Chapter 11

Isla forced a smile, but her voice was bitter. “Yeah, I never expected that either.” Her world had revolved around Henry in the past. She had never thought that she would be so sad over something that Noah had said one day. Scott looked at her, seemingly in deep thought. His expression was playful. As he was staring at her, she suddenly thought of something and a glimmer of hope flashed through her eyes. “Did Noah call you to come over here?” He recalled what Noah had said to him and smirked subtly. “No.” Isla’s eyes dimmed. Perhaps it was Aunt May who had called him because she was worried. Whenever she had been sick in her past life, Scott had treated her every single time, so she was definitely overthinking this. “Sorry that you had to come. I’m alright. It’s just a little cold, that’s all.” He looked at her pale face in a noncommittal manner. “I’m here anyway, so let me examine you.” “Thanks.” She made some space for him and Aunt May in the room. He examined her thoroughly, secretly cursing Noah when he confirmed that she merely had a light cold. He had thought something serious must have happened when Noah had called him in a rush. He had gotten him to drop by for a small cold. Did he think that he had all the time in the world? “It’s just a small cold, it’s not a big deal,” he said while handing her a paper bag, “This is some medicine. You’ll be cured after taking two doses.” Isla took it and thanked him. After chatting for a little bit, Scoff left. He called Noah as soon as he got into the car. In the director’s office, the secretary was reporting the highlights of the meeting to Noah. His phone suddenly rang, and the secretary paused and looked at him. She checked the document, not sure whether to go on with the report. He only grabbed his phone after signing the last page and picked up the call. The moment the call was connected, Scott’s teasing voice came. “Do you really not care about your wife? You only picked up after half a minute!” Noah lifted his eyes to glance at his secretary flatly, signaling for her to get out before asking, “How is she?” “Why don’t you check on her yourself since you care so much?” Scott smirked mischievously before exaggerating. “Her eyes are very swollen. I thought you had hit her.” Noah pursed his lips and frowned. “Be straightforward.” “I sense that she's different now. Remember what she’d do for Henry–” Seemingly realizing that he had misspoken, he paused and quickly changed the subject. “She asked if you got me to check on her. I said no, and she looked sad. She clearly still loves you. Why don’t you…” “Sad?” Noah scoffed and interrupted him in disdain. “You don’t know her.” What would she not do for Henry? She had put up such an act for Henry before, and he had believed her. What had happened afterward? He had been fooled. He did not want to repeat that mistake. “It doesn’t seem like… an act.” Scott dared not agree with him, but he could not disagree either. Isla was an actress after all. She had the most amazing acting skills in the industry, so it was possible that she was acting. “That’s not important.” Noah’s voice was flat, and it was hard to read his feelings. “Get Mr. Saunders to release him.” Scoff became serious now. “You’ve thought it through?” “Yes.” Noah stood next to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the entire city. His eyes were rather indifferent. “I’ll give her back the freedom she desires.” Scott’s jaw dropped. He did not know what to say at that moment, so he hung up after giving a short response. Isla felt dizzy, so she went back to bed after taking the medicine. She was woken up by the sound of her phone vibrating in the afternoon. She pulled out her phone, which had been under her pillow, in a daze and answered it. “Hello?” Her voice was husky. She was so sleepy that she could not open her eyes. “Isla!” A shriek came from the other side of the line. The man’s voice contained rage and coldness. She was awake now, and she opened her eyes. She would never forget that voice. She was shaking badly, so she gripped her phone tight. Resentment now filled her eyes. Henry did not realize something was off, as he continued to yell. “Isla, why didn’t I know that you were so shameless? What does me not liking you have to do with Ava? She’s so good to you that she has been treating you like her own sister. How could you betray her? You even got her and her mom kicked out of the Bennett family! How could you be so evil?” Isla took a deep breath, curling her other hand into a fist. Her shaking body gradually calmed down. Hearing her silence, Henry thought she was admitting she was at fault and reflecting on it. There was arrogance in his tone now. “Go back to the Bennetts at once and apologize to Ava. Beg them to let her stay. Also, get Noah to apologize to me for hitting me at the bar. Then, I’ll consider forgiving you. Otherwise, you–” Isla could not suppress the rage in her even after clenching her fist. The rage was growing. Hearing what he said, she suddenly realized that she must have been blind in her previous life to like a jerk like him. “You wish!” She could no longer hold back and she scoffed at him. “I don’t f*cking care if you forgive me!” If Henry had been in front of her right now, she would definitely have slapped him and asked him if he was dreaming. She was pissed! “W-What did you say?” He was so dumbstruck that he failed to react. “I said, do you really think that you’re such a big shot? “Henry, did you forget that I gave you everything that you own? Without my resources and connections, do you think people would have even looked at you?!” “Are you out of your mind, Isla?!” Henry felt humiliated. What she had said was like a slap on his cheek, embarrassing him and making him angry. “How could you talk to me like that? I order you to apologize to me right now, or I won’t even look at you for the rest of your life, let alone have you as my girlfriend!” Isla scoffed at him in disdain. She was the one who had helped him succeed. Without her, he would still be playing corpses. It was because he was so shameless that he’d thought he could do whatever he wanted all this time! “Can you please look in the mirror? How can you even compare to my husband? You think you can order me around? Who do you think you are? “You want my husband to apologize to you? Pfft! Dream on!” She hung up right after she was done. Hearing Henry’s voice made her sick. Meanwhile, Henry was pissed when the call was hung up.