After I Stopped Loving Him novel Chapter 196

Her eyes snapped open. No one was there.

Must’ve been a dream.

Isabella let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding and settled back into her pillow, ready for a few more minutes of sleep.

When she woke again, the clock was pushing past eight, and her stomach was already grumbling. If she missed her usual breakfast time, hunger would always drag her out of bed.

She stretched, arms overhead, and finally sat up. As she turned her head, her eyes went wide. She stared, frozen, at her pillow and the nightstand.

Was she seeing things? Gold bars were stacked by her pillow. Her nightstand was covered in gold jewelry.

She blinked, rubbed her eyes, and told herself she must still be dreaming. Maybe she was having one of those weird, vivid dreams where she hit the jackpot. That had to be it.

Deciding to test it, Isabella flopped back onto the mattress, rolled onto her side, and squeezed her eyes shut. After a few moments, she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes again, slowly this time, as if that would reset reality.

She pinched her thigh, hard.

“Ow. That actually hurts.”

She was definitely awake. No dream.

Cautiously, she peeked over at her pillow again. The gold bars were still there, glinting in the sunlight that slipped through the gap in the curtains and lit up their shiny surfaces.

Real gold. Right there, in her room.

Isabella jolted upright, scooping up a few bars in disbelief.

“Oh my god. These are really gold bars. Are they real?”

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