After I Stopped Loving Him (Isabella and Ethan) novel Chapter 981

“Natalie blames me for everything, even though you know there’s nothing going on between us except real feelings. Jackson, you have to stand up for me. I get it if she doesn’t see me as family, I really do, but she can’t just hit me whenever she’s upset, right?”

Natalie bit her tongue, fuming inside.

Unbelievable. This woman always managed to play the victim first.

Jackson glanced at his wife’s face, focusing on the angry red mark with a clear handprint. It was obvious someone had hit her, and hit her hard. Then his eyes shifted to Natalie.

He’d already seen the local news blow up that morning.

The first thing he saw was a photo of Harold and Isabella holding hands, with reporters claiming they were dating. The comments section was filled with suspiciously supportive messages. Jackson could tell right away most of them were paid for.

When it came to his ex-stepdaughter moving on so quickly after her divorce, and again with someone wealthy, Jackson actually felt happy for her. His marriage to Cynthia had ended without yelling or drama. After twenty years together, there was still a little bit of affection, some sense of family left. Even after the divorce, he found himself rooting for Isabella. He made some calls to get the trending topic taken down and hired people to leave positive comments for her online.

It didn’t really change much. Things only started turning around when Harold and Ethan both released statements explaining the situation.

Jackson was starting to really dislike her. If their families weren’t so tied up in business together, he would have told his son to find someone else.

“Dad, I swear, I didn’t hit her! She slapped herself and is blaming me! I just yelled at her, that’s all, and she yelled right back! I just came downstairs to eat breakfast, but she started picking a fight with me first!”

“She always does this, acting like the innocent one. She plays the victim, but it’s all fake. She’s so shameless, it’s disgusting!”

Natalie had fallen for Deborah’s tricks more than once, but she never seemed to learn.