Chapter 859 What About Next Time?

Chapter 859 What About Next Time?

Atticus kept his silence. Even if the thought had crossed his mind, this was not something he could just blurt out.

Besides, he knew Isabella.

She would never agree to this.

That was exactly why Atticus had stayed quiet.

Kian and Holden were not blind to the same reality, but they saw it differently. In their minds, Michael had finally made a real concession — offering half the shares of the Brown Group as a gesture of good faith. An opportunity like that should be seized before it slipped away.

If Michael changed his mind later, they would lose everything.

The Brown Group and the Wilson Group were the two dominant forces in the South and East. Now that the Wilsons were pushing into the South, transferring half of the Brown Group's shares to Isabella would place control of the region's key industries entirely in her hands.

With that kind of leverage, the balance of power would be settled. Whatever plans Michael might have, the weight of her ownership would keep him in check. It would give her family the certainty they needed.

After all, this was something Michael was offering willingly.

No one was forcing him.

So why shouldn't they take it?

On this point, Kian and Holden stood firmly united.

When Orion and Thomas exchanged a glance and smirked as if watching a spectacle, Kian felt a wave of frustration.

"You can still laugh? Isabella might not see it, but you two should know better," Kian muttered, lowering his voice as he shot them a meaningful look.

He wanted them to help persuade Isabella to sign the contract while the chance was still there. Miss it now, and it might never come again.

Holden nodded in agreement.

Men understood men. If Michael was willing to hand over a share transfer for the Brown Group, it meant he truly put Isabella first.

For Isabella's uncles, nothing could be more reassuring than that.

From every angle, the contract was all gain and no loss.

But Orion didn't follow their lead. He shook his head slowly.

"Kian, Holden, stop pushing her with this. She's not going to accept it, and you know it."

Orion had seen the truth of it long ago.

Isabella was not the kind of woman who measured love in terms of power or profit. If she had wanted something in return, she would have demanded it back when she helped the Brown Group rise from the ashes.

But she hadn't.

Maybe it was because she had seen Indigo's betrayal with her own eyes as a child, leaving her with an almost obsessive need for purity in love.

She didn't want money or business tangled up in her relationships.

Just as she had once walked away from Michael without hesitation when she learned he had feelings for her yet still kept Bianca close. She loved him, but she could not tolerate even the smallest crack in that love.

Binding their relationship with financial ties was unthinkable.

Kian's patience snapped. "Why the hell not? You all saw what she went through for him — how much she did to shield the Brown Group from scandal. So what if she takes some shares? Doesn't she deserve them?"

Kian's voice cut through the air, sharp and unwavering.

Years of negotiating with hard-nosed businessmen overseas had taught him to strip away the pleasantries and put the terms — and the profit — squarely on the table. In his mind, everything Isabella had given to the Brown Group was not something to be brushed aside.

Michael handing her shares wasn't an act of generosity. It was the bare minimum.

And now she had married him again. They were husband and wife. She had given him a beautiful daughter. Wasn't it time he showed something real? Something lasting?

Isabella knew Kian and Holden weren't after the Brown Group's wealth for themselves. They were thinking about her future.

If she signed, she would hold the company's future in her hands, and Michael would be bound to her more tightly than ever.

It would be the strongest shield she could have.

She wasn't naive. She knew exactly what half of the Brown Group meant.

Her refusal had nothing to do with ignorance — it was a choice.

After years of breaking apart and coming back together, she had stepped beyond the fever of passion.

She still loved Michael. He was the only man she could ever love.

But her heart was no longer the same as it had been four years ago.

She still believed in love — but it was no longer the only thing she lived for.

She had her family. Her career. Her child. All of them mattered.

She no longer wanted to cling to Michael with the same desperate tactics. The year they had spent apart had taught her what love truly was.

Love was patient. Love was pure.

She wanted to be with him in a way that was easy and unburdened. She would not spend her days tracking his every move, letting the smallest ripple stir suspicion and pain.

By choosing him again, she was choosing to trust him completely.

They didn't need material shackles to hold them together.

Those things were illusions.

If a heart had already turned away, no amount of possessions could make it stay.

She understood Michael's intentions — she understood everything.

But she had her own principles.

And she would not sign.

The tension in the room was thick when Atticus finally broke his silence.

"That's enough," Atticus said, his voice low but slicing clean through the tension.

He turned to Michael. "You brought this up once before. I told you then it wasn't our place to decide for her, so I left the choice to Isabella. She refused."

"After all this time, you still can't see what she truly wants?"

The words weren't loud, but each one struck Michael like a fist to the chest.

The color drained from his face.

He had known. He had always known — he just hadn't wanted to face it.

He'd seen the change in her long ago, maybe as far back as the day she first walked away. Even then, there had been a subtle distance in her.

It was self-protection. It was a silent turning away.

That was why she had left without looking back, even while carrying his child.

He had known, even then.

She loved him, yes. But that love no longer defined her life.

She could love him — and still be ready to walk away if something unchangeable stood between them.

Last time, it had been her family's disapproval.

Next time… who could say?