Chapter 72 Long-Awaited Peace

Isabella really didn't wanna dive into that convo, so she was like, "Ivan, family’s always gonna be family for me. It ain't changing."

"I get it, you need time. No rush, I can wait," Ivan replied.

Isabella just shook her head, feeling kinda defeated.

Once Ivan bounced, Isabella felt super lost.

'Why’d he have to go and spill his guts? Why make things weird? Why does it always gotta be about love? I just don’t get it. Isn’t family supposed to be the strongest bond?' she thought.

On her birthday, Ivan took the day off and went all out, turning Isabella's yard into a princess wonderland.

He’d snagged her gift ages ago on a business trip.

Today was the day he was gonna lay it all out there, confess his feelings for real.

They had a solid connection, and he knew her well. He might not be able to shower her in riches, but he could make sure she was happy and taken care of.

Ivan was both stoked and nervous as hell.

After work, Isabella thought about grabbing a birthday cake.

Her birthday was right around Christmas. Back when Hazel was around, her birthday celebrations would stretch all the way to Christmas, making it a big deal.

After Lucas sent her away, she’d push her birthday to Christmas to celebrate together.

She was a smart kid, but there was always this little void in her heart that nothing could fill.

Just as she stepped out of the office, a sleek, dark luxury car pulled up in front of her.

The window rolled down, and there was George’s face.

She rolled her eyes, walked around the car, and headed for the bus stop.

"Isabella, get in the car," he called out.

Isabella acted like she didn’t hear him and kept walking. The bus was just rolling up, and she thought her timing was perfect.

But right before the bus stopped, George grabbed her wrist and yanked her into the car, locking the door.

"George, have you lost your mind? What the hell are you doing? Kidnapping me?" Isabella was fuming, her hair practically standing on end.

George just laughed, "I’m here to celebrate your birthday."

"I’m not celebrating. Tell the driver to stop, I wanna go home," Isabella said, ice-cold.

"It won’t take long." George tried to ruffle her hair, but she dodged, disgusted. "Don’t touch me."

The car kept moving, and soon they were out of Riverside City. Isabella started to get uneasy. "Where are you taking me?"

"You’ll see when we get there."

"George, why are you hanging around Riverside City so much lately? Don’t you think Juniper’s gonna miss you?" Isabella snapped.

"No one’s missing me," he laughed.

Isabella just snorted, leaned back, and decided to catch some Z’s.

After over an hour, they pulled up to a seaside estate.

This place had been around for over a hundred years and had only recently opened to the public, but it was super exclusive and hard to book.

The car cruised down the estate’s asphalt road, and Isabella looked out the window. The place was surrounded by lush green lawns.

In the distance, there were rolling green hills and trees, with wildflowers blooming all over the forest.

The sunset glow was fading, making the sky look higher and deeper, giving off a solemn vibe.

The sound of the waves made it feel almost sacred.

When the car finally stopped, Isabella shoved the door open and hopped out.

No city noise, just that rare, soul-soothing peace.

George casually grabbed Isabella's hand and asked, "You dig it? Figured you would."

"I grew up in the sticks, what's there to like?" Isabella yanked her hand away and strutted forward.

They strolled down the path and into the estate.

The houses looked like something straight outta the 19th century, with those fancy candle-shaped chandeliers, thick old columns, and famous paintings on the walls.

The ceiling had some abstract art, and there was an ancient-looking piano in the corner.

The wine cabinet on the west side was stocked with vintage wines.

Everything screamed low-key luxury.

Isabella couldn’t deny it; this place was like a dream come true.

Just as she was soaking it all in, a well-dressed middle-aged dude walked in and said, "Welcome."

His voice was smooth and classy, every move he made oozed nobility.

Isabella turned around, and the guy looked a bit shocked when he saw her, then quickly smiled, "Sorry, you just look a lot like someone I used to know."

Isabella shrugged it off, "That's flattering."

He led Isabella and George to the guest room, chatting as they walked, "This estate was my great-grandfather's. It's huge, so I usually live here alone. A few years back, my friends suggested I open it up, and I thought, why not? More people, more fun."

"You've always been alone? No family?" Isabella asked.

"Yep, never married, always solo."

Isabella felt she hit a nerve and apologized, "Sorry about that."

"No need to apologize. I never married, but I’ve known love, so I don’t feel like I missed out."

The middle-aged man smiled warmly, a rare sight in the cold of winter.

Isabella bit her lip. As they reached the guest room door, the man looked at George and said, "Mr. Spencer, have a wonderful night."

George gave a slight nod.

The room was big and decked out, though kinda cliché, with roses, wine, white balloons, a birthday cake, and a big "Happy Birthday" banner.

Isabella wasn’t too impressed.

"Did you do all this?" she asked.

"How is it? Not bad, right?" George nodded, fishing for some praise.

"Why go through all this trouble?"

George frowned a bit, "To make you happy."

"But I don’t like it," Isabella said bluntly.

She walked to the window, where she could see the sea.

"Then I’ll do better next time. Cut me some slack, it’s my first try."

Isabella found it hard to believe, thinking it wasn’t his first rodeo.

"When you dated those other women, didn’t you do more elaborate stuff than this?" she sneered.

"Seems like you really don’t get me," George shook his head, looking a bit hurt.

Isabella didn’t care about his feelings. She opened the window to let in the sea breeze, but since it was winter, she tried to let in as little as possible.

"Take me back," Isabella said.

"Leaving already? At least stay the night," he said.

"Is it necessary?" she asked.

"I didn’t exactly get this place for free, it’s booked for the whole night, and it wasn’t cheap," he said casually, even lazily lying on the big bed.

"How much? I’ll split the cost with you."

Like she really wanted to stay.