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.

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.

from a man like Remington, from the man she'd been infatuated with for

the sweetest honey,

her usual refusals

thought of the times he had appeared out of nowhere to protect her and Daisy when they were

joyous shock at Daisy's first kick, like a

who couldn't stand even a speck

sustain her through another moth-to-flame

a long pause, she still shook her head

with three is too crowded, you can't ignore Stella,

fell silent

surprised by his

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,

always suspicious."

motherless, still

had to

for life, no woman could

after an

woman.

in love with him, determined