Chapter 551

Simon waved his phone dismissively. "It's just toast, but I have boundaries. What if my girlfriend thinks I'm being too friendly with another woman?" His relationship had started over those very sandwiches.

Fate worked in mysterious ways. That evening after work, starving and exhausted, Simon had stumbled into a tiny café for a quick bite. There, he'd literally bumped into the campus queen herself.

Being alumni, exchanging numbers felt natural. Two months of relentless pursuit later, she'd finally agreed to be his girlfriend.

No way was he sharing their special toast tradition with anyone else. That was sacred.

Isabella remained oblivious to this sentiment.

After enduring a humiliating day at the hospital, the last thing she expected was Simon nickel-and-diming her over twenty dors.

The absolute audacity!

Too drained to argue, she transferred the money and stormed off.

Her heels clicked angrily against the pavement as she reached a deserted alleyway. A loose pebble bore the brunt of her frustration.

How had everything gone so wrong?

Alexander had made his position painfully clear - no more protection. The realization brought hot tears to her eyes.

The evening breeze carried memories of another lifetime.

At sixteen, when most girls worried about prom dresses, Isabella had watched her world collapse. The Morgans fell from grace overnight, leaving only Andrew by her side.

Poverty transformed her from privileged heiress to unwanted burden. Distant relatives took them in reluctantly, demanding backbreaking farm labor in return.

Andrew, barely fourteen, shielded her from the worst. His pianist hands became calloused and scarred within months. Then one fateful day, he left with Alexander and never returned.

The whispers started immediately - kidnapped by drug cartel operatives lurking in the hills.

Those endless days of terror still haunted her. Police reports painted increasingly grim pictures of torture techniques. Each update shattered her further.

She'd prayed until her knees bruised, but heaven remained deaf.

The final blow came when only Alexander emerged from the military vehicle. The cartel's cruel game - only one could live. Andrew chose Alexander.

No body was ever recovered. Just bloodstained clothes in a mockery of a coffin. The DNA confirmed the worst.

Alexander became her lifeline during the subsequent darkness. Now even that was gone.