Chapter 167

Nathaniel had just called to inform her about the lawyer he arranged. Their meeting was scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Isabella needed this divorce finalized immediately.

Julian knew she misunderstood his intentions, but he didn't correct her. "Understood," was all he said.

When the silence stretched, Isabella assumed he'd hang up. "Mr. Montgomery," she asked, perplexed, "was there something else?"

Her voice held no trace of the anguish Julian expected - no sorrow, no turmoil. Just calm detachment.

Could she truly be this unaffected? Or was she masking her pain?

"Mr. Montgomery?" she prompted after three seconds of silence. "Are you still there?"

Julian snapped back to reality. "Yes."

"If there's nothing else," Isabella continued briskly, "I have work to attend to." Without waiting for response, she added, "Goodbye."

Left with no choice, Julian muttered, "Very well."

The line went dead before he finished speaking.

Frederick had expressed interest in her latest research proposal days ago. He'd asked her to compile her findings for journal submission.

Between InnovaTech and YodaVision commitments, she'd made little progress. Now with unexpected free time, she opened her laptop determinedly.

Julian immediately called Oliver back. "Alexander wants full custody of Sophia in the divorce. She must be contesting it?"

Oliver had called precisely about this development. "That's the thing - she's not! Signed everything without argument. Completely calm about it - unnaturally so."

This wasn't the Isabella they knew. Julian struggled to reconcile this behavior with the woman who'd loved Alexander since adolescence.

"Maybe it's a ploy?" Oliver speculated. "Playing on his guilt?"

Julian couldn't dismiss the possibility. Not with Isabella's history.

"How did Alexander react?" Julian asked after a pause.

"Shocked. At dinner, he kept watching her more than usual." Oliver chuckled darkly. "If I'm right, she's playing chess while we're playing checkers."

"Or," Julian countered, "she genuinely wants out."

Oliver snorted. "After fifteen years? Impossible."

"People change," Julian murmured.

"Not that much," Oliver insisted. "Anyway, this works in Alexander's favor. When you return and Victoria recovers, we should celebrate."

Only then did he notice Julian's unusual silence.