Chapter 6

Violet cut in, "So you guys get to steal a life, but she can't even dig into the truth?"

Mason looked at Isabella. "You won't find anything. I signed off on everything. The decision was mine. If you want to hate someone, hate me. Don't bring anyone else into this."

Isabella said, "Of course I hate you."

Mason was left speechless, rooted to the spot by her blunt words.

Lily sneered. "Investigate, huh? Please. She's just here to squeeze some cash out of the Gonzalez family. Pretends she's walking out empty-handed, but then uses those medical records to threaten us."

Isabella walked over to the coffee table, picked up a pen, and signed her name on the last page of the divorce agreement.

"I don't want your money," Isabella said.

Isabella set the pen down with finality.

"All I want is the truth," Isabella said.

Mason reached for the pen.

Nora shot to her feet. "Mason, don't sign it."

Mason froze.

Nora shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "Isabella hates us right now. If you sign that, she'll really walk out on us. Michael just left us. You can't push her away now."

Lily jumped in, "Mason, don't be impulsive. Divorce right after a funeral? That's not how we do things in the Gonzalez family."

Mason stared at Isabella's signature on the agreement.

Isabella said, "Sign it."

Mason threw the pen back onto the table.

"I'm not signing it," Mason said.

Isabella asked, "Why?"

Mason locked eyes with her, his voice cold. "You want out? Too bad. I'm not letting you go."

Violet snapped, "Do you even have any shame?"

Mason barked at the bodyguards, "Take Mrs. Gonzalez upstairs. She doesn't leave that room unless I give the word."

Isabella looked at him.

"How long do you think you can keep me trapped here?" Isabella shot back.

Mason replied, "I'll keep you here until you finally get it."

Riley rapped her cane on the floor. "Mason, have you lost your mind?"

Mason turned and headed upstairs. "Grandma, I've got this under control."

The bodyguards closed in.

Isabella didn't resist.

As Isabella passed by Nora, she paused for a moment.

"Why were you so afraid of him signing it?" Isabella asked.

Nora hugged Anthony tighter. "I wasn't."

Isabella's eyes fell on Nora's hand.

On her ring finger was an old ring, with a barely noticeable nick on the inside.

It was the same ring mark Isabella had spotted on the carpet in Mason's study the day before Michael got critically ill.

Isabella had thought she was seeing things back then.

Isabella looked up. "Nora, you'd better really don't know anything."

Nora looked away. "Isabella, please don't scare me."

Isabella was escorted upstairs.

The click of the lock sounded as the door closed behind her.

She walked over to the window, opened the drawer, and took out the family portrait Michael had drawn.

The drawing showed four people.

She, Michael, and Mason were all there.

Next to Mason stood a little boy, with "Anthony" scrawled across his chest.

On the back of the drawing, Michael had scrawled a sentence in his messy handwriting.

[Daddy says Anthony is part of our family too.]

Isabella stared at it for a long time, then carefully folded the drawing and slipped it into the medical records bag.

Her phone buzzed.

There was just one line in the message.

[Got the report. The signature was two days before you thought.]

Mason kept Isabella locked up for three days.

Every door in the Gonzalez Estate was guarded, and even the clothes Violet tried to send in never made it past the guards.

Isabella didn't make a fuss. Every day, she did three things.

She ate her meals, went through Michael's belongings, and pored over his medical records.

On the third day, around noon, Lily walked in with two maids.

"Isabella, don't blame me for being blunt. A woman can't be too stubborn. Given who Mason is, it's already not easy that he's willing to lower himself to coax you," Lily said.

Isabella closed the medical records bag. "Did he really lower himself for me?"

Lily was caught off guard for a moment, then had the maids put some dresses on the bed.

"There's a family dinner tonight. Anthony's out of the hospital, and Riley wants to celebrate and get rid of the bad vibes. Dress up a bit, don't come looking all gloomy," Lily said.

Isabella glanced at the light-colored dresses. "It hasn't even been seven days since Michael passed."

"That's exactly why we need to chase away the bad luck," Lily said, not missing a beat. "We can't have you sulking around forever. Nora and Anthony are staying here to recover. Don't make it uncomfortable for them."

Isabella looked up. "Who's moving in?"

Lily smiled. "Mason said the hospital's too crowded for Anthony to recover. Nora's just one woman trying to take care of a kid all by herself. It's easier if she stays here. At least someone can help out."

Isabella gripped the medical records so hard that a crease formed in the paper.

"This is my house," Isabella said.

Lily let out a mocking laugh. "This place has Gonzalez written all over it. You've been married in for seven years. Do you really think you run the place?"

A voice came from the doorway. It was Nora.

"Please, Lily, don't talk to Isabella that way," Nora said.

She stood in the doorway, steadying Anthony, who was hugging Michael's favorite teddy bear.

Isabella stood up.

"Put it down," Isabella said.

Anthony hid behind Nora. "Daddy said I could have it."