Twisted Ties of Love
Chapter 330

Izabella listened to the owner whispering, and found her eyes welling up with unexplained tears. So even after she was gone, there would still be people who remembered her, who cared about her well-being. With a soft smile, Izabella reassured her, "Don't worry, ma'am, I believe she's doing just fine."

The owner looked at her with a far-off gaze, "Indeed. What goes around, comes around. She's sure to be doing well."

After saying that, the owner turned back to the kitchen, where the sizzling sound of oil could be heard. Two minutes later, she came out with a plate of chicken for Izabella, "This one's on me." Izabella didn't refuse. After expressing her thanks, she took a bite of the chicken right in front of the owner. The crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside chicken tasted incredibly delicious.

The owner was in her fifties and had been running this place for over three decades, watching many people grow up.

Those who worked in restaurants often have a hard time maintaining their youthful looks. Her wrinkles were deepened, and hair started to turn gray.

Seeing the owner's gray hair, Izabella felt a pang of sadness.

The owner didn't notice Izabella's emotional shift. At this hour, the students had already gone home, leaving only a few patrons in the restaurant. Once the owner finished her chores, she sat next to Izabella and casually chatted about the "young lady".

"The young lady's birthday is on May 21st. Every time she celebrated it alone, coming here for my pasta. After she got married, she rarely came. I heard her husband wasn't treating her well. But for the past three years, a man claiming to be her ex-husband has been coming here often. When he's not busy, he would ask me to share stories about the young lady. It's funny how some people don't appreciate what they have until it's gone. No wonder he ended up being her ex. She deserved someone better."

Izabella didn't respond. After finishing her meal and paying, she picked up her suitcase, ready to leave.

The lady boss saw her to the door, "If you're staying in R City, come by my restaurant often. I'll treat you to some pasta, on the house."

"Thank you, Mrs. Jones." Thank you for remembering me, for remembering my birthday all these years.

The lady boss smiled warmly, watching Izabella's retreating figure with affection. It wasn't until Izabella was out of sight that it struck her, how did she know her name?

By the time Izabella got back to her hotel, it was already 10 pm. After a shower, she turned on her phone to find twenty new messages on Whatsapp.

She thought it must be something urgent, but they were all from Casey.

"Are you there?"

"Have you eaten?"

.....Are you asleep?"

Just ordinary chit-chat with no substantial content. Izabella read through the messages one by one. Towards the end, there was even a selfie of him.

In the photo, Casey looked pitiful, with a pathetic little red flower on his head. The caption read, "Please pay attention to me."

Looking at the photo, Izabella couldn't help but chuckle. She thought of Ryker. Casey and Ryker were so alike...

"I just got back and was about to go to bed."

On the other end, Casey, who was just about to fall asleep, squinted one eye open when he felt his phone vibrate. Seeing the message from Izabella, he quickly jumped out of bed.

She replied to me. Izabella replied to my text! She must have feelings for him for her to be replying to his text so late. Casey read the message over and over, thinking carefully about how to reply. He quickly started typing on the keyboard. "Where have you been?" No, that wouldn't do. They had just met today, and this message might come off as confrontational. Casey quickly deleted it and started over.

"It's not safe for a girl to be out so late, next time I'll accompany you..." No, that wouldn't do either. Young people these days valued their independence and didn't like being controlled.

Deleted. Started over.

"It's already late, you should go to bed..." No, that wouldn't work either. She might ignore him, and the message might come off as cold.

Deleted!

For the first time, Casey found replying to a text message so difficult. He grabbed his hair in frustration, opened a drawer and poured a box of mint candy into his mouth. The cool mint flavor shot straight to his head.

He didn't smoke, so whenever he was stressed or frustrated, he would eat mint candy.

Izabella stared at the "typing..." prompt. Five minutes had passed, and he was still typing. What kind of message was he trying to send?

Just as she was wondering, Casey sent her a text. It was a very short message.

"Have you eaten?"

Izabella raised an eyebrow, understanding something. As she dried her hair, she replied with a voice message.

"I've already eaten. You should go to bed early. Goodnight."

Casey was anxiously waiting for a reply. When he saw Izabella had sent a voice message, he was shocked.

The hotel was already very quiet, but it seemed even quieter now. He could hear his own nervous heartbeat. His fingers trembled as he pressed play, and Izabella's gentle voice came through.

He listened to the three-second voice message over and over again, as if he couldn't get enough.

Izabella had sent him a voice message, and she had said goodnight to him.

Just hearing her voice made Casey blush. He laughed loudly and dived into his bed, kicking the covers around in excitement, like a playful puppy.

Izabella had said goodnight to him. Did she know what goodnight mean? Goodnight meant I love you! In other words, Izabella was secretly confessing to him. She liked him!

Casey clenched his phone and punched the air, then sat obediently on his bed, trembling as he opened the voice message.

He cleared his throat, making sure his voice wouldn't sound bad, then pressed record.

"Goodnight too. Goodnight." After sending the voice message, Casey played it back. His voice sounded steady, not panicked.

Casey held his phone and replayed Izabella's voice message dozens of times, then downloaded it, saved it, and set it as his alarm clock.

After drying her hair, Izabella saw that Casey had replied to her with a voice message. She clicked on it to listen.

"Goodnight too. Goodnight."

What's "Goodnight too"? What did that mean?

After a two-second hesitation, Izabella hit the back button and glanced at the time. 10:40. She plugged her phone in and turned in for the night, sleeping better than usual.

To last in showbiz, you gotta have work. The turnover was fast and there were always fresh faces. No work meant no one was gonna remember you.

Izabella had got clear goals: making money and investing. She couldn't quit the industry yet, so she was gonna go all out.

She was not the type to give up easily. No matter how tough it got, she was in it to win it. She was made up her mind to make a mark here, to be the best actress. Even if one day she left, people would remember that she was here.

The next morning, she got up and did an hour of yoga as usual before calling for breakfast.

The waiter arrived in less than ten minutes, the cart laden with various breakfast items.

"Didn't I just order soup?" Izabella asked.

The waiter explained, "This was prepared in advance by a Mr. Dempsey."

Izabella understood immediately, but there was no way she could eat all this.

"I'll take what I can eat, take the rest back. Don't waste it."

The waiter nodded in agreement.

Izabella took the soup and a sandwich, which was more than enough to fill her up.

"Enjoy your meal." The waiter said, pushing the cart away.

Back in her room, Izabella unplugged her phone, which had been charging all night, and sent a text to Casey.

"Thanks for the breakfast."

As she was about to put her phone down, she saw the "typing" indicator. She stopped and patiently waited for the incoming message.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I ordered you one of everything for breakfast from the hotel. Was it good?"

Stunned, Izabella quickly took a bite of her breakfast, and before she had even swallowed, she was texting Casey back.

"It's delicious, thank you."

"Do you have time today? Want to go out? I can treat you to lunch, I know a great restaurant in R City, I bet you'd love it."

"No need." Izabella quickly declined. "I have a meeting with the director at the TV station today. Also, it's not appropriate for us to go out together."

Reading her response, Casey started fiercely chewing on a breath mint. What was wrong with their statuses? Last night, she had even said goodnight to him, why had she gone back to being aloof?

The man who'd just woken up, lay on the bed sulking, staring at his phone. His hair was messy from sleep, with a tuft sticking up in the middle that bobbed as he shook his head.

Pouting, Casey sent a selfie when he didn't know what else to respond with. His eyes were teary, his mouth mumbling a disappointed "okay".

Izabella didn't reply to Casey's text. She was conflicted. She wanted to get closer to Casey, but was afraid he wasn't who she thought he was. She was scared of making the same mistake again, hurting not just herself, but also him.

If you were not loved, you were not afraid of getting hurt.

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