Chapter 22

Isabella wasn't about to strip Michael down completely. She just helped him out of his shirt and socks, and loosened his belt so he could sleep more comfortably.

After that, she was ready to crash in another room when she remembered a news story she'd read. Some guy got wasted, passed out face down, and choked on his own vomit. Not a pretty way to go.

Isabella thought, 'For such a handsome man like Michael, dying in a pool of vomit would be a really humiliating way to go.' So, she grabbed a chair and sat by the bed to keep an eye on him.

The next morning, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, there was a knock on the door. Isabella, fighting off sleep, got up and shuffled to the door.

"Isabella, can you open up? I need to talk to you," John kept knocking like he wasn't gonna stop until she answered.

Peeking through the peephole, she saw John and Bianca outside. She really didn't want to deal with them and even thought about pretending she wasn't home.

She glanced back at the bedroom and saw Michael stirring. With a sigh, Isabella opened the door.

"What do you want?" she asked, giving John and Bianca a cold stare.

John took a deep breath. "We're here to apologize."

Isabella was taken aback.

"My uncle told me everything. It was all a big misunderstanding. Bianca, explain," John said, turning to Bianca.

Bianca wiped her eyes, looking like she'd been crying. She grabbed Isabella's hand, her voice shaky. "Isabella, I'm so sorry. I had no idea Eric would try to hurt you. I called him, pretending to be John, just to scare him and get some money for you. I never thought he'd do something like that."

Isabella pieced it together. John's uncle knew what went down last night and had given John a serious talking-to. That was why John brought Bianca to apologize.

With a cold smile, Isabella looked at Bianca, fully aware of what she was up to.

"Bianca, a simple 'sorry' isn't gonna cut it," Isabella said, pulling her hand away.

Bianca, avoiding Isabella's gaze, asked, "What do I need to do for you to forgive me?"

Without warning, Isabella slapped Bianca hard across the face.

Grabbing Bianca's hair, she yanked her face close. "You think I don't know what you were planning? You wanted Eric to assault me, ruin my reputation so I couldn't marry into the Williams Family, and you could marry John instead, right?"

"Isabella, stop it! Let go," John tried to intervene, but Isabella released Bianca's hair before he could reach her.

"It's not that easy for Eric to trick me into bed. Instead, I caught him and got $30 million out of him. John, listen up, I've already won our bet for my family's company. I don't need your interference anymore," Isabella said, her eyes cold as ice.

John was taken aback. He hadn't expected Isabella to actually pull off getting $30 million.

Bianca's eyes flashed with resentment. "Isabella, are you lying? I don't believe anyone would give you $30 million."

Isabella pulled a bank card from her pocket. "There's $30 million on this card. If you don't believe me, go check at the nearest bank."

She smirked at both of them.

As they stood there, stunned, Isabella turned to Bianca. "From now on, don't play the victim with me. That slap was just a lesson; you won't get my life that easily."

Isabella started to head back to her room but suddenly stopped, turned around, and slapped Bianca again.

"Now I feel much better," she said with a smile, then shut the door.

Bianca, humiliated, tried to get out of her wheelchair to knock on Isabella's door.

"Enough, Bianca. Let's go," John said, stopping her and pushing her wheelchair downstairs.

"Even Michael is paying more attention to Isabella now. If we keep bothering her, she might report us to Grandfather, and then we'll be in real trouble," John said, reluctantly pushing Bianca away from the building.

When Isabella got back to the bedroom, she found Michael was already awake.

"Sorry for the noise earlier," Isabella shrugged, giving a helpless smile.

Michael had heard the commotion at the door and knew Bianca and John had been there, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

"Did you stay by my side all night?" Michael asked with a smile.

Isabella blushed slightly and shook her head. "No, I slept in the guest room."

Michael pointed to a small wet mark on the bed. "If I'm not mistaken, that's from you drooling in your sleep."

Isabella's face turned bright red. "I just remembered, it's time to make breakfast."

She quickly left the bedroom and headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, avoiding Michael's gaze.

Michael smiled, got out of bed, and went to the bathroom to freshen up, looking forward to the breakfast Isabella was making.

Meanwhile, outside the building, Bianca and John didn't leave right away.

John called a driver to take Bianca home while he went back inside.

"When Isabella went in earlier, I saw a pair of men's shoes on the shoe rack," John muttered to himself as he took the elevator to Isabella's floor.

He remembered reading that some single women would place men's shoes by the door to make it look like a man lived there, deterring intruders. But John was sure those shoes had been worn. Isabella's husband must have been in her house.

Standing outside Isabella's door, John reached out but didn't have the courage to knock.