Twisted Ties of Love novel Chapter 558

A car had pulled up outside at some point, its doors swinging open to disgorge its passengers. First out was Wendy, followed by Bunny, who was bending over to assist Casey from the vehicle. The driver also disembarked, wheeling Beck, who was seated in a wheelchair.

The entire Dempsey family had arrived, four of them in total, come to fetch Izabella and take her back home.

For a moment, Izabella thought she was hallucinating. Her eyes reddened, a prickling sensation threatening to spill over. She fought the urge to rub them, fearing that any such movement would make the figures before her vanish into thin air.

Instead, she pinched the back of her hand - a sharp pain confirming she wasn't ensnared in a dream.

Reality snapped back, and the warmth that had begun to swell in her heart was swiftly replaced by a rising tide of fear. Why were the Dempseys here? Had Brett coerced them with something? Or had they struck some sort of deal to appear here? Were there deceits, traps hidden within their arrival?

In those fleeting seconds, Izabella's mind raced through countless possibilities, even considering the explosives she recalled being moved around the site, their boxes marked 'flammable' and kept from prying eyes.

She tried to speak, but her throat constricted as if a sharp stone were lodged within it, preventing even a single word from escaping, making it difficult to breathe.

Her gaze, pale with trepidation, locked with Casey's pallid face and his deep, warm eyes.

A pang shot through her, and memories of calls and messages from Casey flooded back.

Though they were less than thirty feet apart, to Izabella, it felt like miles stretched between them.

Brett, meanwhile, lowered his gaze and let out a hollow chuckle - a sight that to Izabella felt as cold as a blade.

Her wariness only served to deepen the figurative scar across Brett's heart, a wound that seemed to bleed more freely with each of her suspicious glances. His recent bouts of coughing had begun to bring up blood.

Raising his hand, Brett placed his icy palm on Izabella's head, marking their first touch of tenderness in days.

Izabella's guard fell away instantly, the soft warmth on her forehead calming her. She watched Brett's lips part, his voice hoarse as he uttered a few words.

"This is my final gift to you. I give you freedom." He lowered his hand and gave her a gentle push.

Stumbling forward, Izabella looked ahead, then back at Brett in a mix of confusion and disbelief.

"Izabella, keep moving forward, don't look back," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, afraid that if she turned, he would be unable to let her go.