Twisted Ties of Love

"Every picture of Ava, from her childhood to now, is present in your album, but Casey's photos are only from the past few years. Considering your affection for your children, this seems rather incongruent, don't you think?" Izabella posed the question.

Bunny remained silent, taking in Izabella's words. After a moment, she chuckled quietly. "Have you never considered that there might have been some unfortunate circumstances that led to the lack of photos?"

"I trust my judgment. And even if one or two incidents could be chalked up to unfortunate circumstances, when there's a string of them, can we still call it an accident?" Izabella's expression was grave.

"You're deliberately hiding something. Take Casey's scars for example. Ava mentioned that Casey had them removed due to his career in the entertainment industry, yet in all of his recent photos and films, he never once bared his torso. So those scars wouldn't have affected anything because he doesn't like to expose his upper body in front of others."

"And what if you were afraid that seeing his scars might trigger some memories? Like the fact that his stay in a foreign hospital was not due to a heart condition, but a gunshot wound?"

Izabella's accusations came one after another, leaving Bunny struggling to keep up. She knew that Izabella had discovered something, but she hadn't expected her to know so much, even about Casey's gunshot wound and his treatment abroad. How did Izabella know all this?

"Why do you know so much?"

These memories were the ones Izabella least wanted to revisit, yet they were the ones that lingered the longest in her mind, just like a wound that reaches the bone, aching with each rainfall.

Izabella had been tormented by this pain for years. Now, as she opened up about it, her eyes reddened with the intensity of her feelings.

"Mrs. Bunny, you may not believe this, but I knew Casey a long time ago." If she had to put a time-frame to it, it would be in a past life.

"He was shot right in front of me. I thought he was dead." She didn't know how she managed to say it so calmly.

The image of him lying there, blood soaking his chest, the overwhelming despair, all of it was branded into her memory. It was like being a fish hooked and dragged ashore. All she could do was watch as he was taken away.

That became her lifelong nightmare. It was the scene she couldn't forget.

Bunny's eyes widened, her voice quivered with intensity. "Did you say Casey was shot in front of you? Do you know who shot him?"

"Nathaniel."

"Nathaniel?" Bunny seemed to recall something, her emotions spiraling out of control, her voice rising in pitch.

"So, Mrs. Bunny, can you tell me what happened afterward? Why doesn't Casey remember anything from his past?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about tonight." Bunny laid out the entire story for Izabella, including how a servant of the Windham family had switched their child, and how Casey ended up injured. "Casey suffered a brain injury as a child, and because he didn't receive timely treatment, he spent more than a decade in an orphanage in a state of confusion. Nathaniel informed us when Casey was shot and taken to the hospital, saying he had found our son."

"How did he know that Casey was the child you were looking for?" Izabella asked, puzzled.

"Perhaps it was because Casey inherited Mr. Beck's trait of having his heart on the right side, and his age matched. I guess someone started investigating and stumbled upon the truth. To thank Nathaniel, I gave him a share of the Windham family's stocks." Bunny explained, but the realization that the man who had harmed her son was Nathaniel filled her with rage. Nathaniel had been confident that his actions would remain undiscovered, but he hadn't counted on Izabella's return, nor her encounter with Ryker.

That explained why Ryker, despite being shot in the left chest, hadn't died.

"So why doesn't he remember anything from his past? Did you hypnotize him?"

"Yes."

"Why would you do that?"

Bunny began, "You wouldn't understand. You don't know the relief of a mother finding her lost child. When Casey woke up, he was mentally unstable, crying and shouting about saving someone, saying that someone was waiting for him. He was still physically weak and his brain couldn't handle the stress. The doctors recommended psychological therapy, but we chose hypnosis. It was for his physical well-being, and it is also because his memories were not pleasant. If they were going to cause him pain, it was better for him to forget them."

"How can you decide what he wants to forget? You could have opted for therapy, but instead, you chose to erase his memories and implant new ones that weren't his. That's selfish!" Izabella's eyes filled with tears. Remembering her own experience with hypnosis, the pain of Ryker's two-year coma, and his determination to save her even in his incapacitated state, she felt a heartache.

Tears flowed down Bunny's cheeks as well.

"Izabella, you've never been a mother, and you can't understand me. When I found Casey, he was on the brink of death, the doctors gave us multiple critical condition notices. His heart stopped twice a day. They said he might never wake up. I admit we were selfish to use hypnosis when he woke up, but I didn't want him risking his life to find someone! I wanted him safe and sound with us." Was it wrong for a parent to have such thoughts?

Izabella had never been a mother, her two unborn children had been aborted and her uterus removed. She had no chance to be a mother, nor had she ever experienced a mother's love. She might not understand, but that didn't mean she couldn't empathize.

With red-rimmed eyes, Izabella listened to Bunny's words, each one stabbing at her like a foreign character, triggering fear as they echoed in her ears. She saw herself as she had once been, struggling on the hospital bed, and realized that Ryker had shared the same agonizing experience.

Bunny's sobs filled the room. Izabella bowed her head, her hands clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Her own voice trembled as she asked, "And now that I know?"

Bunny rested her hand on Izabella's clenched fist. "Izabella, let go of the past and the boy Ryker used to be. To you, they may be the same person, but to us, Casey is our son."

So they let go of the past and the naïve "Ryker" they knew from the orphanage, as if he had never existed.

Bunny continued, "Those memories don't matter anymore. Aren't you and Casey together now? Isn't it good?"

"Are you afraid he'll blame you for 'losing' him if he recovers his memories? Are you scared he'll leave you as soon as he remembers?"

Bunny admitted, "Yes, I know the chance is slim, but even the smallest possibility can become reality, right? I now realize that the person Casey was looking for when he woke up confused all those years ago was you. I don't know how you met or what happened between you, and I don't want to pry. Everyone has secrets they'd rather keep."

Bunny spoke of last year's incident, when Casey had mistakenly thought he was someone else and pulled out his own tooth. It was a painful memory, but also somewhat comical.

Casey was jealous of his past self, of all things.

"The misunderstanding between you and Casey was cleared up last year. Whether Ryker existed or not doesn't matter. After all, isn't the person you love the man Casey is now? Can't we just act as if nothing ever

happened? Ryker is Ryker, and net

Casey is Casey. What matters is that you've always loved him. Even if he's forgotten the past, he felbin love with you the moment he saw you again. So the past memories are

irrelevant." Bunny reiterated, trying to persuade Izabella to let her guard

down.

Izabella turned pale as a ghost.

Bunny drew her into a comforting embrace. Izabella's body trembled against Bunny's warm and fragrant form, a solace that was easy to sink into. It wasn't the first time Bunny had held her. Izabella had often wondered if her own mother's embrace would have been just as warm.

But the embrace that once brought her comfort now caused her to feel a suffocating pain.

A part of her soul seemed to split away, watching her struggling self from above. One voice told her she could tell Casey everything. True love required honesty. She could tell Casey that he was the only man she loved.

But another voice told her to keep quiet and act as if nothing had happened, just as Bunny suggested. The past wasn't that important, and those memories weren't exactly pleasant. She could bear the burden alone, just as she had for over a decade.

The two voices fought within her, tearing her apart, until Bunny spoke again.

"Please, do this for me."

Izabella felt her heart tremble. After a long silence, her voice shook as she finally replied, "Okay, I promise."

Bunny breathed a sigh of relief. She knew she was being selfish, but she feared Casey would start to distance himself from her if he remembered everything. He was naturally aloof and rarely came home. If she erased those hypnotically induced memories, if he remembered he didn't grow up with his parents and didn't grow up as a Dempsey, would he become even colder towards his family?

Bunny didn't dare take that gamble. The mere thought made her emotions fragile, like thin ice that couldn't bear any disturbance.

Bunny wanted to say more, but seeing Izabella's weary expression, she swallowed her words.

However, Izabella seemed to sense her thoughts Don't worry. I'll act as if nothing happened tonight. I won't tell Casey. But Mrs. Bunny, you can't hypnotize him forever. I don't want you to drug him into forgetting. If I find out, I'll tell him the truth, no matter the cost. And if he ever remembers on his own, don't want you to stand in his way." Content held by NôvelDrama.Org.

"I understand. We both want what's best for Casey."

Bunny released Izabella and walked towards the door. She took a few steps before glancing back. Izabella sat on the edge of the bed, head bowed. She was in shadow, her expression unreadable, but the light cast on her made her seem utterly desolate.

Wendy, who had been sitting on the balcony, rushed over when she saw her mother emerge alone. "Mom, what did you say to her? What if Izabella tells him?"

"We'll act as if nothing happened tonight, as if we don't know."

"So are you still keeping it from him?"

"We've kept it from him for years. What's a little longer?" Bunny stroked her daughter's head, wishing Casey could have grown up by her side. Maybe then he would cling to her like Wendy, share everything with her, instead of locking himself away to pull out his own teeth when troubled.

"Don't go in there tonight," Bunny said, glancing at the closed door behind her.

"Where am I supposed to sleep?"

"There are plenty of rooms in this house. Leave alone for a while. She probably doesn't want to see any of us right now."

Wendy muttered under her breath that Izabella just didn't want to see them, not including her.

Wendy considered rebelling, but ultimately agreed to sleep in one of the guest rooms.

Izabella, on the other hand, couldn't sleep a wink that night. She left one lamp on and scrolled through all of Casey's photos from the recent years on her tablet.