He raced downstairs and into the garden, quickly reaching her side. She was shivering violently, her hospital gown clinging to her skin, wet hair hanging around her pale face.
Without hesitation, Henry stripped off his coat and wrapped it around her trembling shoulders.
Isabella, what are you doing? Answer me!” He crouched beside her, gently lifting her chin to look into her eyes.
She blinked slowly, as if struggling to focus. Her cold hand reached up to touch his face. “Henry? Is it really you?” Her voice was weak, barely audible above the storm.
“Yes, it’s me,” he assured her urgently, gathering her into his arms. “You’re not dreaming. I’m here.”
Her unfocused eyes gradually sharpened as she stared at his face, both hands now framing his cheeks. “You’re warm… it really is you.”
Suddenly, her expression crumbled. “No! You’re not my Henry anymore. You belong to Sophia now. You’re married… you’re not mine anymore!”
She began to struggle weakly in his arms, but Henry held her firmly, carrying her into the house and straight to the bathroom. With one arm supporting her, he turned on the hot water.
He turned away after the tub was full.
“I know my grandfather must have said terrible things to you,” he said quietly, his back to her. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle it. Right now, you need to focus on getting well. Everything else can wait until you’re better.”
Instead of getting into the tub, Isabella suddenly stood, water splashing around her. “Henry, I never wanted to destroy your family with Sophia,” she said, her voice breaking. “I just wanted things to be like they were before. I’ve tried not to love you, but I can’t help myself.”
Her voice trembled with emotion as she continued, “Tonight, I was going to disappear forever, where you’d never find me. But it hurt too much.”
“For six years, I’ve been living abroad, barely surviving with medications. I was afraid you’d find out about my illness. I didn’t want to disrupt your family or upset your grandfather and father. Even when I missed you terribly, even through the worst pain, I never considered coming back to find you.”
Henry remained motionless, still facing away out of respect for her.
“I’m so conflicted,” she continued, her voice filled with sadness and brokenness. “I want you with me, but I’m terrified of destroying your family. I thought finding a quiet place to just… fade away would be best. Why did you come looking for me?”
Henry didn’t know how to handle the situation before him.
He had initially intended to simply leave–he’d found her safe and sound, hadn’t he?
But Isabella’s words pierced his heart, awakening memories of their youthful romance and their painful separation.
The love they’d shared in their youth, the unfulfilled longing–it had haunted him for years.
Yet now, those memories seemed to have faded, like photographs left too long in the sun.
Isabella’s face, once so vividly etched in his mind, had become less distinct.
And the smiling face in the depths of his heart–Henry could no longer tell if it was Isabella’s or Sophia’s!
Isabella sensed his hesitation. It terrified her. This could only mean one thing: she no longer held an important place in his heart.
Six years of daily life with Sophia had changed Henry more than he himself realized. He no longer loved Isabella as he once had–he simply hadn’t recognized it yet.
This realization sent Isabella into panic.
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Chapter 133
Unable to bear it any longer, Isabella climbed out of the tub and stumbled toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.
Henry, she pleaded, “if getting better means losing you, then I’d rather stay sick forever!”
“I don’t need anything else just you by my side when I’m sad or hurt. I’m not asking for marriage or for you to divorce Sophia. Just simply be with me that too much? Her voice was deliberately small, tears streaming down her face.
Henry held her gently, his voice soft as he tried to soothe her. “Isabella, don’t think too much about the future right now. Focus on getting better first, and then we can discuss everything else, okay?*
Promise me you won’t disappear from the hospital again,” he continued. “You scared me.”
Isabella’s heart soared at his concern. She stood on tiptoe, placing a quick, light kiss on his chin, her arms encircling his neck.
“Henry, as long as you come see me every night, I’ll do whatever you say.”
“I truly can’t live without you,” she whispered desperately. “I need to see you every day. If I don’t, I’ll die.”
Before Henry could respond, Isabella pressed her lips against his, silencing any objections.
“Henry, I want to be yours completely. Take me!”
Henry tried to push her away, but Isabella had already removed her wet clothes and wrapped her legs around his waist, clinging to him like a serpent.
‘I don’t care! I need you!” she insisted desperately. “Henry, I’m yours! And you’re mine!”
Outside, the winter rain fell cold and dreary, while inside, Isabella burned with desperate passion, like a fire consuming everything in its path as she frantically tried to close the distance between them.
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