Twisted Ties of Love

"Brett, I wish you a life of peace and safety. May you always have the warmth of the sun in winter, a gentle breeze in summer, a prosperous journey ahead, free from illness and hardship. May you find true love and grow old together. From now on, let's live our lives without ever crossing paths again. May you find peace"

Not all mistakes deserve forgiveness, of course nor do all deeds necessitate bearing a grudge.

Such a final goodbye.

When Izabella said she had let go, she truly had. In the end, she didn't harbor hatred, nor did she curse him.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

To find true love and grow old together-his true love didn't want him anymore. Did he even have time left to grow old?

The night wind grew colder, piercing like needles against his skin, seeping through his pores and chilling him to the core. Brett knelt on the ground, watching the fading figure in the distance. Curled up on the ground like a wounded animal, he tasted the pain of his wound in solitude.

Time passed, and Brett took a deep, ragged breath. Clumsily, he rose to his feet, his legs numb from kneeling too long. As he stood up, a tingling sensation rushed through his legs, and he stumbled back to the rocking chair Izabella had once occupied.

The fireworks continued to light up the sky, a half-hour show of splendor. In addition to the fireworks, he had prepared sparklers that bloomed like dandelions.

Brett held one in his hand, gazing up at a starless sky. As the last firework faded, darkness remained.

-Perhaps this lifetime is the one you prayed for in your past life to meet in the next.

The person you failed to cherish, the one you tormented, the one you once despised, might just be the one you begged for in your past life, yearning to have in this one.

So let's not talk about next lives. If you can cherish someone in this life, then do it well.

Izabella's return was just his greed. He wanted to keep her by his side by any means necessary-like a fish hooked on a line, a bird caged, a kite tethered.

When Izabella died, he went mad for a while, always feeling her presence around him.

But now, he truly felt Izabella's absence from his life.

Losing a loved one doesn't always tear you apart; sometimes it's eerily calm. Then, on some quiet night, you find yourself unable to sleep, staying awake until the early hours when a gentle breeze strokes the windowsill.

The thought of no future with Izabella enveloped Brett in a vast emptiness, and suddenly his heart ached, tears unknowingly streaming down his face.

Brett sat in the rocking chair all night, surrounded by countless spent sparklers, watching the sunrise on the horizon. With a blink, tears cascaded freely, his sobs growing louder, like a child losing something precious for the first time.

Brett's tears flowed, his mouth coughing up blood, his throat burning with pain.

Not just his throat hurt, his chest ached, his hands trembled with pain, even his scalp felt cold and sore. Despite his body numbing with pain, he felt a particular ache in his left chest, as if it had been punctured, leaving a hole for the cold wind to whistle through, freezing his insides. He was hunched over, holding the "Wish List" in his hand.

More than twenty wishes had been checked off. The paper was wrinkled, crumpled in his hand. Even though his wishes had been fulfilled without regret, he still felt an empty ache inside.

He hunched over, fumbling in his pocket for his phone to make a call.

After five seconds, the call connected, met with silence.

Brett paused, his voice raspy, "Liam, I finally understand what you said. Loving someone doesn't always mean being together. I waited for her, missed her. She was married to me for four years, I waited for her for six, just for our paths to cross again, to watch her be happy with someone else." He sighed, the taste in his mouth growing bitterer.

Silence still filled the phone, but Brett knew Liam was listening.

Now, Liam was the only one willing to be the listener, patiently hearing him out time and again.

"Liam, come back. There's no need to do those things anymore."

Liam, silent until then, finally responded upon hearing this, "Alright."

The amusement park accident was his doing, the tampered brakes, his money. The texts to Izabella, his fingers. Told her Brett's terminal lung cancer, his doing. The threats, his voice.

Liam had been with Brett for too

long, beyond just being his boss;

they were friends, almost family. The

person who had spent the most time with Brett over the years wasn't Kaley, nor was it Izabella-it was

him. ś

Brett had made many foolish and bad decisions, but if Liam hadn't coldly observed, deceiving him for his own benefit, perhaps things wouldn't have ended this way.

Brett was dying. Liam had been the one to take him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Brett had given up on treatment, living day to day on medication, taking each day as it

came.

Liam wanted him to live, but "living" wasn't as simple as wishing it. The illness was severe; death was just a matter of time.

At least, let him be happy for a while, Liam thought. But he couldn't make it happen-only Izabella could.

But Izabella couldn't possibly come back to Brett.

The only other option was for Brett to come to terms on his own.

Unfortunately, Brett was stuck in a dead-end, unable to grasp the idea of letting go of Izabella.

That day, Liam had argued with Brett, who told him to leave. And Liam did leave, considering walking away for good. After years of work, he could easily find a more comfortable position elsewhere. But the thought of Brett dying unhappy and alone gnawed at him, and he decided to help.

So, he orchestrated a series of events, never intending to harm anyone, just to scare Izabella a little.

After all the years with Brett, he knew not just Brett but also Izabella.

Gentle persuasion would never bring Izabella back voluntarily; she wouldn't spare a second glance even if you knelt until death. Only old tactics like threats and intimidation would work.

As it turned out, everything

happened just as he had anticipated,

unfolding step by step according to

plan. Even after Izabella had gone to Brett's

tt's side, Liam didn't let up. He

continued to pay top dollar for a

private detective to keep tabs on the

situation.

Brett was well aware that it was Liam pulling the strings behind the scenes. Yet, he said nothing, offered no explanations, allowing Izabella to stew in her misunderstandings. Deep down, he understood that everything Liam did was for his own good.

It was a harsh lesson to show him that keeping Izabella close would never lead to the idyllic picture he had imagined. In fact, Izabella would only grow to despise him more. And so, he came to the painful realization that letting her go was the best choice.

That's when he truly grasped the significance of Liam's words: Loving someone doesn't always mean being together.

Compared to him, the Dempseys

were a much better option for her. At

least they didn't have ulterior

motives and wouldn't give up on Izabella for their own gain. The moment Bunny offered the entire Dempsey fortune as a bargaining chip for her release, Brett knew that he had lost the bet.