Twisted Ties of Love (Izabella Salotti and Brett) novel Chapter 296

"President Windham, your wife, she..." Katie choked back her sobs, trying to continue, but she couldn't make any sound. Her open mouth trembled, and even her breathing was filled with choking sounds.

"What happened to her?" Brett asked cautiously, like touching a cracked mirror, as if it would shatter and fall apart at the slightest pressure.

"The villa caught fire, and she was burned to death inside... The first-floor bedroom collapsed, and she was trapped under the debris."

Brett's eyes lost focus, and he staggered out, feeling the cold wind blowing. He almost froze to death at that moment.

He looked up at the sky, with snowflakes falling on the corners of his eyes, which finally turned into hot tears running down his cheeks. His face looked ghastly like a devil, eyes bloodshot, and expression frozen.

Izabella was dead? No way.

He had mistreated her before, made her a vegetable, had her jumped from buildings, crashed cars, he had signed numerous critical condition forms for her, but she hadn't died. He had seen himself that her stomach cancer could be cured in a few months, how could Izabella die?

She must be angry, mad at him for getting engaged to Kaley, so she had worked with Katie to trick him.

The day before yesterday, she had said she wouldn't leave and would always stay by his side, so... how could she just abandon him?

The surroundings were crowded and noisy, but there was a moment when Brett thought he had gone deaf, unable to hear anything.

He found himself in an empty world, surrounded by darkness, desperately trying to find Izabella's silhouette, but he couldn't find it.

Brett tried to make a sound, scream, but his neck was choked by an invisible hand. The cold wind blew past his ears, and he stumbled forward for a moment, everything in front of him turned gray.

"Is Izabella having a tantrum at home? Give her the phone, so I can calm her down. Does she like the dessert here? I'll go buy it right away..." Brett finished in one breath, seeing no reaction on the phone, he choked up and cautiously asked, "Does she not want to answer the phone? That's okay... tell her I'll be back soon, and ask her to wait for me..."

Katie covered her mouth, looking at the fire that dyed half of the sky, and sobbed, "President Windham, she can't wait for you anymore..."

Listening to Katie's words, a feeling of desolation slowly seeped from the bottom of Brett's heart.

"She can't even move her legs, how can she not wait for me?"

Katie choked on her words, "It's because she can't move her legs that she was trapped in the bedroom. The fire burst in, and she couldn't escape..."

Katie's words were like a heavy blow to his heart. He clutched his chest, and the intense sense of suffocation was driving him crazy.

"President Windham... you better come back and see for yourself."

The call ended, and Brett stood there dumbfounded, his eyes empty and lifeless, like an old machine, losing its reaction speed.

Suddenly, he rushed out like a madman in the bone-chilling wind, his face frozen numb.

"President Windham, where are you going?"

"Mr. Windham?"

"What's the hurry? Is there an emergency?"

But now, the cactus had lost all its thorns, soaked in the water of despair, its roots rotting away. The once strong cactus softened, becoming mushy with just a slight pinch...

...even the strongest life will eventually meet its end.

After getting out of the car, Brett's feet seemed to grow roots into the ground, unable to move a step.

The firefighters were cleaning up the scene, doing their best to dig Izabella out from the debris.

It was when he saw the charred, tattered, unrecognizable wheelchair thrown out of the debris that, in an instant, Brett felt as if his heart was ripped out alive.

A voice in his mind screamed for Izabella!

The atmosphere at the scene was tense and bustling with noise, while firefighters wearing protective gear handled the debris very carefully.

"Why is there a cat in here? Get out, this ain't a playground for you."

"This little kitty is covered in blood. It must've been injured during the blast. It's probably a pet from one of the families here."

A bloody cat cautiously crawled out from a corner that wasn't really noticeable. It's usually not afraid of people, but now it's all fluffed up, acting all defensive around these strangers.

The cat dodged the grasp of a few people trying to catch it and then bolted towards a pile of debris that had been excavated by the firefighters earlier. Its front paws were badly injured, but it didn't seem to feel any pain as it dug through the rubble while letting out heart-wrenching cries.