Chapter 123: Take Your Dogs and Leave
What kind of person was Isabella in William's eyes?
Day after day, she revolved around the kitchen at home, her life centered solely on her husband and children, her world limited to home, the grocery store, and school.
Isabella's life had been completely consumed by her family. Within that confined space, she couldn't have her own social circle without being accused of using William's name to network with the elite and climb the social ladder.
She also couldn't freely use William's black card for shopping sprees, as that would only confirm suspicions that she'd married William for his money.
That period was the darkest chapter of Isabella's life, when self-doubt consumed her most severely.
Whenever William failed to come home, his mother's first instinct was to blame Isabella.
She never questioned why her son wouldn't return home, instead turning her fury on Isabella for lacking the skills to keep him interested.
Those words were designed to wound Isabella, gradually destroying her confidence and pride.
Then there was Nathan, who had grown into an extremely rebellious child who only had eyes for Laura, completely disregarding his own mother.
Looking back on those miserable six years, Isabella never imagined her life could become such a disaster.
What made it even more ridiculous was that after six years, her own husband knew nothing about her.
A cold smile twisted Isabella's lips.
"You never cared what school I graduated from, never bothered to ask about my research, never showed interest in my skills, because to you, I was just a disposable wife who only needed to look pretty standing by your side."
"In your eyes, was I anything more than a housewife? I devoted myself to raising our children, never expecting them to become world-changing prodigies who'd revolutionize society—I just wanted them to grow up healthy and happy."
This had been Isabella's last thread of hope in maintaining their life together.
But William was cruel enough to deny her even that small comfort, always cold and mercilessly shattering her illusions.
"Beyond me, you never cared about our children either. Your heart only had room for work and Laura."
Men like William were never short of beautiful women vying for their attention.
Isabella had actually imagined early on what would happen if William cheated—how their marriage would implode.
In her fantasies, she thought she'd throw a tantrum, at least break down in tears.
But even she hadn't expected that when she finally decided on divorce, her heart would feel nothing but calm and relief.
Life with William had been a nightmare.
Fortunately, now she was awake.
William was struck speechless by Isabella's words.
He desperately wanted to argue back, if only to prove he at least cared enough about the children.
"I never neglected the kids," he managed to say.
"When are their birthdays? How far apart were Nathan and Olivia born?" Isabella asked expressionlessly.
William fell into an even longer silence.
He didn't know when his own children were born.
It seemed that, just as Isabella said, he truly didn't care about anything in his life beyond work.
Laura's appearance had been an accident.
"You've changed so much." A thousand thoughts condensed into that single sentence as William let out a soft sigh.
Isabella laughed coldly. "I haven't changed one bit. I was exactly like this before the divorce. To avoid being labeled a gold-digger, I went to the farmer's market myself every day for six years. I know which stall has the freshest vegetables and which vendor sells the best meat in our neighborhood."
William had never cared about her past.
He seemed to assume Isabella lived comfortably as a stay-at-home wife.
"Because I was always the only one shopping, you can't even imagine people asking me directly—asking which wealthy man's mistress I was."
Isabella had endured all those rumors and whispers.
Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Isabella looked at those men with contempt.
Leaving them in this training facility would only make the environment more toxic.
"Since you're here now, please take your people and leave. Don't interfere with our training."
Though the men had been quiet, they were sharp enough to react when something concerned them. "If you hadn't provoked us, we never would have raced you!" one of them protested.
"Fine. Honor the bet. I'll ensure they don't set foot in this training facility again before the next competition," William declared, dismissing them regardless of their expressions.
His sudden defection, switching sides to support Isabella, stunned even Joseph.
"They're gone. What are you still doing here?" Isabella frowned at William.
To her surprise, William sat down in the spectator stands and pulled Olivia onto his lap.
"Olivia says you're the best female race car driver in the world. I'd like to see for myself. Is that not allowed?"
Isabella felt like strangling him.
But after thinking it over, she restrained herself. Muttering "psycho" under her breath, Isabella jumped down from the stands, slipped into the race car, and roared off with a press of the accelerator.
"You're not actually getting into character as Olivia's dad again, are you?" Joseph walked over from another row, using his position two steps higher to look down at William.
Rather than merely looking, it was more like scrutinizing.
He felt this man wasn't worthy of Isabella from head to toe.
What about him was worth her abandoning everything for?
Olivia blinked her innocent, wide eyes, not understanding what the adults were discussing.
"Daddy is daddy! Mommy said even if they get divorced, Daddy will still be my daddy, and it won't affect our family bond!" Olivia answered Joseph's question very seriously.
William smiled slightly; his guilt toward Isabella eased just a fraction by Olivia's words.
"What gives you the right to sit here watching Isabella race? We're conducting pre-race preparation. Every training session is classified, involving our tactical data. You're the big boss behind Snake Racing Team—sitting here, are you trying to steal our trade secrets?"