early thirties, with a calm and graceful vibe. The woman was holding onto Jackson’s arm like they were close, and Jackson’s other hand was holding onto a boy who looked about ten years old. The three of them were chatting and laughing together, looking exactly like a happy family.
They had just come out of a store nearby, so Isabella and Cynthia could see them clearly.

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