Can't Win Me Back (Isabella and Nathan) novel Chapter 5

Chapter 5
Isabella looked at Victoria and replied readily, “If you want him, then take him.”

She said it as if he were a display item on a shelf, available for anyone to claim.

Victoria’s face lit up with joy, and she immediately hugged Nathan tightly.

But her happiness was short-lived.

She quickly realized that Nathan stood stiffly in her embrace, as if he had turned into stone.

Puzzled, she looked up at him and saw that his eyes were fixed on Isabella with an expression so chilling it made her shiver.

“Isabella, you must be delirious from your fever. Do you even know what you’re saying?”

The Isabella of the past loved him to a suffocating degree. She had given up her cherished career to care for him, endured bitter herbal remedies daily in hopes of bearing his child, and sacrificed her self-respect entirely for his love. She was even nicknamed the "bootlicker wife" by people in the capital.

But now, this same Isabella was speaking of him as though he were an unwanted object to be discarded.

“My fever is gone, and my mind is perfectly clear. I know exactly what I’m saying,” Isabella replied nonchalantly.

Nathan eyed her, his tone uncertain. “No regrets?”

Isabella glanced at the matching couple’s rings on his and Victoria’s fingers and smirked. “Mr. Hill, the matching ring on your left hand is identical to Victoria’s. Since she’s the one you love, why would you think I’d want you? My standards for a partner may not be high, but loyalty is a non-negotiable baseline. I’ll find someone who loves me wholeheartedly and live a steady, happy life. Why should I waste my time on someone like you—unfaithful and unreliable? A man like you, a textbook example of a scumbag—what’s there to miss? Once I recover, I’ll divorce you.”

Nathan looked down at his ring, a flicker of guilt flashing through his eyes.

“You’re misunderstanding. Victoria and I just happened to buy the same ring. This isn’t a couple’s ring,” he explained, pulling it off and slipping it into his pocket.

Victoria’s face turned pale as she stared at Nathan in disbelief, tears pooling in her eyes. Hurt and overwhelmed, she ran out of the room sobbing.

Nathan watched her retreating figure, his expression dark and unreadable. His fists clenched tightly as he turned back to Isabella. “Isabella, I can’t leave you now, you’re not in good health. But if you still insist on divorce after you’ve recovered, I’ll grant it.”

He left abruptly, hurrying after Victoria.

Isabella stared at her IV drip, no longer pretending to be strong. Her frail body wouldn’t allow her to.

But once she left the hospital, she vowed to end things with this man for good. She didn’t need a man who couldn’t stay loyal.

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The next morning, Isabella was half-asleep when she overheard nurses whispering outside.

“The patient in the room next door tried to jump off the roof last night. The crown prince stayed up there with her all night, pleading with her until she came down.”

“I don’t understand him. That woman is sickly and far from an ideal match, yet he treats her like a treasure. He even went through so much trouble to find her Sis for the kidney transplant. And now that she has a new lease on life, she doesn’t appreciate his efforts.”

“If you ask me, he’s blind and foolish, deserving of whatever misery he gets. The real victim here is the one in this room. After being drained of all her value by those two ‘star-crossed lovers,’ her Sis got what she wanted and now wants to steal her husband, too. This poor woman is about to be left with nothing, and she doesn’t even seem to fight back.”

Isabella’s toes curled in anger, gripping the edge of the bed tightly. Her bloodshot eyes glistened with suppressed tears.

After the nurse replaced her IV drip, she finally drifted back to sleep, only to be awakened at noon by hunger.