~Two Years Later~It's been one month since Isabella and Gerald officially divorced, and the latter was set to marry his mistress, Kareen in a few weeks according to the gist brought by 'Scandalous blog.'But that was none of Isabella's business as she had long moved on with her life, especially after getting all the monetary compensation being contested in the divorce, plus her daughter's full custody.She was a free and happy woman now, given that she was about to clock off work for the week.Sitting in her new office, a deep exhale escaped Isabella's lips as she turned off her computer and picked up her phone to check the message she got a while ago.It was from Richard, and the content read; 'Meet me at Le Bernardin by 7:30 tonight.''Huh?' Isabella was a little confused, but as soon as she finished reading the message and lifted her head, she saw Richard stepping out of his office.He didn't even look her way before walking away with his coat draped on his left arm and his bag in
Richard did not get the chance to pull out a chair for Bella because of the toddler in his arms. He had wanted to be a complete gentleman from the start of their date to the finish, but see what she’s caused by bringing a child over.“I asked you out on a date and you brought Isla with you,” he said casually after a waiter arranged another chair for the toddler.Bella who had her secret plans quietly tucked into the back of her head smiled politely as she met his gaze after he had gently settled her daughter on the chair next to him. “I hope you don’t mind her presence?” Richard smirked and peered at Isla who had already picked up the menu meant for him. “Of course, I don’t. Isla is such an adorable daughter. What is there not to like about her?”Bella had nothing to refute his words with as her genes were as clear as day on Isla. She was very proud after successfully creating a mini-version of herself. And by that, she means a beautiful mini-her. Twenty minutes later…Ric
Richard finally confessed his feelings for Bella and she did not look like any of it made sense to her.Bella did not speak immediately because his confession was weighing heavily on her heart and thankfully, Richard understood and gave her some space.If he can be patient for two years just for this day, what is waiting for two minutes just to hear her response?After a while of digesting her boss's romantic confessions and intentions towards her, Bella met his gaze again and tried to ask with a calm composure she managed to muster that second, "You don't have any woman that you like?"Richard was a bit confused by that question as he raised a questioning brow. "I like you."Bella shook her head. He didn't understand her question, so she had to ask again, "I mean, apart from me, you don't have another one?""If there was another woman I liked, I wouldn't have patiently waited and worked hard for two years just to be close to you and your loved ones."The second that revelation made i
Isabella liked Richard. It was effortless to fall for someone who was kind to her plus the added advantage of being handsome.But in any case, her ex-husband was also very good to her at the beginning of their relationship before he changed after the birth of their daughter, and seeing Richard doing the same now, she was afraid that things were going to turn upside down.It didn’t necessarily mean he would cheat on her, but given their connection through her previous marriage, it was hard to see them going far with this new relationship he wanted.Regardless, Bella found herself being unable to say ‘no’ to him. Somehow, it might be because she secretly liked him, or because of her friends bugging her to give him a child or probably because of her daughter who seemed to love him as much.A deep sigh fell through Bella’s lips as she glanced at their intertwined fingers. She stole a glance at Isla and saw how glued her eyes were on the screen of her phone before shifting her gaze bac
Arriving at Isabella’s place, Richard carried Isla up to her flat and straight to her bedroom, and that marked the first time he was stepping foot inside her apartment. “Do you want some water, tea or coffee?” Bella asked from the kitchen Island as Richard walked into the kitchen after tucking Isla in.“A bottle of water will do.” He smiled at her before letting his gaze stray to his surroundings. He was surprised at how clean and tidy her apartment was given the presence of a toddler and wondered how she managed to keep everything together.In the end, his curiosity got the best of him. “Do you have a housekeeper?” he asked even though he would have known if she had one.“No.” Bella grabbed a bottle of water from the double-door refrigerator and spun around to hand it to him. “Isla’s nanny is the only extra help I have.”Surely, there is no way a nanny’s job would be to cook and clean except to look after the child she was being paid to. Richard concluded that Bella was the o
Bella was not willing to divulge one bit of the details regarding her date with Richard the previous night yet.Her friends tried all they could by teasing and drilling her with questions but she remained mute for as long as she wanted. And they all ended up helping her to do one thing or the other in her home since it was a Saturday.One helped her to cook lunch and dinner. The second one spent time with Isla by helping her do her assignments and play games with her while the last one helped with the laundry.By the time it had clocked 11 AM on the clock, Caro started serving the tacos she had just made before calling everyone to the dining area.As for Isla, she was given one from it with healthy snacks and was left in the living room to watch her cartoons. But all eyes kept drifting to that toddler just in case she went around touching things she wasn’t supposed to.Now, this was the moment the girls had been waiting for.“Now, out with the gist already,” Venita urged impatie
“Bella went through a very heartbreak before coming to this point. Do you want to experience her sacrifice?” Rosie inquired.Just thinking about how the one man who used to be everything to their best friend turned out to betray her big time and almost embarrass her on social media, Venita felt bile rise to her throat.“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind killing that kind of man to go to prison if I were to be in Bella’s shoes,” Venita confessed.The other girls glanced at her and shook their heads. They were kind of glad that Venita was not the one who went through what Bella experienced otherwise, they would have heard about their friends being convicted of murder without even getting a chance to hear the full story.A woman like Venita was impatient and strong-willed and no wonder she was still single.When the girls thought they had heard all the interesting and romantic parts of Bella’s date with her boss, she told them of how he sent her and Isla home in his car as his driver follow
“Gerald, how many times do I have to tell you that I want a big wedding?” Kareen pursed her lips.She was devastated almost every day of her life with their wedding around the corner.A date hasn’t been fixed yet and no halls have been booked, but certainly, they were having a wedding the first weekend of the coming month just like they had agreed on.This goes to show that she wasn’t going to get married in a popular hall just as she wanted as most of them used to be booked in advance.“If you want a big wedding, you should get ready to bring your money,” Gerald fired back as he dumped the wedding magazine she made him go through on the sofa. He was equally tired of listening to her demands and having to remind her that he didn’t have that kind of money for her dream wedding. Kareen wants a big wedding, even bigger than the one Gerald and Bella had in the past otherwise she would be laughed at and would become the most talked about for the wrong reasons.She wanted the atten