Twisted Ties of Love

As Casey said, getting to Rachel's place from here was a piece of cake, just a ten-minute drive tops.

Casey owned a stack of properties in R City. Even though they were empty, they were fully furnished and ready to be sold off at any given time.

But he's not thinking about selling right now. R City was booming and had become one of the fastest-growing spots in the country this year, now giving Wye a run for its money.

When Casey first bought the properties, they were only three grand per square foot. Now, they're almost five grand.

Izabella had Niki's tag hanging on a red string around her wrist, and she stared at it whenever she had nothing to do. Rachel, Rachel, Rachel.

She muttered the name, filled with resentment.

Did Rachel know what she'd done? When she handed Niki over to Ariana, did she ever consider that it might cost Niki's life?

Even if she knew what would happen to Niki, she'd still hand her over. To her, her mom was everything, and Niki, a cat she looked after for a month or two, was just a cat, not hers, and not important. Nothing compared to her family.

In her past life, Izabella once wished to be heartless in her next life.

But they were not made of stone, right? Who could be heartless?

Suddenly, she felt warmth. It turned out, it's Casey's hand on hers. She turned her head to see him, focused on the road.

He was comforting her in his own way. Izabella's heart fluttered, and she can feel it coming back to life.

"Keep your eyes on the road."

Casey's hand stiffened, and his ears turned red. After a while, he let out a small "hmm" and released her hand.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Izabella's face was expressionless. She's suppressing all emotions, which worked fine for now. But if she kept this up, the emotions will only get stronger and might eventually harm her health. This was exactly what Casey was worried about. He's afraid Izabella will close herself off and push people away.

Rachel was locked up in the storage room in the yard. Although Casey had it renovated, the yard was seldom taken care of. Weeds were growing everywhere, and there's a musty smell in the air. The door's locked and didn't need guarding. But Casey had informed them in advance. When they arrived, they saw two bodyguards at the door, keys in hand.

Upon seeing Casey, the bodyguards respectfully greeted, "Mr. Dempsey."

"Unlock the door."

The storage room wasn't soundproof. Izabella, standing next to Casey, watched as the bodyguard unlocks the door. She can clearly hear the sounds from inside.

As the old wooden door was pushed open with a creak, Izabella gazed indifferently inside, spotting Rachel in the corner.

The storage room was filled with all sorts of stuff, leftover tiles, shovels for weeding, cleaning buckets, brooms, mops, and so on.

A small area in the corner has been cleared out. Obviously, Rachel spent the whole night there last night. She didn't get up until she heard noises this morning. She looked pale, her glasses nowhere to be found. Since she's shortsighted, she can only squint or open her eyes wide to see.

When she saw Izabella, she avoided eye contact. Her hands were clenched tightly by her thighs, seemingly anxious.

Apart from that, she didn't show any other reactions, not even a hint of surprise. She already expected Izabella to show up.

"Izabella," Rachel stammered, her heart filled with fear. She tried to suppress the panic in her heart, her lips quivering, "I,"

Izabella interrupts her, saying to Casey, "Can I talk to her alone?"

"I'll wait outside. We'll keep the door open, just in case."

"Okay." Izabella nodded and walked into the storage room.

Due to the angle of her vision and her shortsightedness, coupled with her nervousness, Rachel only gave Izabella a quick glance. The sound of her voice seemed familiar, but she's too anxious to think too much about it.

As Izabella stepped closer to her, Rachel's calling of "Izabella" still echoed in her ears. It's just like always, only now there's no warmth in it, only disgust.

She's not afraid of evil people. What she feared were the ones she once trusted betraying her. Their methods were sickening, their actions more hateful than those of evil people.

Izabella had been betrayed by someone close to her for their own gain before. That feeling was like being the only person left in the world, alone and helpless.

"Niki's dead. Did you see the video online?"

The mere mention of Niki made Rachel's face stiffen. She hadn't watched the video. She didn't have the guts to finish it. She closed her phone after seeing Niki's teeth pulled out by pliers. Every night, she had nightmares filled with bloody cats and Niki's death.

"Izabella, I'm sorry, it wasn't intentional, I swear! I didn't know Niki would die!" Rachel's tears started to fall. She didn't dare to look up at Izabella, but she can feel Izabella's cold gaze and the pressure emanating from her.

"Do you still have the right to call me that, Rachel? You know if it was intentional or not. Niki's dead. Do you know how much it suffered?" Izabella's clenched fists were shaking. She stepped closer to Rachel, who was now backed into a corner with nowhere to run. She raised her trembling head.

"Slap!" Izabella landed a slap on Rachel's left cheek.

The loud slap sent Rachel's face sharply to one side. She can taste blood in her mouth, and her ears were ringing.

Before Rachel can react, another slap landed on her right cheek.

Izabella mustered all her strength and slapped Rachel twice, almost knocking her senseless.

"Those slaps were for Niki."

Rachel, stunned, looked up, questioning whether Izabella had just forgiven her with those two slaps.

But reality proved she was overthinking. There was no way Izabella would let her off easily. Rachel saw pure hatred in Izabella's eyes.

Rachel had expected Izabella to be angry but not to look at her with such a gaze.

"Izabella, please forgive me, but I

had no choice. They had my mom. If I didn't take Niki out, my mom would be in danger. I was scared. Please forgive me, Izabella. I know I messed up. I don't deserve your forgiveness, but can try my best to make it up to you. I've been looking at pet shops lately, thinking about getting you a cat."

"You think getting me a cat could replace Niki? So, can I kill your family member and then find you a new one?" Izabella's eyes were red, barely containing her rage. She grabbed Rachel's collar tightly, forcing her down onto the ground, towering over her. "You knew how important Niki was to me. Why did you keep it from me? Rachel, didn't I treat you well?"

Rachel shook her head in fear, tears silently streaming down her face.

"I gave you so many chances to tell me your problems. If you had told me before, I would have helped you. But you never gave me a chance." Izabella's voice was low and husky, each word causing her more pain. Her grip on Rachel's collar tightened.

Rachel suddenly felt like a fish out of water, struggling to breathe.

She didn't give Izabella a chance because she didn't believe Izabella could help her.

What kind of person was Kristin? She had millions of fans, a powerful background, capability, connections, and a company backing her.

What about Izabella? She had nothing. Even the company was cyberbullying her. She had been cyberbullied for so long she couldn't even afford a PR. How could she possibly help her?

Rachel was deeply conflicted, and in the end, she sacrificed Izabella's cat-Niki.

Niki was significant to Izabella, but Niki was just a cat, and the vet had said Niki wouldn't live long.

Izabella seemed to read Rachel's thoughts. "Aside from being threatened by Kristin, your mom also needs a lot of money for a kidney transplant, right?"

Izabella's expression was normal, but Rachel couldn't help but shudder.

How did Izabella know about her mom's diagnosis?

"How did you know?" Rachel asked.

Izabella ignored her question. "Rachel, I look forward to the day your mother recovers."

Rachel was so naive! If Kristin was really Kaley, no one knew her better than Izabella. Kaley was selfish and wicked. Rachel hadn't handled this well, exposing Ariana to the public, getting Kristin involved, and even affecting X Entertainment.

This was a loss for Kristin, no matter how they looked at it. $100,000 wasn't a small sum, but it was enough to cover PR costs to make her a trending topic. Now Kristin needed money, and Rachel had indirectly exposed her identity. It was already good that she hadn't retaliated against Rachel. Was she still going to give her the money?

The money Rachel got in exchange for Niki's life, didn't she think it was dirty? Didn't she think it was soaked with blood? Didn't she feel scared and guilty?

Rachel hadn't yet realized the seriousness of the problem, and Izabella didn't plan to tell her everything. Since she was so sure Kristin could help her mom, let her keep believing.

The most painful revenge was to give hope and then take it all away, plunging someone from heaven into hell, unable to escape.

"You will pay for everything you've done." After saying this, Izabella let go of Rachel's collar and turned to leave.

She can't get away with wrongdoing, or hurt someone's feelings without someone making her pay. People should mind their words, actions, and conduct because karma will come.

Rachel crumpled to the ground, watching Izabella walk out and disappear. Outside, the sun had risen, but the room was still dim and cold. For a moment, Rachel felt like she had lost something important, something she would never find again, a lifelong regret.

Izabella didn't need her apology and didn't deserve to call her sister anymore.

Her eyes were full of loss and pain. Rachel covered her face, falling to the ground, crying into her arms. She was heartbroken, her cries hoarse and followed by a gag reflex.

She was dry heaving for a long time before she felt better. Rachel, holding her aching face, staggered to her feet and left the room.

It was strange. When Izabella had left, it was sunny outside, but when she stepped out, the sky had turned cloudy.

Izabella was already far away. Rachel leaned against the door, looking at the two bodyguards who had brought her.

"You can go."

Rachel lowered her head, wiping away the tears at the corner of her eyes, and walked out.

It's okay, and her mom would be

getting a kidney transplant soon. The $100,000 from Kristin, minus medical expenses, still left some money. Adding the money she had saved over the years, she could take her mom and leave this place, enjoy life, travel abroad, and see the pink seas and Northern Lights that only appear in TV documentaries.

Her mom would be very happy.

Rachel got into a car and headed to the hospital. At the entrance to the ICU, she ran into the attending doctor.

"Dr. Zack."

Dr. Zack turned around with a medical record in his hand. "Oh, it's you. Where were you last night? Why did you leave your mom here alone?"

"I had some issues."

Dr. Zack didn't beat around the bush, "Your mom's got surgery in a couple of days, so stick around, don't go gallivanting off. Also, a surgery consent form here needs your signature." Rachel nodded promptly, "Gotcha, Dr. Zack. Just how risky is the surgery?"

"There's always a risk with any surgery, I can't promise you that your mom will pull through, but we can't just chicken out because of the risk because this is her only shot."