Chapter 46 Forty Six


    As more customers started making negativements about Naomi, she decided to give the bag to


    Isabelle.


    “You can have it,” she said, all but throwing the bag into Isabelle’s hand.


    Isabelle took the bag and opened it. She was not surprised at all to find a bunch of money inside.


    Sneering, she took it all out and looked up at Naomi. “Look at that, you’re also carrying quite the


    amount around. Did you get this from our poor parents, too?”


    If looks could kill, Isabelle would drop dead from the re Naomi was directing her way at that moment.


    And if she had been a cartoon character, smoke would be billowing out of her nose and ears. That


    didn’t stop Isabelle from going on with her little show and counting the money she had found in her


    sister’s bag.


    Once she was done, she put the money back into the bag and held it on herp. “This bag and the


    money can partlypensate the money you owe me,” she said, looking up at Naomi.


    Naomi huffed, and then dove for the bag, but Isabelle shot from her chair and held it above her head.


    “Naomi, what are you doing?” she asked in a tone more befitting of a school teacher chastising a


    naughty kid.


    “Give it back!” Naomi snapped, trying to reach for the bag. “Give my bag back,” she demanded, trying


    to get a hold on the bag.


    “Why?” Isabelle asked. “You don’t want to lose your money and expensive bag to me? Maybe you


    should have thought twice before refusing to pay me the money you owe me.”


    Naomi made another futile swipe for the bag and stumbled on her heels. She caught herself on the


    table and red at Isabelle, her nostrils ring with anger.


    She hadn’t expected her n to nder Isabelle to go sopletely off-track. If this went on, she


    would only make a fool of herself. Worse, she feared that Isabelle might reveal secrets about her. After


    all, the previous day, she had threatened to tell the truth about the wedding to Jacob.


    Fuming, she turned around and stormed out of the restaurant. She would get back at her, one way or


    another.


    Isabelle sighed with relief when Naomi turned away and left. While she was d to put her in her ce,


    she hadn’t been looking forward to taking the argument further. Knowing Naomi, it would have been


    only a matter of time before they were involved in a physical fight.


    Sitting back down, she nced at her two tablemates, her eyes resting on Seth. “I’m really sorry about


    that. I had no idea she was capable of making a scene in a ce like this. You must be regretting


    agreeing to my dinner invitation.”


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    Seth shook his head and blinked. He definitely was not regretting joining Isabelle for dinner. Of course,


    he would have preferred to not have met her husband during said dinner, or for here to have one at all,


    but the encounter with her sister, while at first unpleasant, had turned out quite well.


    Since college, he had viewed Isabelle as a quiet woman who was soft spoken and kind, and would


    have worried that people took advantage of her because of her nature. He never would have imagined


    she was quite capable of defending herself like that when the odds seemed to be against her.


    He realised that she had a strong personality he had never seen before, and he wasn’t sure now was a


    good time to discover even more amazing things about her. Not when his dreams of courting her had


    been cut short by the appearance of her husband.


    “No, it’s okay,” he told her with a smile. “No harm done.”


    Despite his assurance, her brow furrowed. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”


    “You didn’t do anything wrong,” Seth told her, “so please don’t apologise. You handled everything quite


    well.”


    Isabelle gave him a small smile. “She caught me by surprise. But that’s all over now. We can now finish


    our dinner in peace… I hope.”


    The two shared augh, but Jacob didn’t so much as smile. Isabelle had expected him to at least ask a


    question once Naomi was gone, but he kept his indifferent attitude through the rest of dinner.


    She was worried about what he was thinking, the conclusions he might have made from the argument


    with Naomi. Now, it was no secret that there was a big disagreement between her and her family. Not


    just any disagreement, but one regarding money. At least the entire secret wasn’t out of the bag yet. If


    he asked, she could easily make up some tale about why her own parents owed her money.


    Eventually, the couple parted with Seth, who left the restaurant first. Isabelle turned to Jacob, thinking


    that now that Seth was gone, maybe he would voice out what was in his mind.


    “Our ce is not far from here,” she said as she pulled on her coat and gathered her bag and the one


    she had taken from Naomi. “How about we just walk home?”


    The walk home would give them enough time to talk about what had happened–if he was going to talk


    at all. Besides that, Isabelle just wanted to enjoy the fresh air and to walk off some of the nerves Naomi


    had inspired with her performance.


    “Sure,” Jacob said.


    As the pair made their way out of the restaurant and onto the street outside, Jacob mulled over the


    happenings of the evening. When he had left the apartment to join Isabelle and her supposed saviour


    for dinner, he hadn’t expected things to take the turn they had.


    At first, he had been ready to shut Isabelle’s sister up, like he had done in the past, but he hadn’t


    expected his wife to take charge and expose her single-handedly. And, the more the argument


    escted, the clearer it became that there was a lot he didn’t know about his wife.


    He already knew that Isabelle did not have a good rtionship with her mother and sister, thanks to the


    day he had gone bearing gifts only to find them throwing her out of the house.


    There was also the day they had run into Naomi and her rich boyfriend. Naomi had tried to embarrass


    Isabelle back then by calling her poor.


    Isabelle had told him that the reason she was short on cash was because she had spent too much the


    month before. But now, after Naomi used her of demanding money from their parents, she had said


    that her family owed her money.


    He wondered why a wealthy family like the Cruzes would cut off their daughter. It was obvious they


    didn’t have a problem providing for Naomi, who dressed expensively. Exactly what kind of


    disagreement was between Isabelle and her family?


    As they walked towards theirmunity, he decided to ask her. “What was that about?” he asked,


    trying to get a close look at Isabelle’s face. She had lied the first time when he had asked about why


    she was short on cash. He hoped she would tell him the truth this time round. “Why would your family


    owe you money?”


    Isabelle looked up at him, and then looked away quickly when she noticed his intense gaze. “Oh, it’s


    nothing serious,” she said.


    Did she really expect him to believe that after what had happened at the restaurant?