Married with the Broken Hearted CEO novel Chapter 72

Isa was so annoyed and just barely escaped from the nosy Neil. Chadwick’s secretary talked so much; it is obvious he’s purposely talking to her so that she would not follow Chadwick anymore. 
“Until now I can hear his voice,” Isa complained while shaking her ear.
Walking beside the pool near the villa, Isa recalled what Adira told her a moment ago. 
[“But that someone rejected him. My husband told me this story before. That he likes a woman, but that woman likes someone else. But the other guy likes another woman too. Then, my husband met me, and we got married.”] 
She stopped walking and shot daggers with her eyes. Snorting, she crossed her arms while laughing sarcastically. 
‘Look how that woman boasting and using my older brother’s feelings. I really hate her!’ 
Not only that, but Isa also lost the chance to be with Chadwick longer and she failed to execute the plan.
‘Before, no matter what happens, Chadwick always chooses my side,’ Isa said to herself and bit her lower lips. 
When she’s lonely, crying at the corner and when she feels like the most pitiful person in the world, there is always Chadwick by her side. But now, that man who saw her as his only world, has another woman as his universe. 
‘Am I regretting right now?’ 
For long minutes, Isa asked herself while standing near the pool. If she really does not like Chadwick, then why can’t she let him go? Does she really see him as her possession? A tool to make Geoffrey jealous? Or to fill her loneliness and her greed for utmost affection? 
‘Whatever the answer, I still can’t give him to Adira. Never.’ 
Isa vowed to continue her plan tomorrow, since the two companies have two days vacation at her father’s resort. 
About to take a step, Isa heard a woman’s voice behind her. 
“Hey, you.” 
Isa turned around to the woman who called her with disrespect. She saw a woman with black long hair, rounded small eyes, pointed nose and little freckles on her cheeks. Isa tilted her head, recalling where she saw her and remembered that she is the woman who went closer to Adira and told her that she must take a call. 
‘Adira’s minion?’ Isa thought. 
Even if she has an idea who she is, Hansel still asked, “Who are you?” Then she forged a smile on her lips. 
Hansel stopped in front of her and crossed her arms. While Isa displays an expression of an innocent angel, Hansel did not hide her wild cat-like face. From her brows, sharp glare, and the tugging forward of her chin, Hansel shows her detest over the great pretender, Isa. 
“Don’t act as if you don’t know me,” Hansel said in a low voice. Staring at Isa, as if she’s a pest, Hansel added, “And please don’t smile anymore. You don’t need to pretend nice in front of me.” 
The smile on Isa’s lips vanished. She squinted her eyes at the woman who resembles her boss. Just like Adira, Hansel is a straightforward person too. Isa hates anyone who resembles the woman who stole her stepbrother and Chadwick from her. 
“I’m pretty tired smiling since before, so thank you,” Isa said. She tucked her hair behind her ears and asked, “So what do you want from me? Did your boss send you?” 
“Ma’am does not know anything about this. I came here to meet you on my own,” Hansel replied. 
“Okay,” Isa said and shrugged her shoulder. “So, what is your purpose?” 
“To tell you to stop messing with Ma’am and Sir Chadwick.” 
“W-What?” Isa stuttered then laughed sarcastically. 
“As you can see, we had a hard time covering the scandal for the project. If you keep on clinging around them, it will affect the project that everyone here, the staffs and the two bosses, worked so hard for many months.” 
Isa shut her mouth. After staring at Hansel for a long time, she replied, “I think you are misunderstanding my relationship with Adira and Chadwick. I came here as their friend.” 
Hansel lifted her chin. She took a deep breath, then replied, “I know some definitions of real friend. A real friend will never go around talking about your personal stuff to everyone they see. She should respect her friend’s dignity and won’t tolerate people in their lives who don’t treat them kindly. And a true friend will be someone that brings a PEACE TO YOUR LIFE.”
Isa flinched as Hansel emphasized the last words in her sentence. 
“However, I don’t see any of those characteristics from you, Miss Isa. You go talk everything about you and Sir Chadwick, in front of everybody that can make them misunderstand. Coming here to see them even though you were involved in scandal, you are making a mess, rather than restore peace. So, can you really call yourself as their friend?” 
Listening in silence, Isa scrunched her fingers into an angry cannonball. Her fury sprang to life, consuming her from head to toe. 
“You came here to make a mess. To bring misunderstanding between my boss and her husband,” Hansel said. She leaned at Bea, who is shorter than her, and matched her opponent’s glare. 
“What’s with you?” Isa murmured. “Why are you so damn mad at me when you aren’t even Adira?” 
Why Hansel is mad? It’s simple. 
Because now, Hansel does not just consider herself Adira’s secretary but a friend too. Besides, it’s not been that long since she caught her husband cheating on her. Seeing Isa reminds Hansel of her evil husband. 
“How about you?” Hansel tossed the question. “Why are you so f*cking mad with my boss?” 
Isa bit her lower lip. Anger pulsed through his veins. 
“Because you’re jealous?” Hansel said then painted a dark smirk on her lips. “Miss Isa. From my point of view, you are an attention seeker who lacks affection.” 
Hansel’s words are like salt in Isa’s open wounds. Yes. Isa admitted that she cannot live without getting the affection she needs as she felt alone in her life without her parents and her stepbrother. She cannot stand other woman shines, and the fact that Geoffrey and Chadwick are both swooning over Adira. 
She despises it. She hates it as if it is a bag of garbage left untouched for weeks. 
“You don’t know what I feel,” Isa said, tears prickling at the corner of her eyes. “When someone you trusted the most left you, that feeling will make you horrible, that you are desperate to get back on the tracks.” 
Hansel thought Isa was wrong. She knew more than anyone else how it feels to have someone stabbed you behind your back. How many years did she believe that her husband’s heart is hers? In the blink of an eye, her world collapsed and crumbled. However, she does not want to stay in the dark and wait for someone to pick her up. That is not the meaning of life. 
Life means accepting your weakness and finding a way to move on. 
“All you need is to accept the truth,” Hansel replied. “So, stop messing with my boss and leave them alone. If you keep on chasing, you’ll on regrets. No person succeeded on chasing her own shadow.” 
The words went inside Isa’s right ear and exited her left ear. Although she wanted to admit that Hansel is right, she cannot  agree as Hansel is Adira’s follower. 
While thinking how she’ll rebuke Hansel’s statement, Isa caught a glimpse of Adira walking at this direction. And she’s not alone. Far behind her, there’s also Chadwick. 
Next, Isa stared back at Hansel. 
She cannot refute back, but she knew a way to tell her that she’s wrong. 
“Then I will show you how it is possible to chase after your own shadow,” Isa said, stepping backward. 
Hansel looked alternately at Isa and the deep water in the pool behind her. She frowned while watching. 
“People left,” Isa murmured while stepping backward. “But if you use your brain, they will come back again to you.” 
Tilting her head, Hansel uncrossed her arms and her eyes widened. 
“Can you swim?” Isa asked. 
“H-Hey. You…” 
“Well, I cannot,” Isa added. She smiled at her before she jumped backward into the deep water of the pool. 
Splash. 
There came the sound of quick splashing in the water, and a few seconds later, Isa’s head and shoulders hadn’t appeared above the water. 
Hansel stepped at the edge of the pool, trembling. She does not know how to swim at all! Above all else, how can she save someone who jumped in the water by herself?
While hesitating, Hansel sensed a sign of someone stepping near the pool. At the same time, Isa crawled upward the water, and shouted. 
“H-Help! Help me!” 
Hansel frozen at the spot. Anyone who sees them right now might misunderstand the situation. 
‘No. I did not push her! I did not!’ Hansel shouted inwardly. When she tilted her head, she saw Adira staring at her. 
“Help! Help!
If there’s one person that Hansel wouldn’t want to misunderstand the situation, then it is no other than her boss. 
Adira ran towards the pool at speed. While running, she took off her shirt, revealing her bikini and threw her shirt on the side. Jumping high, Adira dived into the blue water of the pool. 
She swam faster towards Isa, who kept on shouting. 
“Help! Argh! Help!” 
Arriving near Isa’s side, Adira grabbed Isa’s hand and was about to pull her. However, before she could pull her, Isa kicked her leg. 
“Ack!” Adira winced under the water. 
Because of that, both shrunk deep. Isa wriggled her feet inside the water and Adira glared at her while caressing the leg that Isa kicked. Losing air, Adira swam upward to get the air she needed. 
“Ahhhh~” Adira exhaled and inhaled again. As she was about to give another go inside the water, she caught a glimpse of someone diving in. 
“...” 
Adira looked at the direction where the man dived into and soon, Chadwick and Isa crawled upward. 
Employees who heard the loud commotion and the splashing of water came to see what’s going on. 
“Who drowned?!” 
“What happened?” 
“Omg!” 
Gasp after gasp. 
However, all sounds muted as Adira watches her husband pulling Isa on the side of the pool.
With the help of the people around the pool, they helped Chadwick and Isa hopped up. Moving quickly, Chadwick laid the unconscious Isa on the tiles and shouted. 
“Move away!” he said, panicking. 
 
People gave them space and Chadwick started pumping on Isa’s chest. Soon, Isa coughed out the water she was drinking and regained her consciousness. 
Slowly, Isa opened her eyes and looked around. Then she hysterically said, “Adira! Where is Adira…” 
Naturally, all eyes fell into the woman who was left in the pool. 
Chadwick looked behind and saw her wife in the water, staring at him. 
He left her wife. 
Chadwick realized that to save Isa, he left Adira, all because he thought that saving Isa should come first since Adira can swim. However, at the other people eyes, Chadwick left her in the water for other woman. 
This is what Isa wanted to tell Hansel. That no matter what happened, Chadwick will still choose her in the end. 
“M-Ma’am! Are you okay?” an employee from Wine&Vibe asked, which broke the silence. 
Adira did not answer and just kept her eyes towards Chadwick’s shaking pupils. He does not know what to do other than apologize in a situation where he does not need to apologize. It is putting him in a hard position. 
Actually, Adira knew that Chadwick only did that because he had no choice. Nothing is wrong. But she felt miserable. There in the water, wet and feeling cold, Adira felt so embarrassed in front of the crowd. 
On the other side, Isa alternately looked at Adira and Chadwick. Secretly, she laid a smirk on her lips before her eyes went to the woman, she hates the most. 
‘Can’t you see this? Chadwick will still choose me,’ Isa said to her mind while staring Adira with a mockery. 
The first one who dropped down her gaze was Adira. She does not want to stay here a bit longer. So, she dived into the water and will swim back to the edge of the pool. 
However, the leg that Isa kicked before suddenly throbbed in pain. Adira frowned as she felt the cramp in her legs. 
Inside the deep pool, Adira looked at her leg and patted it, as if begging it to move. But the pain wouldn’t leave. She looked at the surface of the water. The reflected light got farther and farther away.
Bubbles escaped from her mouth. 
Her heart raced and her chest tightened as the cold fist of understanding squeezed the breath out of her.
‘I can’t swim up! Damn it!’ Adira shouted. 
If she only knew that Chadwick would be there to save his princess, she shouldn’t have dive in. She regretted being kind for a moment and risked her life to the person who injured her leg. 
Adira looked down. The darkness she saw made him panic, as she was dragged down even more. When she looked up once again, the lit surface above seemed to mock her. 
She kicked her legs as fast as she could and part the water with huge strokes of her arms. She probably does not look graceful, but Adira does not care. 
Her chest is on fire. 
‘I need to breathe. I need air.’ 
Her chest was hurting badly, and she could feel her heartbeat louder and louder. She kicked, trying to get to the surface. 
Throb. 
But her leg throbbed again, and she felt the cramp fighting against her chest which is more painful. 
No luck. 
Everything started to hurt, and her chest felt like someone had stabbed her deeply. Suddenly her body didn’t hurt anymore. She was not going to make it, and no one would save her. 
‘This is an ugly dying,’ Adira told herself. 
However, as she was about to accept death, she felt a strong grip around her wrist. 
The strong grip pulled her upward and she could feel her light body moving to the surface. As she was brought up, Adira exploded from the water, spraying droplets everywhere. She filled her lungs with the sweet, life-giving air. 
‘I’m alive,’ she told herself while catching her breath. 
With heavy eyes, Adira looked at the man who pulled her out from the death. And to her surprise, he’s not his husband, but the bartender from her favorite bar, Geoffrey.