Twisted Ties of Love (Izabella Salotti and Brett) novel Chapter 179

Brett took a deep breath and shouted out, "Bring the food up!"

Soon, the maid brought a bowl of soup, and Brett took it and crouched down to feed it to Izabella.

He said gently, "have some, it's not too hot."

Izabella pressed her pale lips together without opening her mouth or speaking, just like the butler had described her - like a soulless puppet.

Brett was in a bad mood and didn't have the patience for this. He forced her mouth open and made her eat. The warm soup went down her throat and made her want to vomit.

Seeing her swallow, Brett was satisfied, but before he could even "praise" Izabella, she threw up right after.

The soup came out with traces of blood, and Brett's face turned extremely ugly. The whole way back home, his was already anxious and irritable. Right now, seeing Izabella in such a pitiful state, he snapped and threw the bowl on the ground, his hand raised.

Finally, there was some change in Izabella's eyes. She stared at him fearlessly without backing down, her face tilted up, waiting for Brett's slap to fall.

But Brett's hand froze mid-air, and mixed feelings swallowed him. Eventually, he didn't slap her and said, "Izabella, do you think I'm just too nice to hit you?"

"Why don't you hit me then, better yet, just beat me to death." Izabella's voice was hoarse and broken. It was almost hard to understand some of her words.

But Brett understood. Izabella was always a rough-edged stone, getting herself hurt whenever she collided with him.

He had never seen Izabella so lifeless before. Even though she was clearly still breathing, her chest was moving, and her body was warm, he felt as if she was about to die.

This inexplicable panic made him unable to suppress his irritability, and he grabbed Izabella's jaw, applying force as if he wanted to crush her bones.

"Izabella, if you want to live like this, you better believe I have plenty of ways!" He didn't care if she was healthy or not, as long as she was alive, it was enough.

Izabella began to tremble slightly, but Brett wouldn't have felt it if he hadn't been holding her.

"Fine" Izabella stared into Brett's eyes and said, "just don't leave me like this, I'll eat properly."

"What makes you think you can make any demands?" Brett scoffed, his words full of ridicule. "You're a lunatic, and you shouldn't go around hurting others. Or do you want to be locked up in a mad house?"

Izabella's eyes turned red, and her gaze was filled with hatred. Brett was always domineering and decisive.

"I hear the mental asylum up north is nice. Why not go stay there for a while?"

There were two types of mental hospitals in R City – the regular ones and the insane asylums- the mad house.

Insane asylums in R City were terrifying places where violent patients were often locked up in pitch-black rooms. Screams and wails could be heard all night.

When she was young, Alan would scare her by saying he would lock her up in an insane asylum if she misbehaved. The fear she carried with her was etched deep into her bones, and now Brett's words brought it all back.

Brett glanced at the broken bowl on the floor and said, "Your choice – either eat or be a 'vegetable' and be sent to the insane asylum."

Tears fell from Izabella's eyes as she suddenly resigned herself to her fate.

She slid off the bed and picked up the bowl from the floor to eat. As she tried to swallow, she choked and gagged. Her teeth clenched tight, and her tongue pressed against them.

When they went to bed, Brett held Izabella tightly in his arms.

Throughout her twenty-four years, Izabella had never encountered anyone as twisted and obsessive as Brett. She couldn't fall asleep with her eyes wide open, feeling his heavy hand on her chest, as if locked in shackles that made it hard to breathe.

Brett couldn't sleep either, haunted by images of Ryker and Izabella, and their past encounters in the orphanage.

Destiny was truly a mysterious thing. One person met another, it could become either the greatest luck or the most horrible tragedy.

Izabella endured until late at night with her eyes closed, her insomnia making her more agitated. She opened her eyes and looked at the man holding her.

She hated him, but she had to admit that hate was born from love. Rather than hating Brett, she felt more disgusted with herself.

Brett had become her worst nightmare, it drove her crazy and dragged her straight to hell. She was struggling through hell and despair while he was just having a laugh.

Izabella gently removed Brett's arm that's lying across her, and then sat up.

She stared at Brett's neck, a wicked thought rising in her mind to strangle him right here.

Tears filled her eyes as she got closer to the sleeping man, her hand trembling.

Before Izabella could act on her thought, Brett suddenly opened his eyes, a sinister look on his face. His gaze lingered on her face and finally landed on her hand.

Brett grabbed Izabella's chin and narrowed his eyes, saying "Izabella, are you seriously trying to strangle me in the middle of the night?"