Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption

"Let's do it tomorrow."

Remington's voice was deep, a cigarette dangling unlit between his fingers. He was a man of discipline, rarely indulging in the habit unless under the weather. Yet, the past two months of fruitless searching had seen him reaching for the pack more often than not.

Now, with Lizetta right in front of him, he didn't want his smoking to affect her, so he had been trying to kick the habit for the past few days. But to his annoyance, what had been a casual indulgence seemed to have morphed into a full-blown addiction, stirring up an unexpected irritability within him.

Crushing the cigarette between his fingers, Remington withdrew his gaze and repeated, "Let's do it tomorrow."

Turning to enter the house, Ray ran his hands through his hair, practically on the verge of screaming.

'Remington, you said the same thing last night and the night before!'

nearly driven to tears over the phone begging for his return, Ray felt helpless. "Take care of the surveillance," Remington ordered calmly from

cameras and an alarm system, so when Remington mentioned this, Ray knew that someone was planning another wall-scaling

it. But

She's bound to find out, and the longer you wait,

couldn't bear the thought of leaving her here, especially in her condition. Regardless of how content she seemed, the distance was too much

leave with him. Coming clean meant facing resistance or, worse, another escape. These thoughts made

he reset the surveillance and alarm systems before lying down, twirling two strands of long, fine hair between his fingers

managed to tamper with a couple of cameras, but as one of them touched the doorknob to Dora's room, a soft

up abruptly, grabbing a gun before peering out.