Isabella Leong’s Close Friend Reveals Cause of Break-up
Isabella Leong Lok Chi and billionaire, Richard Li met in 2007 through The Mummy 3’s co-star, Michelle Yeoh. Since then, Isabella was branded as “Cinderella” in dating the wealthy Richard. In April 2009, Isabella gave birth to their son, Ethan Lee. In 2010, Isabella gave birth to a pair of twin boys. When Isabella announced her split from Richard Li on February 26th, many negative rumors speculated the cause of their break-up.
An inside source stated, “Bella and Richard were truly in love. When Ethan was born, Richard loved them dearly. Richard even renovated his mansion in Hong Kong to accommodate Bella and Ethan moving in with him. However, Isabella felt bored and often asked Richard to spend more time with her. She even flew to Hong Kong by herself to find her friends. Richard accommodated her and went home directly after work to spend more time together. Since living together in Hong Kong attracted attention from the paparazzi, Richard asked Bella to return to Canada .
“After giving birth to twin boys last year, Bella said she wanted to resume her acting career. She even said that she can earn money to raise her children. Perhaps Bella wanted a man to love and pay more attention to her. However, Richard was not very happy over this.” According to the inside source, Bella and Richard had numerous arguments, finally resulting in their decision to end to the relationship.
Refusing to Be Branded a Gold Digger
Although the break-up has become a fact, Isabella was unhappy with rumors that branded her as a gold digger. An inside source noted, “Bella was very unhappy and felt the rumors were unfair. She did not want to be called a gold digger and refused to accept Richard’s money. She only accepted properties in New York and Hong Kong , to facilitate easier care over her sons. The properties have a combined value of $200 million (HKD). Richard agreed to take care of Bella and her sons for the rest of his life; this was what he meant.”
According to the inside source, Richard bought Isabella a $85 million (HKD) luxury house at Bel-Air Residence in Hong Kong . Stopping by the residence complex, the reporter noted that the building had security guards on duty 24-hours daily. Outside, security cameras recorded the street scene as well.
Isabella Leong to Star in Tsui Hark’s Latest Film?
The latest news claimed that Isabella has agreed to star in Tsui Hark’s film, Detective Dee Prequel <狄仁傑前傳>. An inside source noted, “Bella is concerned about the time required to film the movie since she needs to take care of her sons. She demanded that she have private time outside of work, especially on weekends. Since the filming will occur in China , Bella may relocate her sons to Hong Kong .”
When reporters contacted Tsui Hark to confirm the news, his secretary said that she did not receive the final notice yet. However, since Mr. Tsui’s secretary did not strongly deny the news, perhaps there may be some truth behind it.
Excerpt from http://t.cn/htZpPZ
Jayne: Shortly after she gave birth to their first son, Richard Li and Isabella Leong were living separately. With young children, it’s especially difficult for the couple to be leading separate lives. Perhaps the inside source did provide the real reason as to why the pair split up. With Isabella still young, I can understand her desire to not become a stay-at-home mother and want to do more things in life outside of children.
I am just surprised with the relationship at stake, couldn’t the couple try harder? It’s only been a year since the twin boys were born. Everything needs an adjustment period. If the couple still love each other, shouldn’t they give each other another chance?
I rather believe the unofficial story. I believe there were strong oppositions. She probably knew what she was getting into when she had the first child, hence her retirement from the entertainment industry. The fact that after 3 children and not even a word of an engagement I think the arguments stemmed from his refusal to make an honest woman out of her.
And I do not believe she did not receive cash apart from properties.
Richard Li became suspicious over Isabella’s 1st pregnancy, and eventually there were grounds to say she deliberately “tampered” with safety measures to try lock his commitment.
Once a cheat, always a cheat
I agree with Jayne. If they really love each other, they should give each other another chance. Even for the sake of the boys, they should try.
I understand Isabella’s POV. She’s young, she has much to experience. Being cooped at home waiting for her boyfriend to come accompany her will be very boring. It’s even more boring when she stayed in Canada alone without her friends. She can’t even be a socialite and organise charity or something like the other officially married actresses.
I think her request to come out to work again is not too much to ask for.
@Kidd, the reason why Richard asked Isabella to go to Canada was to escape the paparazzi. If she resumes acting again, the media will have more opportunities for coverage, exactly the opposite of what Richard Li desires.
Richard Li seems fierce in protecting his privacy. Aside from Isabella, he never graced tabloid magazines, not even photos of him attending charity balls.
Richard seems very different from Julian Hui, Michelle Reis’ husband. Props to Mr. Hui for marrying Michelle, since his family was rumored to have initially opposed their courtship. Mr. Hui does seem to have a more flamboyant character and he had a long history of dating actresses, notably Carina Lau, Monica Chan, and even Gigi Lai at some point.
Funn, a lot of things going against Isabella and Richard’s relationship from the start. From family pressure, paparazzi’s presence, Isabella’s young age, to Richard’s workaholic schedule. We are likely hearing the toned down version.
Totally agree with you Jayne!I think there is some truth this story, but as you have said, we are hearing a more toned down version of it. Hm… I think I have heard of similar cases from other actresses who married well off men. It seems like a lot of them want to continue their career while their husband/boyfriend wants them to stay home and take care of the kids. However, if the actress has a decent career and is still very young(like in Isabella’s case)then she will less likely agree to it. I think if they both loved each other that much and for the sake of their kids, they should consider giving each other another chance.One day, they may be together again, who knows?
Ditto. I think it was a bit of both in their situation. I don’t think it was only money, nor do I think it’s only love. I do think that if there was / is love there, that they should have tried harder and a bit longer for the sake of their boys. They are still so young.
If Isabella indeed wanted to resume her career, I can understand why that would have created opposition.
Does anyone know whatever happened to the whole EEG deal with Isabella? The last I heard Richard paid them off to free her from her contract… I wonder what happens now if Isabella wants to make a comeback.
What I do know is that Isabella is a much stronger actress than she is a singer. She’ll do well as a film actress (Anthony Wong pegged her as a newcomer to look out for after her first film).
As a mom of two and a wife of a very busy working man, I believe I understand where Bella is coming from. Right after you give birth, your hormone drops dramatically. Therefore, your emotion runs amok (i.e. postpardum depression). It makes it worst when the man you thought loved you and doted you with all of the attention is almost never around. You feel neglected, not loved, and needed attention from this ONE MAN. In the end, you’ll do things to try to attract his attention. I was in that shoe. And I recognized the problems, and sat down and talked to my husband, asked him for his support. In the end, I got it.
I hope Bella is not having postpartum depression. I hope there are people around her who can recognize the symptom should she has it. Lastly, I hope Mr. Li and Bella can really place the wellfare of their sons above pride, ego, and all else.
@Nina, thanks for sharing. A woman wants to continue to receive love and support from her husband after marriage and kids. Especially if the man is always working and the woman feels like she has no help with young kids.
Marriage is tough, as partners in a relationship need to meet each others’ needs to remain happy. I also think that women tend to have more emotional needs, while some men are used to repressing their emotions. Throw in kids, who can be very emotionally needy when they are young, and most new parents will feel exhausted.
For rich folks like Isabella, she can hire highly qualified nannies to relieve some of the childcare pressure. Emotionally, it is a difficult transition to be a new mom without Richard around. Since he probably has multimillion deals at work to discuss frequently, there is little time left for family.
To tell you the truth I am not familliar with Isabella Leong and Richard Li, but I think that Jayne is right, theey should try to stay together for the sake of the children. But I do see what Isabelle Leong is thinking, I mean having three kids before she is 25, and not married. This could get boring. But their break up could have because of their huge age difference… I mean it’s more than 20 years.
Is the age gap that big?? How old is RIchard??
How old is richard and how old is Isabella? They look more like a father-daughter relationship more than as a couple :S…
HeTieShou & Star, Richard is 44. Go read his wikipedia profile, which is extremely interesting on his business dealings.
Li Ka Shing’s older son, Victor is the Deputy Chairman of Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchinson Whampoa, the flagship conglomerates of Li Ka Shing’s empire. This essentially means that Victor, as the first son, will be the next in line to run these companies should anything happen to the elderly Mr. Li.
As the second son, Richard may have more to prove to the world. As Chairman of PCCW, the premiere telecommunications provider in Hong Kong, Richard appears to be more of the risk taker as compared to his brother in cutting technology deals. Allegedly, it is his dream to bring broadband to the the common folks in China.
@Yee, Richard’s business bio is hard to keep up with. A love relationship takes a lot of time to maintain and commitment. Maybe the man is simply too busy cutting million dollar deals. Maybe that’s why he didn’t get married. As a young mother, Isabella needs more than a part-time partner.
There’s only a second chance in love when both people are committed. Richard is not about to devote less time to his businesses. Maybe they split up because they realized that what Isabella wanted, she will never get and they had irreconcilable differences.
THanks for the info Jayne! I didn’t know that Richard was that much older than Isabella. That is a big age gap, but then again I have seen even bigger age gaps. In a traditional point of view, it is more acceptable for the guy to be older since women age a lot faster than men do.
I did not know that he had a profile on Wikipedia. His family really reminds me of the Ho Tung’s. I agree with what you are saying about their relationship. It is hard for a guy to devote time to his career and family, especially if he is the main breadwinner.
One of my friends broke up with her finance after being engaged for nearly 2 years. He promised to not work as much after they got engaged, but he ended up working even more after they did. This went on for nearly 2 years until she just could not take it anymore so they just broke up… I have a feeling it may have somewhat been that way for Richard and Isabella, except I think their case is way more complicated…
I agree with Yee’s comment.
did they even get marry?
this is pretty much a baby from a hot mom exchanged for a shiet load of cash
She is SELFISH….yes she may not be a gold digger…but if u really care about the children and twins who are less than a yr old you should already no u have to give up ALOT to be with the wealthiest chinese….
she would just love a normal guy if she wants a career and someone who will love her…she should know what she signed up for. any mother leaving with 3 kids is just SELFISH!!!!!! I don’t believe him being rich wasn’t a factor she dated him…
@Joey, when looking for a man, a woman seems to want it all: a successful, smart, ambitious, hard-working man to love. Dating these successful types come with a price. When the initial romantic air thins, the man will go back to being his usual ambitious self and work those long hours. Once he feels the relationship is stabilized, he will go back to focusing on his career.
When the relationship deepens, the woman may want her partner to be more attuned and responsive to her emotional needs. She may question why he is always working and if he cared, why not spend more time with her? She may be attracted by his ambition, but when the relationship gets deeper, she asks him to precisely lower his ambition and change for her.
Relationships are dynamic and sometimes as circumstances change (such as the addition of kids), needs change. What we once thought was important, we no longer find as important and vice versa.
Perhaps Isabella precisely didn’t want to torment herself and walked away from all that money. From the sound of things, she may have wanted more time from Richard, marriage, etc. Things that he couldn’t supply because of his family, status, and simply who he was.
Joey, r u a mom yet? i guess not, as for isabella case… she is so young n of cos mentally wise she is definitely not ready to be totally tied up with being a stay home mom n looking after 3 kids… so what if the husband is rich but woman’s need attention so does everyone else in the world… nothing is wrong… can ppl give them a break? it is their decision, no one else will have better insight than them… right, she cud see more money in the beginning, but soon she becomes a mom… life’s never the same. its not a joke to have 3 kids n so called the not married woman status with a man who is filthy rich but can’t grant her a proper status… MRS LI…
this is just from my point of views:
-she got kids with him, she will have plenty of money from the family,,
-she got enough of him,,,and now she got what she want,,, she have to leave as soon as she can,,
-22 yrs old rich, pretty girl like her,,, I am sure she can find tone of guys out there,,why she have to stay with an ugly old man
What did she think she was getting herself into when she agreed to have children with this man? That he will change and stay at home with her and spend all his waking-up time with her? Then within a year later, she has two more children with the same man. Richard Li is not an ordinary citizen, he is a busy man from a very prominent family. I can understand from the Li’s perspective that they would want their son to marry from the same blood. Just put yourself their shoes, do you think Prince William can marry any commoner on the street? Not saying that the Li’s are royalties. So, at the end of the day, I feel horrible for the children. They will be financially set, but I would hope that they will get the love, attention, and time they deserve from both parents, whether together or separate.
Well, Prince William is marrying a commoner since Kate Middleton is not of royal blood at all. But she is from a rich family.
I think it is sad that Richard’s dad wants him to marry someone rich as well, especially since his dad came from a poor background too. I thought that he should be able to be more understanding and open about whomever Richard wants to marry. Barbie Hsu is just a celeb just like Isabella and she married into a rich family like a lot of actresses do.Therefore, I don’t see what the big deal is IF Richard and Isabella did get married. It is the typical actress/singer marrying a rich guy from a rich family… That is just so common..
Kate Middleton may be a commoner, but her family probably mixes with the royals a lot. Plus Kate Middleton does not even have a whisper of a scandal, that’s why she is suitable. If she is Paris Hilton, even with that much wealth, I think the Queen will abdicate before letting Wills marry Paris.
And I don’t think rich background is the key. Good reputable background is the key which Isabella doesn’t have. If the girl is poor but comes from a long line of respectable family, I think there wouldn’t be much objection.
From what I’ve heard, the Li Family did not object to having Isabella marry into the family. They didn’t oppose to the marriage, but from what people think, it’s because Isabella wanted her “freedom” since the Li family keeps a very private life from the public world…
@Funn,
Well I am not familiar with Isabella’s background so I am not sure. You bought up some good points, but you know in some cases if a family is rich, they would want their son/daughter to marry someone of the same status too. However, it varies…
I also want to add that it depends on the family because look at Michele Reis.. She had a pretty bad background but her husband still married her. Hey, I guess she got lucky compared to Isabella and many others.
Michelle reis is different. Her husband is not young, he is the patriach. When Li Ka Shing dies, believe me, Richard will marry whomever he damn well pleases.
I totally agree with you, jayne. Since they have small children who need both of parents love, care and attention, why they did not find better way to solve the problem? Give chance!Being together as couple is not easy at all, but dont make problem bigger when there is a way to make it smaller. Since they both single,one is wealthy,children are good cond,mom is nice…what else???
Would a billionaire like him stay faithful? He travels a lot on business and i’m sure girls throw themselves at him. Must be tough for him!
Isabella is way too young and not a smart women. Even if she was a gold digger, she wasn’t good at it either. She should of just kept quiet even if their relationship was in trouble but instead she announce to the media which was not a wise decision.
She got what she wanted and got greedy thinking she could do better.
Most rich want their son to marry someone of same background, Kate Middleton may be commoner, however she was well educated and had good upbringing. Isabella is uneducated from poor background. She would be bored stayng at home, Richard was probably bored with her after a while. There are plenty of attractive and intelligent females he would meet during work and travel, I can imagne the jeolousy, and friction that arise. Then with the huge age gap, she being very young… They knew that differences wouldn’t be resolved..hence a breakup was final solution. Both must have eventually realised their future and couldn’t see being happy into future years. Frankly, I think he could have been less hasty in selecting a partner, considering his VIP status…men can be foolish, but lucky he can afford that. Hope both find happiness in future.
I feel like all rich people don’t want people whit the same back grand, Isabella is vary well educated if you must know she speak difference from use. so I don’t under stance how she uneducated. rich or poor dose not matter when it about love. and I don’t like it when people think that Important then what really matter and that god and family and love and happiness.
p.s Isabella I hope you fine happiness someday
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