Chapter 256

"You think I’ve got that much free time?" Julian Hart turned and glanced at Isabella Waters. She looked thinner, worn out. The arrogance she used to wear so naturally was gone, replaced by a kind of cautious fragility. That kind of fear… it was etched into her bones. Julian didn’t need to see it with his own eyes to know how much she’d suffered. The little songbird he once spoiled rotten, now reduced to this mess—whoever did this to her, he’d make sure they paid in full. "Then why are you here? Don’t tell me you actually came to rescue me?" Isabella scoffed at herself. She wasn’t delusional; looking the way she did now, why would someone like him bother showing up in person? "Why not?" Julian grabbed her hand without warning. Her hand wasn’t soft like before. Calluses had replaced the once-smooth skin. Julian ran his thumb lightly over her hand, not with disgust, but with aching empathy. Instinctively, Isabella tried to pull back. In prison, she had to work every single day. Her hands