Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption

Lizzie's deepest, most hidden emotions, the ones she'd buried far from sight, were ruthlessly torn open by him, leaving her raw and exposed. She glared at him, frustration boiling over. "Remington, you're so full of yourself!"

"You push away my kiss, yet you don't despise it. I can tell," he said, his words a cold, cruel revelation.

Even through the pain, even if it suffocated him, he was determined to awaken her love for him.

His stance had been unwavering from the start.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Foolishly, she had thought his agreement to divorce meant he had seen reason, that he was finally letting her go, no longer clinging to her.

Lizzie's face paled in an instant, despair in her gaze as she looked at Remington.

Her lips trembled, words failing her.

Remington gently caressed her chilled cheek, "You want a divorce, custody of Daisy, your freedom; I'll grant it all.

But you need to give me something in return, let me know I'm doing the right thing, not just pushing you further away!"

He was letting go just enough to hopefully win her back, not to truly lose her to another.

Lizzie saw the possessive madness in his eyes, her own eyes beginning to sting with tears.

Remington, stroking the redness under her eyes, softly said, "Liz, after the divorce, let's bury all our past grievances. Let's start over, this time I'll be the one courting you, from scratch, okay?"

Courtship, romance...

Such beautiful concepts.

Especially coming from a man like Remington, from the man she'd been infatuated with for so many years.

Like the sweetest honey, tempting.

Lizzie was speechless, her usual refusals and cold words locked away, unspoken.

She thought of the times he had appeared out of nowhere to protect her and Daisy when they were in dire need.

Remembered his joyous shock at Daisy's first kick, like a child's delight.

Her heart wasn't untouched, but she was someone who couldn't stand even a speck of dust in her eye.

His attempts at warmth couldn't sustain her through another moth-to-flame ordeal.

After a long pause, she still shook her head at Remington.

"A relationship with three is too crowded, you can't ignore Stella, can you?"

Remington fell silent for a moment.

Lizzie wasn't surprised by his reaction, she laughed bitterly.

"That day, when Yoli fell down the stairs right in front of me, I felt such regret and guilt, just like I could never ignore Yoli's matters in this lifetime, you can't ignore Stella's either it's a deadlock. I don't want to live in a love triangle, always entangled, always on guard, and

always suspicious."

Barbara was gone, but Stella, motherless, still wouldn't let go of Remington.

And Remington had to take

responsibility for Stella for life, no woman could accept her man

r looking after an velet

woman.

Especially when that woman was still deeply in love with him, determined to have him.

"Remington, I'm begging you, let me go, please stop bothering me, okay?"

Remington gazed at her dimmed

get

face, but his mind flashed back to

the moments she and Yolanda were

together, how she radiated

happiness.

His throat felt choked with grit, grinding painfully.

Looking into her eyes, welling up with tears again, he asked, "What if I send Stella abroad?"

Lizzie froze, her heart skipping a beat before racing uncontrollably.

But she dared not let herself hope too easily, steadying her breath as she looked at Remington.

"Then come find me once you've sorted things out with Stella."

Whether he could truly do it remained to be seen, for Lizzie felt this was no simple matter.