Twisted Ties of Love (Izabella Salotti and Brett) novel Chapter 286

"You think I'd still like that baby related to you after knowing all this?" Izabella spat out harsh words, but deep down, her heart ached so much it was unbearable, as if a tiny hand was clutching it tightly.

Izabella's eyes were swollen and red like blood, too painful to shed tears. "You have no idea how I endured that hour, and those ten phone calls... I made ten calls to you, why didn't you pick up? If you'd just answered the very last one, Ryker wouldn't be dead."

She didn't fear the pain or becoming disabled; all she couldn't accept was the person who mattered most in her life leaving her.

He had been the light in her heart for more than a decade, the one she had silently guarded, only to be extinguished by Brett so easily.

Brett's throat tightened. He picked up Izabella's jacket and wrapped it around her, covering the scars below her neck. Holding her tightly, his tears fell directly onto her neck. "You should hate me, and I don't deserve your forgiveness, but Izabella, you're all I have left. I know I'm unforgivable, but please give me a chance to atone."

Izabella's body stiffened like a puppet as she stared at the retreating street outside the window. The window was half-open, and the cool breeze blew in gently, like a tender hand caressing the tear stains on her cheeks.

"Brett, I've already given you a chance. I've been married to you for five years, a full five years. I'm afraid of pain, yet I hurt myself recklessly, all for the sake of loving you. But now I realize it's all my fault. No wonder so many people call me cheap and tell me to go die."

"I also think I'm cheap and stupid. I've accomplished nothing in my life, and I even mistakenly thought you were the person who saved me when I was a child."

Izabella's light exhale fell on the back of his neck, and Brett felt as if he'd been struck by lightning, his scalp tingling. At this moment, he really didn't know what to do.

Izabella knew it all. She not only regained her memory but also knew that the one who saved her years ago was Ryker, not him.

Brett was frantic, his hands trembling as he held onto Izabella. The coldness in his heart spread throughout his body along his blood, even making his toes shiver.

He couldn't bear this kind of fear and wanted to escape. But if he fled, the Izabella in front of him would disappear. Brett took a shaky breath. "I won't let you go, never, never!"

This was said for Izabella to hear, as well as for himself. He couldn't let go of Izabella, even if it meant dying.

How could Izabella not know what he was thinking? No one knew better than her what a selfish and immoral man he was.

Before their divorce, he had her cornered with a mental illness diagnosis; after the divorce, perhaps he would lock her in a hidden place.

This was his usual tactic, after all, he had once held her like a dog on a leash.

"Right now, I hate you and also feel relieved. The thing I'm relieved about is that the person who saved me 18 years ago wasn't you. I just mistook the person, but at least I didn't love the wrong one. Fortunately, I didn't love someone as ungrateful and cruel as you."

Brett's ears buzzed, his heart aching as if cut by a knife. For the first time, he experienced heartache and the pain of a thousand arrows piercing through him.

"Have you really never loved me at all during our years together?"

Izabella tilted her head and laughed, "I only loved that memory, that memory has nothing to do with you. Brett, you just took something belonging to someone else; how could I possibly like you?"