Chapter 143\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bella\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a second Isla just stared at me, like she didn\u2019t trust her eyes. Then she gave a sound that was half laugh and half gasp, and she hurried toward me with a happiness that felt almost childlike.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBella,\u201d she said, voice shaking. \u201cOh my God. You\u2019re here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could speak, she hugged me tightly. I stood still for a moment, then hugged her back, feeling her warmth and her trembling hands. Behind me, Scott stepped inside with the kids in his arms. Isla pulled back, her eyes widening as she looked at Ryan and Emma.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, my lovelies\u2026\u201d she began, almost breathless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scott smiled politely. \u201cRyan and Emma,\u201d he said. \u201cYour great\u2013grandchildren.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isla looked like she might cry on the spot. She went to the kids immediately, kissing their cheeks and talking to them softly. Ryan wrinkled his nose and giggled. Emma stared at Isla with wide eyes, curious and excited.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I cleared my throat and said, \u201cKids, this is Isla. She\u2019s my grandmother.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emma blinked. \u201cSo she\u2019s\u2026 my grandma too?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t help smiling a little. \u201cShe\u2019s your great\u2013grandmother,\u201d I explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ryan looked confused. \u201cHow can she be great? Is she a superhero?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scott let out a small chuckle. Isla laughed too, wiping at the corner of her eye.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emma leaned forward seriously and asked, \u201cDo you have magic, great\u2013grandma?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isla laughed again, her joy bright and real. \u201cNo, sweetheart,\u201d she said kindly. \u201cI don\u2019t have magic. But I have you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They kept asking questions as Isla led us into the main room. Ryan asked if she was older than the dinosaurs. Emma asked if she had ever met a princess. Isla answered them patiently, amused and happy, as if their innocent questions were the sweetest thing she had heard in months.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we all settled down, Isla\u2019s expression softened, and she looked at me with concern. \u201cJared is not doing well,\u201d she said quietly, meaning Jared. \u201cNot mentally, and not physically. He tries, but he\u2019s struggling.\u201d Then she took a deep breath. \u201cI wondered where Lucy was,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I don\u2019t care anymore. I only saw in the papers that Maya and Craig are in prison, and I was glad about that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My lips tightened briefly. \u201cI was glad too,\u201d I said. \u201cAfter everything they did.\u201d My eyes scanned the room without me meaning to. I kept looking toward the hallway, the backyard door, any place father might appear. Isla noticed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s in the backyard,\u201d she said gently. \u201cHe\u2019s been trying to focus on small things. Simple tasks. It helps him stay steady.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:42 Fri, Jan 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 143\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated, then asked quietly, \u201cDoes he\u2026 pine for Lucy? Or Maya?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
AC\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isla shook her head firmly. \u201cNo,\u201d she said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t speak about them like that. He only remembers Catherine and you. Sometimes at night, when the house is quiet, he sits alone in his room, drinks, and inoks at pictures of his wife and his daughter. He talks like he has woken up from something terrible, and he can\u2019t understand how he let his life become what it became,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her words hit me hard. My chest tightened with emotion and guilt. I suddenly felt like I had been very harsh with him outside the villa, even if a part of me still believed I had the right to be harsh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked at Scott. He was watching me closely, his eyes calm and knowing, because through our bond he could. read what I couldn\u2019t say out loud. He gave me a small nod, encouraging me to go and seek him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I swallowed hard and stood up slowly. As I walked toward the backyard door, I heard Ryan and Emma still talking to Isla. Their voices were bright and innocent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you make cookies?\u201d Ryan asked her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can,\u201d Isla replied happily.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have a farm?\u201d Emma asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA small one,\u201d Isla said. \u201cAnd you can see it later.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their voices followed me as I stepped outside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The afternoon air was cool and quiet. The backyard was wide, with a neat garden patch near the fence. Jared was there, wearing old clothes and gloves, bent over the soil. He was planting vegetable seedlings carefully, pressing the dirt around them with slow movements. There were small rows of green\u2013maybe tomatoes, maybe peppers. He had a small watering can beside him and a basket of seedlings v\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood still for a moment, watching him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked different, older. A white beard had appeared. He looked like someone who had been broken and was trying to learn how to stand again using the simplest things.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took a deep breath and walked toward him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe he sensed my footsteps, or maybe he sensed my presence the way people sometimes do when they are thinking deeply. He paused and slowly looked up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When he saw me, his eyes widened. He removed his gloves with shaking hands, blinking hard as if he couldn\u2019t believe what he was seeing. His lips parted, and his voice came out rough. \u201cBella,\u201d he rasped. Immediately, his eyes turned wet immediately, and a tear slipped down his cheek. \u201cI\u2013I never dreamt,\u201d he said, his voice trembling, \u201cI never d\u2013dreamt in my life that y\u2013you would come to m\u2013meet me,\u201d he stuttered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I clenched my fists, holding myself in my place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His throat bobbed, and then his words spilled out quickly, like he was afraid that if he stopped, I would vanish. \u201cOh, Bella! I love you,\u201d he said. \u201cI love you so much. There isn\u2019t a day when I haven\u2019t thought about you. After Catherine\u2026 after Catherine died, my life became a horrible dream. I\u2013I don\u2019t know what I did, Bella.\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:42 Fri, Jan 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 143\u00a0<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know why I did the things I did. I can\u2019t even understand it now. But now I\u2019m\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t get to finish because I couldn\u2019t hold myself back anymore. I stepped forward and throw my arm around him tightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Father froze at first, as if he didn\u2019t dare move. His hands hovered awkwardly, like he didn\u2019t trust that this was real. I held him tighter and spoke into his shoulder, my voice shaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to move forward, Daddy\u201d I said softly. \u201cAnd I have forgiven you already.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a second he didn\u2019t react, as if his mind couldn\u2019t take it in. Then his arms wrapped around me slowly, carefully, like he was holding something precious and fragile. His grip tightened, and I felt him shaking too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We cried there in the garden, holding each other, the afternoon sun warm on our backs, as if all the years of distance and pain had finally cracked open to make space for something new.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u7530\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
When Midnight Winds Carry Secrets Toward Worlds Yet Unknown 143 Chapter 143\u00a0 Bella\u00a0 For a second Isla just stared at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-new-world-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23127,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23108\/revisions\/23127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}