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My family
That day signaled a turning point in their rocky relationship, the peace remained and along with it a mutual, ever-deepening respect blossomed between them. Justin consulted her on some of his business decisions, seeming to value her opinions and take her advice and, taking her cue from him, Isabella started asking for his opinions on some of her designs and developed a keen admiration for the eye he seemed to have for quality jewelry. With his encouragement she started attempting more difficult pieces using new mediums and she was pleasantly surprised with the results.
Life was better but by no means perfect, they still slept apart at Isabella's insistence, and even though he still accompanied her to all of her doctor's appointments and was even her coach at the natural childbirth classes she had started attending, Isabella hardly ever talked to him about the baby and did her utmost to discourage any discussion he may want to have about it.
Lisa was meant to be her coach but her cousin had her hands full with Rhys and promised to be there for the birth but could not put in the time commitment at the classes. That, of course, meant that Justin was nothing more than a temporary replacement which she knew grated on his ego. Clara still loomed large between them and even though Isabella was careful never to mention the other woman's name; she was never far from Isabella's mind.
Justin had gone to Italy a couple of times during the past three months and after compulsively checking the Internet for any news about him while he was away, she had finally found pictures of the two of them together, attending some glamorous function in Milan. She couldn't read the Italian article but it had been an extensive four page spread on the event and Justin and Clara Delvecchio, as the captions had identified her, had been two of the most beautiful people there, so there had been at least a dozen pictures of them smiling, dancing and drinking.
Justin had looked so relaxed and happy with the statuesque, gorgeous brunette on his arm, that Isabella had been unable to stop staring at the pictures. That was how he should have looked on their wedding day, carefree and in love. Instead his face had looked like it would crack wide open if he so much as tilted his lips at the corners. It had physically hurt her to see those pictures but the one that had torn her apart had been of him, bending down to drop a kiss onto his Clara's full, pouting red lips. Never had she seen two more evenly matched people.
Isabella sighed and shook herself slightly, as she found herself thinking of that picture again. It had been more than a month since she'd seen it and she hadn't mentioned it to Justin, knowing that it would achieve little, especially with their separation looming less than three months away.
