Twisted Ties of Love (Izabella Salotti and Brett) novel Chapter 577

After Brett's untimely passing, the single elite ladies of J City lost a dreamboat to fantasize about. The women who once saw Brett as the man of their dreams would eventually find new love, while the memory of Brett remained like a subway train they had missed—a brief stopover in their lives before speeding away. Years later, when old friends gathered and reminisced about the stunning faces of their youth, someone might casually mention, "Ah, Brett."

Even the most unforgettable souls are but shooting stars to the vast universe—briefly illuminating the sky before vanishing into cosmic dust, insignificant and pitiable.

Some remember, and others forget.

Brett had been a formidable player in the J City business scene, achieving great success at a young age and destined to become a legend.

Liam often ribbed Brett as a polished rogue—stubborn, ill-tempered, and a tyrant to his employees. Yet, upon seeing the figures on his monthly bank statement, he couldn't help but admit he was a darn good boss.

Human nature is full of contradictions. To detest genuinely, to loathe truly, and to admire sincerely—Brett was a force to be reckoned with. His colleagues deified the powerful Brett, oblivious to his vulnerabilities—his cowardice, selfishness, and tendency to flee from insurmountable challenges, breaking promises and spiraling into problems with no easy solutions, bleeding himself dry for a resolution, until he ultimately lost himself in the glitz and glamour of the world.

The perennial question online: Are the wealthy truly happy?

The answer: The happiness of the rich is beyond your wildest imagination.

Was a rich man like Brett truly living in bliss?

Some squander their wealth and lose love, others toil a lifetime for a mere roof over their heads, clutching a meager paycheck, coerced by life and society, while some wander the streets, unable to afford a decent meal.

Life is fraught with worries, fatigue, discontent, and pain. No one is entirely spared from suffering, but in the face of death, these tribulations seem trivial.

And so do grudges.

Izabella no longer bore any resentment toward Brett, but did she miss him? When she thought of him, did she feel sorrow or an involuntary smile?

Youthful love dreams of eternity, oblivious to the fact that "forever" sometimes ends.

Izabella truly loved Brett when she wanted to marry him, unaffected by childhood memories, naturally drawn to excellence.

But it was that "memory" that allowed her love for Brett to endure—enduring enough to donate blood for his beloved for four years, to suffer through a stomach ailment that turned to cancer, to keep her impending death from him, unwilling to show any weakness, and even after the Salotti family was gone, she wished for mutual contentment apart.

In retrospect, Izabella's stubborn longing for love, even a mere hint of it, was perhaps a weakness. People tend to hope for the best—what if she could move him? But in truth, she only moved herself.

Izabella was not irrational. She could discern right from wrong, but her stubborn desire for love prevailed. Love, after all, can bring joy...

Brett once told Izabella he loved her eyes.

She clung to the word "eyes," believing he had fallen for her—until she saw Kaley, whose eyes resembled her own.

—"Brett, why don't we give marriage a shot?"

"Don't be silly, I'm in love with someone else."

—"Is it that Kaley? Listen to me, she's not right for you."

"I owe her my life. I promised I'd marry her."

—"Are you marrying her because you like her, or because she saved you?"

That's when Brett gazed into Izabella's beautiful eyes and said, "Because I like her."

Izabella didn't want to delve into Brett and Kaley's affairs, as jealousy and heartache would consume her, so she didn't ask, and he didn't tell.

She simply stated, "I'll prove Kaley isn't right for you. The one for you isn't someone who seeks shelter behind you, but someone who stands beside you as an equal."

Back then, Izabella was arrogant and proud, and she made the first big mistake of her life. She tested Kaley with fifty million, and Kaley took the money and left. Just when Izabella thought she had won the bet, Kaley was in a car accident.

Brett approached her, begging her to save Kaley.

Izabella claimed, "The accident was staged by her, intending to frame me."

"Do you have proof?"

Without evidence or a witness, how could Izabella convince Brett? No one would risk their fertility and stage an accident. And at that time, how deeply Brett cared for Kaley! How could she make him believe her during such a desperate need for blood?

"So, you're saying all this because you don't want to save her? Izabella, is it that hard to give a little blood to save a life?"

"Fine. I'll donate blood to save Kaley, but only if we get married, and you become my man."

Brett, frantic and confused, felt disgust upon hearing Izabella's proposal. Looking into her eyes, he said, "Alright, we'll marry. Don't you regret it."

Regret?

Yes... regret. Her calculated gamble not only failed but cost her an entire lifetime.

"If I had known this love would bind my heart, I wish we had never met."

After Izabella's death, she heard the voice of a deity, who offered her a chance to relive her life.

She declined.

To relive the past would change nothing for her. The facade of pride she had worn was now irretrievable. She was still the girl born without a mother, resented by her father and brother—seen as an enemy.

"Izzy once said to me, 'Brett, I'm the one who's meant to be with you for a lifetime.'"

True enough, Izzy was the one for him. He was the one who let her go first, and that's why, in the end, she didn't want him back.

In matters of the heart, pain is inevitable. The deeper the love, the deeper the wounds. Some emerge transformed, others plummet into the abyss. A belated sincerity is worth less than paper-thin, cheaper than a mosquito.

"As you sow, so shall you reap," the saying goes. Wrongdoings invite punishment, and the cosmos spares no one.

During the four years Izzy was married to him, she sent countless texts, made countless calls, all asking the same thing.

—"Brett, are you coming home today?"

Home... I want to go home... The home he had longed for had been there all along...

Why hadn't he just "gone home" then?

She was always waiting for you to come home, wasn't she?

I want to go home now, I really do.

If there are gods, if there is a next life, if he could have another chance, could he have a home then?

"I want a home, and I want her—the warmth of her. Is that too much to ask?"

...

Brett's estate was bequeathed to Izzy, a staggering fortune. Even divided into thirds, it was the largest sum she had ever laid eyes on, accumulated over generations of the Windham family.

Liam had asked her to pass on the Dempsey family's share to Bunny.

Bunny, staring at the will, seemed to be in a state of shock, as if her soul had momentarily detached from her body, struggling to grasp the surreal nature of the moment.

Izzy relayed Liam's words to Bunny.

Gradually coming back to herself, Bunny asked, "What do you plan to do with the money?"

Without hesitation, Izzy said, "Donate it. To the government for infrastructure, to help the underprivileged, to orphanages, to build schools..." There were plenty of causes.

Bunny slid her portion of the will back towards Izzy. "Let's do it together..."