Can't Win Me Back (Isabella and Nathan)

Ava looked at him teasingly. "Mr. Hill, you've finally remembered you still have a wife, huh?"

Nathan's bloodshot eyes burned with fury as he roared, "Who's in there with her?"

Ava glanced at Victoria, who was panting heavily beside her, and sneered, "Mr. Hill, you should focus on taking care of Miss Victoria. My Sis doesn't need your concern. She already has someone who cares about her."

"I'm her husband," he shouted angrily. "I'm the only one who has the right to care for her."

Ava shot back heatedly, "You've harmed her body. You don't deserve to be her husband!"

Victoria stepped forward, her voice steady and condescending. "Little girl, the matter between my Sis and my brother-in-law isn't something you can understand in just a few words. My brother-in-law once saved my Sis's life. Their connection runs deep, far beyond what outsiders like us can comprehend. My Sis may claim she doesn't love him, but that's just her acting out because she can't have him."

Ava, still young and naive, hesitated for a moment, confusion flickering in her eyes. Then she turned toward the room and called out, "Sis, your husband is here!"

Before her words fully settled, the door opened, and a tall, slender man emerged.

Wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a scarf knitted by Isabella, his presence exuded an overwhelming, suffocating pressure.

His voice was deep and resonant, wrapped in a murderous authority that sent chills down spines.

"Who are you calling her husband? Call him that again, and I'll toss you into the sea to feed the sharks."

Ava shrank back like a scolded quail and mumbled, "Master, but he *is* her husband, isn't he?"

"A husband only counts as one when he's within a proper distance. And who has he been attending to up close? That vile woman who has harmed your Sis's body. How is he worthy of being called her husband?" "Ava, your brain needs to match your skills," he added coldly.

Lowering her head in shame, Ava admitted, "I was wrong, Master."

Victoria's face turned pale. She, who had always been admired and adored, used to being praised as beautiful and kind, could hardly believe that one day she would be labeled as a "vile woman."

Her carefully constructed persona had crumbled.

Nathan's hawk-like eyes locked onto the man before him. This man exuded an intangible dominance, the likes of which he had never encountered, even in the imperial capital where Nathan prided himself as unrivaled. "Who are you?" Nathan asked through gritted teeth, suppressing his fury.

"You're not worthy of knowing," came the icy reply, the voice cold and sinister, as though it came from the depths of the underworld.

Nathan glared at Isabella, his anger bubbling to the surface. "You're a woman. Be cautious about who you make friends with, or you'll end up being sold and counting the money for them." Isabella chuckled softly. "Isn't that exactly what happened to me? Didn't you sell me off once already?"

Nathan knew she was referring to the time he took her kidney. A trace of guilt flickered in his heart. He had always known his actions in that matter were despicable, far from honorable. "Bella, what do you want me to do to make you forgive me?" he asked quietly.

Isabella's fists clenched tightly.

Forgive? How could she possibly forgive him?

Once, he had deceived her innocence and naivety with promises of a bright future.

She had foolishly followed him, ecstatic over the narrow guest room and a warm bowl of porridge he provided.

Holding his arm, she had solemnly vowed, "Mr. Hill, thank you for giving me such a warm home. I'll repay you one day. I'm willing to do anything for you."

She had meant every word. During those years at the Gu residence, she had devoted herself to caring for him with unwavering dedication.

Knowing he had a sensitive stomach, she learned to prepare various dishes to soothe it, reheating meals over and over just so they would be perfectly warm when he returned home.

If only Nathan had been honest from the start-told her Victoria was the woman he loved, that he couldn't bear to see her die and needed her kidney-she would have willingly cooperated. After all, she had been willing to give her life for Nathan.

But reality had been cruel, unbearably cruel.

He had feigned love for her, pretended to marry her.

All to get her kidney.

He had even suppressed his disgust to consummate the marriage, lulling her into a false sense of happiness so she would sign the surgical consent form without hesitation.

But fate had thrown a wrench into his plan-she had gotten pregnant after that night.

And then?

Isabella's thoughts traveled through the long river of time:

For the sake of her child, she had pleaded with him to cancel or delay the surgery.

But his face was colder than ever. Taking a drag on his cigarette, he exhaled a cloud of smoke and said emotionlessly, "Isabella, Victoria has waited too long for this moment. I don't want her to wait any longer. The longer she waits, the more she suffers." "But I'm pregnant with your child. If you harm my body now, the child will be in danger," she begged.

"The child can be aborted. We can always have another one later," he replied coldly.

"Husband, please, no... This is *our* child. I don't want to lose it," she cried.

"If you want to keep it, then keep it," he said indifferently.

She thought he had softened, that he would spare their child.

But what happened later?

Later, he forced her onto the operating table.

True to his word, he let her give birth, but after being subjected to excessive medication, she delivered a frail child with congenital health issues.

He never once looked the child in the eye.

But she couldn't bring herself to abandon her baby. Carefully and tenderly, she raised the child, who eventually grew into a delicate, lovable three-year-old girl. The little girl was as exquisite as a porcelain doll, utterly endearing.

Yet Nathan had their daughter donate blood to the ailing Victoria because their blood types matched.

She frantically tried to stop him, but Nathan repeatedly assured her, "It's just blood donation. Nothing will happen."

Powerless to resist, and holding onto a shred of trust in him, she believed her daughter would be fine.

But the very night her daughter came home after the blood transfusion, she developed a fever.

That night, Isabella desperately called Nathan, begging him to use his connections to open a green channel for her daughter, who was convulsing and seizing. For someone with his influence, it would have taken just one word.

But Nathan spent the night by Victoria's side instead. He hung up on Isabella's calls countless times, and the last time, he yelled at her in frustration: "Isabella, go see a doctor if you're sick. Don't disturb your Sis's rest."

Then he hung up.

Isabella hadn't wasted time, even as she pleaded for his help. She called 911, arranged for her child to be taken to the hospital...

But without a green channel, she was still too late.

That day, as snowflakes danced in the air, she walked out of the hospital cradling her child's cold, lifeless body.

Her child's death took away the last sliver of attachment she had to the world.

She didn't return home. Instead, she stepped onto a path of no return.

That day was bitterly cold, the chill seeping into her very bones.

Even after being reborn, the memory of that piercing cold remained etched deeply in her mind.

So, in this life, she had chosen to give up on her child early.

Coming into this family, she would never find happiness.

Isabella suddenly pulled her coat tighter around herself, as if that could bring her warmth.

Theodore noticed her odd behavior and abruptly removed his coat, draping it over his Sis's shoulders.

Nathan frowned. "The air conditioner is turned up so high in this room, and you're not cold. Why are you wearing his coat? Take it off." Theodore clenched his fist and, without warning, delivered a vicious punch to Nathan's face.

Nathan staggered and fell but quickly scrambled back up, unwilling to let it slide. He swung his fist and charged at Theodore.