Chapter 39
Isabella limped in, instantly drawing many eyes.
Luna raised her eyebrows. "Everyone, take a good look. This is the former Isabella. Now she's really down and out, working as an auditor. And the biggest client she landed after coming back is the Johnson Group. What a coincidence, right?"
As soon as she said this, everyone burst out laughing.
"Is she trying to rekindle an old flame? She should take a look at herself first."
"Exactly! Back then, she only married in by pestering him relentlessly. Now look what happened - kicked out without a penny. So embarrassing. If I were her, I'd never come back to this country."
"Come on, stop talking nonsense. No matter what, Isabella is still beautiful. Especially that figure. Look at those curves. After all these years, she's still gorgeous."
The women present looked at Isabella's beauty with jealousy written all over their faces, while the men cast leering glances at her.
Of course, there were exceptions.Martin Collins and Juan Stewart.
The two were longtime friends of Michael.
The difference was that they were younger sons in their families, didn't need to inherit the family business, and had much less responsibility.
But the two of them were like sidekicks, always following Michael around. Knowing Isabella had returned, they'd tried several times to see her, and now finally had the chance.
When the two saw Isabella, their eyes clearly showed hostility.
Martin stood up and walked around Isabella in a circle, mocking, "Never thought you'd end up like this."
Juan leaned lazily on the sofa, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. "Right? We thought you'd live a better life after leaving Michael. Turns out, not so much."
The contempt in their eyes was undisguised.
Isabella looked at them coldly. "Are you standing up for Michael? Open your eyes and see who the real victim is."
"Pretty bold, talking to us like that." Juan tossed his cigarette into an ashtray, his gaze cold.
Luna came out to smooth things over. "Alright, let's get to the point. You came here today about Stella, right? Do a striptease for us, and we'll let her go immediately. How about that?"
"Yeah, yeah, do a striptease for us!"
Everyone chimed in, starting to jeer.
Isabella stood in the center of the crowd, being watched like a clown.
Luna's follower spoke up again. "I heard your friend has work commitments. If she can't get back on time, there'll be a huge penalty. That much money. She probably couldn't pay it back in her entire lifetime."
"More than that! Haven't you heard? Some people, once they break the rules, can never work again. She's just a model - easily replaced, no big deal. But without work, how can she pay the money back? Though she could always work the runway at nightclubs - I'm sure there'd be plenty of clients."
Everyone chimed in one after another, clearly threatening her.
Isabella took a deep breath. "What exactly do you want? Don't forget, even though Michael and I are divorced, I'm still his ex-wife. If this blows up, do you think he'll just ignore it?"
Although she didn't want any connection with Michael, she had no choice in this situation.
After all, if she didn't use Michael's name for leverage, she'd only become more passive.
"Big words! You think Michael would still care about you? To Michael, you're the person he most wants dead."
"Right, right! Come on, do a striptease for us. I'll record it and send it to him - Michael probably won't even glance at it."
Everyone started jeering again.
Isabella calmly pulled out her phone. "Fine, you want to see me do a striptease? Let me make a call."
These people wouldn't let her off easily without Michael's word.
After thinking, Isabella directly dialed the number.
Suddenly, the surroundings became quiet.
Soon, the call connected, and an automated voice came through.
"Hello, the number you have dialed is currently on another call..."
The call was rejected. Everyone burst into laughter.
"You still think you're some kind of treasure? Now look - Michael won't even answer your call. What are you pretending for? Hurry up and do the striptease."
"Yeah, yeah, stop wasting time. Our time is precious. If you won't do it, we're leaving. If your friend suffers, that's got nothing to do with us."
Isabella's face darkened as she dialed again.
Called and rejected, called and rejected.
After several attempts.
Under everyone's mocking gazes, the call finally connected.
"What is it?"
Michael's low, husky voice suddenly rang out.
Everyone was surprised, but more so, looking forward to the show.
Isabella raised her eyebrows. "I'm at your fiancée's place right now. They want me to do a striptease before they'll let my friend go. What do you think?"
"Nothing to do with me."
One cold sentence, and then the call was hung up.
In that moment, Isabella felt her blood run cold.
This Michael was truly heartless. Just last night, they were together, and early this morning, they were doing the most intimate things between a man and woman. Now he turns his back without mercy.
Facing everyone's mocking gazes, Isabella looked coldly at Luna.
"You know that although Michael and I are divorced, we're not completely unconnected. Why make things like this?"
Luna sneered. "What are you to have any connection with me? Hurry up and dance, or get lost if you won't."
Everyone's mocking gazes all turned toward her.
Isabella took a deep breath but didn't move.
Martin, in the crowd, suddenly got busy, constantly messaging someone on his phone, then propped up his phone, aimed at Isabella.
"Hurry up and dance, we're busy."
"Yeah, if you don't want to dance, just strip naked and let us look, let us touch."
"Stop wasting time here. You think Michael will save you? Don't forget when your family went bankrupt, you begged at the gate, kneeling for three days and nights, and still no one cared about you."
The cold words continued.
Meanwhile, Martin looked at the video call that had been hung up and froze.
He raised his eyebrows at Juan. "What's up with Michael? Just now he said to send a video to see what's happening here, but he hung up so quickly."
"Forget it, stop meddling. Things between those two can't be explained in a few words. We should know when to stop."
Juan still had that indifferent look, but his gaze was locked on intently.
He was more perceptive than others. Others might not know, but he understood Michael's feelings clearly. On the surface, Michael seemed indifferent to Isabella, but actually cared a lot.
Otherwise, with Isabella's company's size, it wouldn't qualify to work with the Johnson Group at all.