After I Stopped Loving Him (Isabella and Ethan) novel Chapter 1057

"I don't have many memories of my dad, so everything I know comes from my mom. But she always said his cooking was out of this world, and I believe her."

If his food hadn't been good, the seafood restaurant never would have thrived. Later, when her grandparents and uncles forcibly took over the business, their subpar cooking and habit of price-gouging tourists completely tanked the reputation. They only managed to scrape by during the peak tourist season.

Most of the time, they barely made enough to keep the family fed.

Yet, despite their failures, they were pathologically lazy. They figured that owning a restaurant made them 'bosses,' and bosses shouldn't have to work for anyone else.

Her aunts, uncles, and cousins refused to go out and find real jobs. When the off-season hit, their finances completely dried up, and her cousins would occasionally have to take on odd jobs just to afford basic spending money.

Meanwhile, the smart and hardworking families in their village had long since capitalized on the coastal tourism boom, building real wealth. Their living standards left Isabella's grandparents in the dust.

It was precisely because they were struggling financially—and because her grandmother had fallen ill—that they turned into complete bloodsuckers the moment they found out she had married into a wealthy family and had access to endless luxury. They lunged at her, determined to drain her dry.

Did they not understand basic human decency?

Of course they did.

They just didn't care. They only wanted to leech off her. Seeing everything she had now filled them with a rabid, blinding jealousy. The sheer entitlement of the demands they made on the very first day they tracked her down exposed exactly how greedy they were.

She had to harden her heart. She couldn't afford to compromise—not even a little. If she gave them an inch, they would take a mile. The only way to make them give up was to ensure they got absolutely nothing from her.

"If they had seized that opportunity twenty-something years ago, they definitely would have made a killing. It's a lot harder to make that kind of money now. Business is tough across the board these days. Even for massive corporations like ours, sometimes we grind for an entire year only to end up taking a loss."

The only saving grace was that massive conglomerates had deep pockets. Even if they took a hit, they could weather the storm.

As top-tier executives, their job was to reverse any downward trends and ensure the company didn't bleed money indefinitely. Even breaking even or making a marginal profit was a victory in current conditions.

Isabella smiled softly. "You might think the market is tough this year, but wait until next year or the year after. You'll look back and realize this year was actually pretty good. The real struggle is still coming."

"But the Carter Group doesn't have anything to worry about. You guys are an established empire with incredibly deep foundations. The younger generation of management is sharp and adaptable, and you've successfully modernized the company. As long as you keep evolving with the times, the market won't leave you behind."