Mr. Villain's Lovely Wife (Izzy and Liam) novel Chapter 232

Izzy stood at the long table near the window, holding a pair of pruning shears. She clipped the stem of a white ranunculus, turning it in her hand before placing it into the vase beside a group of tightly clustered blue hydrangeas.

The vase was ceramic, cream-colored, and already half full. A spray of peach garden roses was layered behind the hydrangeas, giving the arrangement depth.

Maria stood a few feet away, arms crossed, watching her work. She glanced around the sunlit room—neutral tones, clean lines, nothing extravagant.

“This what you dreamed about?” Maria asked. “Just arranging flowers now that you’re married?”

Izzy didn’t look up. She moved to the next stem, a stalk of silver brunia. “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

“You’re really quitting after all this?”

“I’m not quitting.” Izzy selected a blush pink spray rose, trimmed the leaves, and added it to the front of the bouquet. “I’m choosing.”

Maria shifted her stance. “You fought off half the board. Dragged their secrets into the light. Then dropped everything. Just like that.”

“I wanted peace.” Izzy reached for another ranunculus. “After everything with Weiss, Horvath, the press, I just… I wanted to sleep. Not check headlines. Not prep files. Just sleep.” And obviously, she wanted to find out who was the person who’s been treating her and everyone else like a damn puppet.

She knew that whoever was behind the scenes wanted her to play this game. He or she must have wanted her to fight, to wonder who the enemy is, to chase, to suffer. But what if… Izzy completely stopped playing this game? What would happen if she just suddenly quit?

That question had kept her up the night before her announcement. It wasn’t about giving up. It was about disrupting the rhythm. They expected her to fight. They counted on her pride. That she’d stay locked in the chess match, matching each move.

But if she quit? If she just dropped her side of the board and walked away?

It meant the enemy would lose control. Because control only worked if the other person was still reacting.

Izzy hadn’t resigned out of weakness or fear. She resigned because it was the last play no one saw coming. Peace wasn’t retreat. It was power. Because now, every step taken against her would be exposed for what it really was: unprovoked. No narrative. No justification.

Let them scramble now. Let them explain why they were still coming for someone who wasn’t even in the game anymore.

She adjusted the last rose hip in the bowl. Then she reached for the watering can and began lightly misting the finished arrangements. Her movements stayed steady.

“I want a family,” she added. “And I want my husband to wake up beside me, not next to a crisis.”

Maria didn’t respond right away. She pulled out her tablet. “The board accepted your resignation without protest. But giving Liam your voting rights? That’s what’s making noise.”

Izzy shrugged. She brushed away a few stray leaves that had fallen onto the table. “He can handle it.”

“Shareholders are nervous.”

“I’m still a multimillionaire, Maria. I just don’t have to sit through calls and balance sheets to prove it.”

Izzy stepped back from the vase, eyeing the composition. She moved one of the hydrangeas slightly to the left. The white of the ranunculus popped more clearly that way. She turned toward a second arrangement, this one smaller—just eucalyptus, spray carnations, and lisianthus. She trimmed the stems again, working quietly.

“You really think it’s that simple?” Maria asked.

“I do,” Izzy said. “I’ve spent years proving myself. Let the rest of them worry now. I have nothing to prove anymore.”

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