Chapter Isabelle Campbell
ISABELLE CAMPBELL
While I was working, I heard strange noises coming from somewhere in the house, though I couldn’t quite tell where. After a few minutes of walking around the mansion, I realized the sounds were coming from the one place Colin had explicitly forbidden me to enter.
For a moment, I hesitated—should I go in or not? But the longer I stood there, the louder the noises became, and instinct took over. As I moved down the hall, I heard Colin’s voice echoing from somewhere deep inside. When I got closer…
He was punching the wall, shouting, crying—like a child lost in his own pain.
I froze. I didn’t know what to do. Not now.
“Please… stop doing this to yourself!” I broke the rule and stepped into the place I was never supposed to enter.
“Get out!” he shouted.
“Tell me how to help you!” I didn’t move. Instead, I took a step closer.
“I said get out!” His tone dropped, low but trembling with fury.
“No.”
He charged toward me and slammed me against the wall. He didn’t even look like the same man I’d seen these past few days.
“What the hell is wrong with you?! Why do you have this need to piss me off more than usual?!” he growled, his eyes wild with rage.
“I’m trying to help you. Whatever it takes.”
I had to fight to bring the good side of Colin back out. He didn’t need to fall apart again. I cared about him too much to let him keep fighting this battle alone.
“You’re unbelievable… there’s something seriously wrong with you.” He stepped closer, gripping one of my hands. For a second, I thought he might kiss me—but I knew he wouldn’t.
“Talking to me like that doesn’t work anymore. Your anger doesn’t scare me.”
“I pity you, Isabelle!”
“I told you—”
“If you think I’m in love with you, or that I feel anything for you, you’re dead wrong. Get it through your head—I don’t want you.”
“Colin, everyone has feelings…”
“Do I have to say it again?! I don’t have feelings. They died years ago!” he snapped, finally letting go of me.
A single tear escaped down my cheek.
Colin was still haunted by his past, and sometimes his darkest emotions took control, like now. I’d seen him angry before, but never like this.
What hurt most was not knowing exactly what lived inside his heart—because I wanted to. God, I wanted to understand that heart full of pain and unrest. There was no denying it anymore. I was in love with him. Hopelessly.
“Why do you treat me like this? I just want to help you. I always have,” I said, my voice trembling.
He kept his back to me, staring at the floor. Then, after a moment, he turned around and gripped my shoulders, locking his eyes with mine.
“Curse me, hate me—just don’t try to understand what goes on in my head every day. Don’t make me take out on you what I keep bottled up. You wouldn’t survive carrying the weight I live with.”
He left his own room, leaving me standing there—alone and completely lost in the chaos of his fury.
I never thought I’d see Colin this unhinged.
I knew these particular days always hit him harder—he’d get angrier than usual—but this time was worse. Much worse.
I considered talking to Helen while we were both in the kitchen, but honestly, trying to understand Colin a little more wasn’t going to change anything. I already knew that.
When I returned to the main hall, I spotted him through the window, storming across the garden, his face still twisted with fury. He grabbed his car keys, got in, and was about to drive off. That’s when an idea—risky, maybe even reckless—flashed through my mind.
I hurried toward Tito, his driver, but before I could reach him, Joshua stepped in my way.
“What’s wrong with my dad?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m worried about him. Something happened, I know it. I heard the noise, Isabelle.”
I looked at Joshua, then at Tito. My mind was made up.
“Tito, follow Colin!” I said firmly.
“Isabelle… I’ll get fired if I do that.”
“No, you won’t. Trust me.”
“I’m coming too!” Joshua insisted.
I didn’t have time to think. If we waited even a minute longer, Colin’s car would be gone.
We took the same route he had, and though I wanted to tell Joshua to stay behind, I could tell why he hadn’t. He’d seen the way his father left—furious, broken—and just like me, he was terrified of what Colin might do to himself.
The drive didn’t last long—five minutes at most. Colin pulled over and parked. The moment I recognized where we were, it all started to make sense.
“Stay here, okay? I’m going after your dad, but I’ll be right back,” I told Joshua.
“Okay. Take care of him… I’m worried.”
“Don’t worry, everything’s going to be fine.” I took his hands in mine, trying to reassure him.
Joshua nodded, and I turned toward the place where Colin had gone.