Chapter 90: Be Careful What You Wish For
That evening, after tucking Olivia into bed, Isabella found herself wide awake, her mind racing with everything Joseph had told her earlier.
The thought of her carefully built team being humiliated in her absence made her chest tighten with unresolved anger.
But now she had Olivia to consider. She couldn't afford to make any decision lightly.
The next morning, Isabella woke before her alarm even went off.
She tiptoed out of her bedroom to find Mary already bustling around the kitchen. Seeing Isabella, Mary paused and glanced at the clock.
"Ms. Capulet, it's still early—I haven't even finished breakfast yet. Why don't you go back to bed? I'll call you when everything's ready."
Mary's movements were efficient and practiced. Isabella pulled out a chair at the kitchen island and sat down. "Don't worry about it. I couldn't sleep anyway."
"Was I making too much noise?" Mary asked sensitively.
Isabella shook her head gently. "It's nothing you did. Don't worry about it."
Mary truly was an excellent housekeeper—her meals were visually appealing and delicious, and she was both reliable and responsible. Isabella was thoroughly satisfied with her work.
She set a freshly brewed cup of coffee in front of Isabella. "Just give me a few more minutes for the pancakes and bacon, Ms. Capulet."
Isabella sipped her coffee while browsing through recent modeling competition case studies.
She had to admire how much technology had advanced—the precision and rendering quality far exceeded what she remembered from her university days.
As she studied other competitors' work, her phone suddenly rang.
It was Joseph.
"Isabella, have you made up your mind? If you have, you can come to the hotel anytime—I'm available twenty-four seven!"
Joseph's cheerful tone lifted Isabella's somewhat heavy mood.
She decided it would be better to discuss her thoughts with him in person.
"Wait for me at the hotel," Isabella checked her watch—7:50 AM. "I'll be there in half an hour, tops."
After hanging up, Isabella finished her coffee and placed the mug in the dishwasher.
"Mary, I packed Olivia's snacks in that bag last night. Just remember to get her to school on time."
With that quick instruction, Isabella grabbed her purse and headed out.
She had forgotten one crucial detail—Seaside City's morning rush hour was absolutely brutal.
The streets were clogged with bumper-to-bumper traffic, horns blaring in a cacophonous symphony. After one look, Isabella decisively turned around and headed for the subway station.
At this rate, if she took a cab, she wouldn't arrive until 10 AM.
The subway station was equally packed with commuters. Isabella barely managed to squeeze onto a train and nearly couldn't get off at her stop.
By the time she finally pushed her way out of the subway station, she felt like she'd lost ten pounds.
It was already 9 AM—a full hour past her promised half-hour timeline.
Sighing in resignation, Isabella straightened her appearance in the hotel's gleaming glass doors before striding inside.
As the elevator doors began to close, Isabella mentally rehearsed what she would say to Joseph.
Suddenly, someone pressed the elevator button from outside. The doors slowly reopened, and Isabella instinctively stepped back to make room.
"Isabella?"
Isabella had been looking down, but at the sound of someone calling her name in surprise, she looked up.
William stood directly outside the elevator, his face dark as he stared at her.
Isabella frowned, thinking how unlucky she was to run into William at a hotel this early in the morning. Her luck really was terrible.
Before Isabella could speak, William had already stepped into the elevator, his voice ice-cold.
"So this is what you call being able to take care of Olivia properly? Spending last night at a hotel with some man while leaving Olivia alone at home?"
William never hesitated to assume the worst about Isabella, every word dripping with accusation.
"Didn't Richard come down with you? Or did you switch partners last night?" When Isabella didn't respond, William continued his speculation.
"I realize I never really knew you at all during our six years of marriage. I had no idea you were this kind of person!" William's face was covered with frost, every word calculated to disgust Isabella.
"Since you're so morally superior, what are you doing at a hotel? Don't tell me you and Laura just had a sleepover to chat under the covers?" Isabella snorted, meeting William's eyes in the elevator's reflection.
The former spouses had reached a point of mutual loathing.
"You think everyone's as promiscuous as you?" William's brows knitted together as he sneered. "I'm here for business meetings. What does Laura have to do with anything?"
"If you think I'm so despicable and you keep fantasizing about being cuckolded every time we meet, why didn't you file for divorce sooner? William, don't forget—you're the one who kept dragging his feet on the divorce."
Isabella's lips curved into a mocking smile.
The elevator fell silent except for the sound of Isabella's heartbeat and breathing.
William said nothing, but from Isabella's angle, she could see he was struggling to contain his rage.
His hands hung at his sides, clenched into fists with veins bulging, betraying his current state of mind.
"Once this month is up, let's finalize the divorce paperwork as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I'm really worried you might get your wish." Isabella's voice lifted playfully at the end, her mockery unconcealed.
Ding—the elevator stopped at Joseph's floor.