Twisted Ties of Love novel Chapter 546

After leaving Bunny, Brett headed home, the journey taking less than half an hour. He stood at the entrance of the diner, shivering in the bone-chilling cold of December. A gust of icy wind brushed against his face, damp and unforgiving. He touched his cheeks, then gazed, bewildered, at his fingertips.

The tears he shed in his life, except for those for his parents, were all because of Izabella. He didn't want to cry, standing there on the bustling sidewalk, where a grown man's tears seemed a sign of weakness. But he couldn't help it; the wind stung his eyes, forcing the tears to fall.

Brett suddenly felt lost, unsure of where to go. He trudged down the sidewalk and wandered into a grocery store, picking up some of Izabella's favorite fruits.

It was his first time grocery shopping for himself; previously, the house staff would handle such chores. Now, amidst the crowd, he felt solitary, out of sync with the world. Perhaps it was time to start worrying about dying alone.

With Christmas Eve only twenty days away, Brett had ordered a bunch of stuff online to be delivered to Quiet Forest Estates.

Izabella could not stand idly by and watch the Dempsey family suffer losses or see Casey hurt. One accident with the seatbelt was enough.

She was married to Casey, and the Dempseys were her family too. Mr. and Mrs. Dempsey had been so kind to her, treating her as their own daughter. They were genuinely caring, and Izabella couldn't be indifferent to their troubles.

If it were just about money, perhaps Izabella wouldn't care so much. But Brett had gone too far, aiming to put Casey in grave danger. Brett had his grip on Casey's lifeline.

Men like Brett might have held back in the past, not taking risks without certainty, always calculating. But with his illness, a desperate act seemed increasingly likely.

At eleven in the morning, Brett returned home. Finding Izabella on the living room sofa, absorbed in a TV show, he approached and asked, "Have you had lunch?"

"No."

"I'll cook."

Izabella kept her eyes on the TV, responding without even glancing his way, let alone making eye contact.

She seemed engrossed in the show, which was actually a horror film—her least favorite genre.

Today Izabella was compliant, eating quietly without arguing with Brett.

He prepared a meal with two meat dishes, a vegetable side, a soup, and Izabella's favorite dessert.

She stared at the slice of cake on her plate, lost in thought.

"I saw a queue for these at the grocery store and remembered you liked them," he said.

Izabella had a sweet tooth, and this trendy cake was among her favorites. She slowly savored a piece.

Such cakes were a specialty of R City, limited in quantity and often sold out before the end of the queue. Brett going to the grocery store, let alone braving the crowd for such a small cake, was something Izabella had never imagined possible.

The cake tasted as she remembered—not expensive, but genuinely sweet.

"Thank you."

Brett was the one stunned. It was the first time since her arrival that Izabella had spoken to him with such softness and gratitude.

He dared not respond, fearing any disturbance might shatter what felt like a dream.

The meal passed in relative calm. But was this truly peace?

No. The air was heavy with silence. Izabella's "thank you" was nothing more than a courtesy to a familiar stranger.

Izabella wandered slowly through the living room, silent, her dragging steps echoing from loud to soft, near to far, filling every corner with a hollow presence.

"Let's go out for a walk," Brett suggested.

Izabella paused, then continued walking. "No, I don't want to."

"You must want to go out," Brett insisted.

"I do," Izabella replied, "but I won't. You know about birds raised in cages? Once they see the outside world, they can never return. If they stay caged after seeing the world, they'll die of depression."