Chapter 77 Stay Away from Her from Now On

With just three punches, Ivan spat out a mouthful of blood and crumpled to the ground, barely hanging on. He knew George had gone easy on him by not finishing the job.

"You love her so much, why'd you break her heart? If you hadn't hurt her, no one else could've swooped in. George, this is all on you," Ivan spat out, glaring at George with all the hate he could muster.

"Ivan, no matter what went down between Isabella and me, that doesn't give you the right to mess with her. Remember this: stay away from her, or you'll regret it," George warned before opening the hospital room door. The anxious doctors and nurses outside rushed in, filling the room with chaos.

Just as Marlowe left, George came back.

Isabella was leaning against the headboard, looking wiped out.

"Why don't you come back to Stellar City with me?" he asked.

Isabella looked up, hesitated, and then said, "No."

"Alright," George didn't push it.

"Leave, I want to sleep for a while," she said weakly.

"Go ahead and sleep, I'll stay here with you," he replied.

"There's no need."

Isabella slowly lay down, and George lay down beside her.

"What are you doing?" Isabella exclaimed.

"Keeping you company."

"You're keeping me company by sleeping? Get out."

"I'm not gonna do anything to you. You're being paranoid for no reason," George said, sitting up and looking at the ungrateful Isabella in front of him.

"What do you mean by that?" Isabella snapped, knowing he was mocking her for trusting the wrong people.

"I don't mean anything. Alright, don't be mad. You sleep, I'll leave," George said as he got out of bed and put on his coat, looking visibly upset. He didn't want to argue; it felt pointless.

"George," Isabella called out to him.

George, who was at the door, stopped and turned back, "Yeah?"

"Thank you," she said, referring to the incident with Ivan.

He had saved her twice in a row; she shouldn't have been so hostile.

Isabella felt a bit apologetic.

"You're my wife; no need to thank me. Go to sleep, I'm out," George said before he left.

Isabella felt a void in her heart as he walked out.

She tossed and turned in bed all night.

The next morning, Isabella got ready for work.

As she walked through the yard, she glanced over at George's place. It was empty; he clearly hadn't stayed there last night.

Then she looked over at Ivan's place, thinking he was probably still in the hospital.

The yard was filled with pink balloons that Ivan had set up for her, and seeing them made Isabella feel conflicted.

'Is it wrong to love someone?

No, it's not.

But what if you fall in love with someone who will never love you back?

That's a mistake.

I am the source of the mistake, and I hate myself for it,' she thought.

Even though she knew Ivan's actions were his own fault, Isabella still felt a deep sense of self-loathing.

For the first time, she felt that her pride in her beauty was more like a demon devouring her.

Beauty sometimes brought not happiness, but destruction.

With a heavy heart, Isabella went to work and started her day.

Being distracted, she made many mistakes.

Lenora slammed a thick stack of documents in front of Isabella and said, "Look at this, what have you done?"

Isabella looked puzzled, "What's up, Lenora?"

"Are these the right materials for today's meeting? These are from last week's meeting. Can you even focus on your work today?" Lenora snapped.

Isabella picked up the documents, glanced at them, and realized she had printed the wrong ones. She quickly apologized, "Sorry, I'll reprint them right away."

"Isabella, you need to focus more on your work and less on daydreaming. You've probably heard our company is getting bought out. You don't want to be the first one laid off, do you?"

Isabella looked up at Lenora. From her tone, it was clear that if layoffs happened, she'd be the first to go, given Lenora's bias against her.

But Isabella didn't care much for the job. It was just a clerical gig, barely enough to keep her afloat, let alone offer any prospects for advancement. The thought of a future or a climb up the ladder was simply out of the question. Such a position held little appeal for her.

"Got it," she said as she picked up the documents and headed to the printer.

Lenora was taken aback and muttered, "What an attitude."

"It's a good attitude. With the company being acquired, employee adjustments are uncertain. Lenora, you should think more about your own future," Marlowe scoffed.

Lenora was infuriated, "The same goes for you."

Lenora stormed off, and Marlowe smirked.

During lunch, Marlowe and Isabella chatted for a while. When the topic of Ivan came up, Isabella didn't know where to start.

"Marlowe, do you really like Ivan?" Isabella asked.

"I wouldn't say like, but I do have a good impression of him," Marlowe said shyly, lowering her head with a smile. "You know, Isabella, my ideal type is a doctor, and Ivan happens to be a very handsome doctor."

Isabella didn't know how to respond.

Marlowe noticed something was off with her and shook her arm, "What's wrong? You don't like it? If you don't want me to like Ivan, I can stop..."

"It's not that, Marlowe. Of course, I like it," Isabella said.

"Then why do you look so unhappy?" Marlowe asked.

Isabella bit her lip and said, "I'm just afraid you two won't be a good match." Isabella held Marlowe's hand, "Marlowe, I don't oppose you pursuing someone you like, but promise me, if it doesn't work out, don't let yourself get hurt, okay?"

Marlowe burst into laughter, "I'm not a child. Do you think I'm the type to get taken advantage of? There are plenty of men out there. If one doesn't work out, I'll find another. I won't be stubborn about it."

Isabella felt relieved hearing that.

After lunch, they chatted for a while and then heard colleagues discussing the company's acquisition.

"I heard the boss of that big company is coming soon. My heart is pounding."

"They won't make all of us leave, right? I have a family to support. Finding another job would be so hard."

Isabella glanced at Marlowe and asked, "So, is the acquisition agreement being signed today?"

Marlowe, who had better connections within the company, whispered to Isabella, "Yeah, they're coming soon. They offered a lot of money, so there were no hurdles. But they haven't mentioned any personnel changes. These people are just worrying for nothing."

"Do you know which company is acquiring us?" Isabella asked.