Twisted Ties of Love
Chapter 365

Brett, like a total outsider, stood alone, watching Izabella cradle the cat carefully.

He felt like a wreck.

Seeing Nikki, Izabella wanted to bolt with the cat. This place had become unbearable for her.

Brett tried to stop her. Though thinner, he towered over Izabella, standing like a solid wall, blocking her way.

"I've missed you like crazy these past three days," Brett said, looking like a lost puppy. Maybe it was his lack of sleep, but he looked as though he had been crying all night.

And the way he croaked out those words, it was hard not to feel sorry for him.

But unfortunately for him, Izabella wasn't the average person.

"I get it; now move," she said coldly.

Brett felt like he'd been shot in the heart by her callous gaze. The pain was unbearable.

He wiped his face. "Izabella, when I say I miss you, I mean I can't live without you. Do you get that?"

"I don't care, and I don't want to know. Besides," Izabella paused, giving a sarcastic smile, "you seem to be doing just fine right now, don't you?"

A painful look came over Brett's face. His eyes were red from the pain. Other than his chest, his head and legs were aching too. He didn't even know how he was standing and talking to Izabella.

"I'm telling you, I'm dying, Izabella. I've never been in love before. I thought I liked Kaley Cornett, so I treated you badly and messed up. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness." Brett looked at her with tears streaming down his face. "I tried to let you go, to watch you from afar, but I just couldn't do it. I really love you, Izabella. No one will ever love you more than I do."

Izabella held Nikki tightly in her arms. Her eyes were still wet from the unsheathed tears, but now they gazed darkly at Brett.

This guy loved her? What a joke.

He claimed to love her but pushed her into the abyss.

"Do you know why I wanted to burn myself alive here with Nathaniel Krueger? It was because I hated you. I wanted to get back at you, to escape from you. Brett, I've died once before. I'm not the same Izabella you used to control. What right do you have to stand here and say you love me?"

The Izabella, who loved Brett, had been burned to death in that fire.

Brett's chest pain intensified. He doubled over subconsciously, wanting to sit down, but he couldn't. The moment he moved, Izabella would leave without hesitation.

His breath shaky, Brett wiped away his tears.

He gently raised his hand. It was just a small gesture, but it made Izabella step back. The wariness in her eyes cut through his heart like a sharp knife.

Brett lowered his head, a bitter smile on his lips.

"I know you hate me; blame me; don't trust me. But what I'm saying is the truth. Your coming back is the biggest blessing I have. I don't want to cling onto you forever; just two years, no, one year is enough." Brett held up his index finger.

Late-stage lung cancer; he had about three years left. He heard that people with lung cancer get uglier as it progresses. He didn't need Izabella for a lifetime or even two to three years to watch him die. He only needed one year-just a short year.

Once he died, he wouldn't bother her anymore.

Such a small wish; maybe if he begged Izabella enough, she would grant it. He gained some confidence, his gaze hopeful as he looked at Izabella.

"I used to let you take care of me at home, but from now on, I'll take care of you for the next year."

"I'll make up for everything I owe you. When we were together, there were so many things we didn't get to do." Brett's eyes glazed over, as if he were lost in the past.

"In the three years after you left, I wished we could live like a normal couple. I would cook and you would eat; we would take walks after dinner. I would do all the chores; no more working overtime. All my spare time would be spent with you. We could go to theme parks and watch movies. Oh, and I still owe you a grand wedding and a suitable ring. We never had a honeymoon."

Izabella was expressionless, stroking Nikki's fur in her arms just like she used to.

After hearing Brett's "love confession", she finally responded. "Whatever you didn't give before, there's no need to give now. Besides, I don't need any of those things." Brett shook his head. "I don't believe you."

Izabella furrowed her brow. She really wondered if Brett was deaf.

"So just because you love me, I have to be with you? I don't even want to be with you for a year, a month, a day, an hour, a minute, or even a second. Why should I be with someone who'd hurt me instead of someone who's been good to me all along? Can't we just live our separate lives? Why do you have to be in my life?"

"But isn't that what you did? Izabella, you made me fall for you, then you ran away from me?" Brett's emotions got the best of him, and he grabbed Izabella's frail shoulders.

Izabella was startled, instinctively trying to resist. But Brett's grip was like a vice. She didn't want to hurt Nikki by struggling too hard, so she stood there, tense.

They were so close, breathing in each other's air.

Izabella looked up at him, her voice cold. "So you're the victim now? Let me ask you: how did you treat me when I loved you and you didn't love me? And how did I treat you? I forced you to marry me, and for that, I donated blood to Kaley for four years. I don't owe you anything."

"Brett, look at this cat. It's scared of fire, but it still tried to save me from it. Knowing I was gone, it waited for me for three years. I only took care of it for four months. But you? Four years, and I still couldn't make you fall for me!"

"You used my affection for you to hurt me over and over again! You trampled on my dignity! You kept me locked up like a dog, pressuring me to have your child. Have you forgotten all that? And don't even try to say that trading me for Kaley was some roundabout way of protecting me. That's just an excuse for your own weakness! You're even worse than a cat!"

"Now you claim to love me and want my forgiveness. It's a miracle that I haven't strangled you with a dog leash. The things you're saying just make me sick."

"Enough!" Brett suddenly shouted. He pulled Izabella into his arms, a hug that was three years late. The long-lost scent and warmth of her body clearly it was her, but why did it feel different?

Brett tried to hug her as tightly as he could, his arms trembling. It was as if he wanted to pull her inside him.

At that moment, Brett felt like he was drowning at sea, clutching onto a piece of driftwood. If he let go, he would be gone in an instant.

Izabella struggled fiercely in his arms. She held the cat with one hand and punched and bit him with the other. Brett's lower jaw was scratched, leaving several bloody marks, and his arm was bitten hard.

It looked painful with blood flowing out, but he didn't feel it at all. Because the pain inside him was far greater than any physical wound.