Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption

But Thaddeus had just confided to her that in his memory, their first encounter traced back even earlier than she remembered. Before Lizetta even had a thread of memory to cling to, he had already etched her into his heart.

The melody meandered through the quiet of the hospital room, swelling Lizetta's chest with an indescribable mix of emotions. It was as though the pieces of herself she'd discarded were being gingerly collected by him, piece by piece.

As though their roles had reversed, with him patiently waiting for her to turn back.

After a long moment, she finally approached and sat beside the hospital bed. Looking at Thaddeus lying there, Lizetta's cheeks flushed with a bashful smile. "Big brother, did you hear all of that? I'm sorry, did I disturb you?"

"You must be teasing me, still such a crybaby even after becoming a mom."

"Big brother, what should I do? I think I still love him. Should I trust him again?"

In the car.

Remington wore an expression of cold detachment, sitting in the back seat, and instructed his driver Ray in a grave tone.

"Any anomalies found with Hans' case?"

Ray shook his head, glancing at the man in the rearview mirror before quickly averting his gaze.

was in a foul mood. But that seemed odd, considering he had

to be an accident, with no evidence of tampering. It's been fourteen years, and most of

who is familiar with Hans' situation, recently had a flare-up of an old

before yesterday, the new warden called to apologize for the oversight, hoping to

Hans had been fortunate, with

continue

his eyes, his

Liz wasn't just domestic abuse.

including photographs, medical assessments, and witness statements, had all been meticulously preserved

the leniency typically granted in domestic abuse cases, Remington had engineered a different trap to incarcerate

it was clear Hans wasn't Lizetta's biological father, his actions were not merely domestic abuse but premeditated assault and child

Hans paid for

care of it

send him off, interrogate him

ago, and

Remington rubbed

from my