Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption

Chapter 83

Remington had headed back to Oakridge Heights early, pulling up to a stop.

Leaning back in his seat, he was eyeing the villa with a gaze as heavy as the air pressure around him.

The place was pitch–dark, a dead giveaway that Lizetta hadn’t come home again.

He lingered in the car, not getting out, until Cedric piped up. “Mr. Remington? You freaked out Lizetta’s friend at the hospital, she might be steamed. Maybe you should sweet–talk her a bit?”

Remington glanced over. “And how do you suggest I do that?”

“Grab a bouquet? Throw in some sweets, girls dig that stuff. Flowers and treats always cheer them up.”

Cedric felt partly to blame for today’s fiasco and was eager to make amends, throwing out suggestions left and right.

Remington’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Girls also dig jewelry, don’t they?”

He hadn’t forgotten the morning’s episode, where he pushed a jewelry box towards the girl, only to have it chucked squarely at him.

Remington was starting to think his assistant was becoming useless; his skills were going downhill.

Forty minutes later, in the shadows beneath Yolanda’s apartment building.

There he was, in the driver’s seat, with a bunch of gaudy red roses, courtesy of the florist’s hard sell, sitting on the passenger seat.

Lizetta wasn’t back

when he spotted a familiar graceful

for the flowers, ready to step

taking the shopping bag off her

obviously, chatting and

instead of ducking away, she beamed back

froze, the emotion draining from his

he knew, the two chatted for a bit outside the building. Lizetta waved goodbye cheerfully to the guy before taking the bag and heading

gazing up, watching the lights flick on floor by floor until they hit the

Remington let out a snort.

by a long shot. She seemed in high spirits,

that’s all:

into the trash bin and drove awa

Lizetta had made a run to the corner store for some necessities and bumped

Susan had taken a tumble by the flowerbed a few days back, and Lizetta was the one who found her

קיד.

14-20

Chapter 83

Susan’s grandson had been waiting to give her the good news that Granny was

to big trouble; she could rest easy now.

she went to pour herself some water

in hand, walked over to the