After I Stopped Loving Him novel Chapter 1181

"I've made plans with Jesse. He's bringing Laura along."

Isabella didn't overthink it. "Whatever you arrange is fine. I can take two days off this week, so getting out and relaxing sounds perfect."

"Honestly, Harold, I feel a little bad," she admitted. "We're a couple, but I can count the number of dates we've had on one hand."

Work had simply been too demanding.

With so much going on, their dates had been few and far between since making their relationship official. They couldn't even compare to a normal couple.

Harold reached out, affectionately tapping the tip of her nose.

"Why are you bringing that up? I get it. I'm incredibly busy too. As long as you don't blame me for not having enough time for you, we're good."

No matter how few dates they went on, he was still her official boyfriend.

"Ethan's here to crash your family's breakfast again."

Harold's voice broke the comfortable silence.

"Him..." Isabella sighed. "My mom said he's been coming over for meals every single day since his second day out of the hospital. She feels too awkward to kick him out, not that she even could. The man is utterly shameless."

Her voice dripped with sheer helplessness.

Quickly recovering, she added, "He can do whatever he wants, and we can't stop him. Let's just focus on ourselves. Go tell my uncle to come in for breakfast, and then we'll head out for the beach."

If Ethan wanted to try and play the dutiful son-in-law, that was his business—though it was a massive dead end.

Her mother ultimately respected her choices. Since she had chosen Harold, her family stood firmly by his side. No matter how much Ethan did or how hard he tried, they would never sway in his favor.

If she had chosen Ethan instead, they would have swallowed their distaste and tolerated him.

All that mattered to them was her happiness.

"Alright. Just don't let Ethan tag along."

Harold muttered the words under his breath.

The crisp autumn weather made it the perfect time for a coastal retreat, but for someone as frail as him, the biting sea breeze would guarantee a relapse.

Harold finally relaxed.

He headed out to the backyard to call her uncle in for breakfast.

The moment Harold stepped outside, Ethan seized his chance. He approached Isabella and offered the bouquet he had brought with him. "Isabella, these are from my garden. They bloomed beautifully this morning, so I clipped them and arranged them myself."

"They're for you. I hope they brighten your day. Should I put them in a vase for you?"

He had already noticed the existing flowers in the vase. He didn't know if Harold had bought them or if Cynthia had arranged them, but he fully intended to replace them with his own.

Isabella scolded him mildly, "If you're recovering, you should be resting. Stop walking around and clipping flowers. Didn't you pull at your stitches when you bent down? You need to be careful."

"I don't need these. Don't bring them over anymore. Just leave the flowers in your yard."

She had absolutely zero interest in accepting his romantic gestures.