Twisted Ties of Love

Questions flooded Nathaniel's mind, popping up like delicate soap bubbles. Images of memories reflected on their surfaces filled up his brain in the blink of an eye.

He couldn't fathom why Brett suddenly became interested in an emotional stunt.

He couldn't grasp why she was such a close relationship with Casey.

He was puzzled by her petting the same cat that Izabella once held.

He was baffled by the drastic change in a person who was so significant that they seemed like a completely different person.

He didn't understand why she would say, "Bell of the past is gone. Now I am Izabella."

As these questions started unravelling, there was only one explanation.

This "Izabella" was the same Izabella who perished in the fire three years ago.

This absurd thought sent a cold sweat down Nathaniel's back, and a chill ran through him as a breeze blew by.

Aside from "resurrecting from the dead," Nathaniel could find no other explanation.

More so, Izabella had made it clear from the start she was no longer Bell.

He couldn't describe his feelings. They were a mix of emptiness and suppression.

The Izabella he had been longing for was the one who died in the fire, unlike Bell, who was weak, delicate, and cried easily. Izabella lived boldly, confidently, and proudly. Only such a person would stir his desire to conquer her.

Izabella, Bell, the images of these two people took turns appearing in his mind. For the first time, he was confused and lost, not knowing what he wanted. His chest ached as if scratched by cat claws. He clutched his violently beating heart. If Izabella was back, where did Bell go?

Would she never return? Would there be no one to cook and clean for him, no one to massage his head when he had a headache, no one to tell lame jokes to cheer him up when he was upset, and no one whose eyes were filled with his presence?

His hand involuntarily covered his face, the warmth from his palm offering some comfort.

Nathaniel tilted his head back, resting it on the back of the chair.

He didn't even understand why he was crying. The sudden wave of sadness was overpowering, almost breaking through his facade of toughness.

Suddenly, everything became quiet. When it's too quiet, one can't help but start thinking, and eventually, it all became clear.

He had always treated "Bell" as a substitute, but in the end, he was played. He was the one who drove her away, yet he couldn't stop thinking about her.

In reality, he didn't want Bell to leave him.

Initially, he might have been intrigued by Izabella, training Bell, who looked like Izabella as a stand-in to satisfy his curiosity and provoke Brett.

For Bell, his intentions were always purely "utilitarian".

When he handed Bell over to Brett, it wasn't because he was tired of her. Instead, he was becoming more and more attached to this stand-in, scared that he'd be the one to fall the hardest.

Growing up with Patrick Windham, the older man always told him emotions would be a weakness.

Only when one's heart was free from concerns can one become strong. Women often became obstacles in a man's life.

He didn't think highly of Patrick, but he had to admit there was truth in his words. Didn't Izabella become Brett's obstacle?

He had seen Brett in so much pain that he vomited blood. These past three years, Brett might have seemed successful on the surface, but he was actually exhausted. He never vowed to walk down Brett's path and become like him.

So when he realized he was starting to depend on Bell, he gave up that dependence without hesitation. It took him a long time to forget those emotions.

But when he saw Bell's face again, all his efforts were in vain.

He couldn't stand Brett getting close to her and didn't like her being too close with others.

He decided to stop treating her as a stand-in and let her stay by his side, like before.

Life was unpredictable. The person he had given up on had changed and could no longer return.

Nathaniel prided himself on his good memory. He could remember who lent him how much money when he was a kid. But how could he forget what Bell said when she left?

"Nathaniel, once I leave, I'll never come back."

It turned out what's lost can never be retrieved.

Nathaniel wasn't superstitious. He didn't believe that after death, one could come back to life in another person's body. He would rather believe that the country girl had fallen ill, suffering from severe mental illness that caused her personality change.

Izabella had been sneezing all morning. Her eyes turned redder from staying up all night. Tears blurred her vision. She rubbed her swollen and aching eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, a cup of hot water was in front of her.

"You definitely won't rest." Casey placed a cold pill next to the cup, "Take this to prevent your cold from getting worse."

"I don't have a cold." Izabella's voice was hoarse.

"You've been sneezing non-stop, and insisting you don't have a cold. This pill won't harm your body, and it's flu season. It's better to be safe."

Izabella couldn't argue with him. She held the cup with both hands. The water was just the right temperature. Izabella didn't like bitter medicine. She would rather rely on her body's resistance to fight a mild cold. She would only take medication when the cold got serious enough to affect her sleep.

Izabella wasn't a drama queen. Everyone had their weaknesses, she was afraid of bitterness and pain but could endure.

For someone who despised bitter taste, she had been taking unpleasant anti-cancer drugs for three years.Exclusive © content by N(ô)ve/l/Drama.Org.

For someone who feared pain, she chose to burn herself in a fire.

For Izabella, the two hours in the fire were nothing compared to the seven years she spent with Brett.

Even the toughest guy can break under enough pressure.

But bitterness, if she had enough of it, she really can get used to it. A small white pill wasn't bitter. Izabella swallowed it with just a sip of water.

Just as she swallowed, she saw a hand reach out in front of her. She put down her glass, her eyes landing on the candy in Casey's hand.

"Once you've taken your medicine, eat a piece of candy. You won't taste the bitterness."

Izabella took the candy from his

hand. It was a chewy

orange-flavoured candy, sour and

sweet. Her mouth didn't have any bitterness, to begin with. Now all she

could taste was the candy. Shells

glanced at Casey's sharp canine teeth. It reminded her of the doughnut he gave her when they were young.

"Stop crying. Eat your doughnut, and big brother will carry you home."

A smile spread across Izabella's face. "It's sweet. Thank you, Casey."

"As long as it's sweet. I have loads more candy here," Casey said, pulling up his shirt pocket to show Izabella, it was filled with a rainbow of chewy fruit candies.

"Do you want more?"

Izabella said, "No, too much candy can be addictive."

"Why would you want to quit?" Casey asked, confused, pulling out another hawthorn flavoured candy this time, and placed it in Izabella's hand, "It's a happy thing to enjoy something." Izabella held the candy, didn't eat it right away, but placing it on the table, where she could always see it.

Mr. Frost of the entertainment

company was still waiting for Izabella's response. He believed that no matter how strong Izabella was, she could not resist his pressure. If Izabella would obediently follow his instructions, he would generously let things slide. But if she dared to disobey, well, that's another story.

Mr. Frost scoffed, not taking Izabella seriously.

On second thought, Izabella's looks were simply irresistible. He stroked his chin, wondering if he should teach Izabella a lesson, like getting her drunk and taking her to his bed. She'd surely be a sight to see in bed. Her face was clearly made to drive men wild.

The main reason Mr. Frost never made a move on Izabella was because of her previous sponsor, Nathaniel.

These power-hungry men all had one thing in common: their desire for control. Even if they no longer needed something, they wouldn't let anyone else take it easily.

So, all these years, Mr. Frost could only watch Izabella, entertaining a million fantasies but never daring to act on them.

But recently, he found Izabella more and more attractive, her beauty far surpassing Kristin's, which made him itch.

Nathaniel had ignored Izabella for so long, he clearly didn't care about her anymore. And Casey was probably just messing around with her.

Mr. Frost, his desire growing, lit a cigarette, closed his eyes as if Izabella was already in his bed, until the urgent knocking at the door brought him back to reality. Startled, Mr. Frost looked up, his face dark with annoyance.

"Come in."

The office door opened, and the public relations manager, vice president, agent, and other department heads, secretaries and assistants all stood at the door. "Mr. Frost, we have a problem."

"What's the problem? Why aren't you at work, standing around here?"

The company's vice president, although not owning as many shares as Mr. Frost, still had some influence. His face was particularly gloomy, "Just check the news online!"

A sense of unease crept into Mr. Frost's mind. Usually if there was anything, it would be conveyed to him via phone or secretary. This situation had never occurred before. Everyone in the room looked pale, Mr. Frost pulled out his phone. Because he accidentally set his phone to silent, when he unlocked the screen, a flood of messages and missed calls immediately filled his

screen.

He didn't care who called him at this point, and he went straight to Twitter.

Mumbling, "What could be such a big deal? It's just about Izabella, isn't it? Is it all her fault for the public cat abuse incident and nothing to do with anyone else?"

Until he saw the number of times, he was mentioned, too many to be represented by a clear number, the whole screen was filled with red notifications.

Mr. Frost, heart pounding, randomly clicked on one. It was a tweet from Izabella.

She had posted three new tweets.

The first was a video.

The second was a collection of various criminal evidence of the x entertainment company, any of which would be enough to put the boss of the company in jail for several years.

The third was a contract termination.

Mr. Frost looked at it, only seeing the tweet about the criminal evidence of the x entertainment company, the content was too long to read at once, but the crimes were clear, and the evidence was solid.

He checked the time of the tweet, and it was twenty minutes ago.

"What is the PR department doing? Why aren't they reducing the attention to this tweet!?"

The manager of the PR department lowered his head, letting his boss curse at him, and only after Mr. Frost finished cursing he said, "We can't reduce the attention."

"What do you mean you can't reduce the attention? Pay them off!"

"Mr. Frost, we have no money left."

"Who are you fooling? How can a company this big be out of money?"

The vice president said: "Not only do we have no money, but the company is also in debt. The stock has been falling since this morning. There were malicious acquisitions of shares a month ago, just to short-sell today. The continuous fall in the stock market due to Kristin's

vel.net

issue has caused losses of tens of millions of dollars, and it's irreversible."

With a "bang", Mr. Frost's phone fell to the ground.

"Who is maliciously acquiring? Why are we only finding out now?"

"It's the Maple Group, a newly established company, a group we've never heard of before."

Mr. Frost looked as pale as a ghost. Since when did Izabella start playing footsie with these folks? And where on earth did she get that contract termination from?

These questions remained unanswered. But one thing was crystal clear: Izabella had her fingers in this pie. She had been planning this for a long time.

"So, what's our game plan now, Mr. Frost?"

Other than watching the company go belly up and getting swallowed by the Maple Group, they were also staring at a stint behind bars. This wasn't something they could just scapegoat someone for and walk

away.