Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption

Cassius shifted slightly, his expression laced with a mocking coldness.

"Why should I bother helping her? She decided to play the other woman and didn't even have the decency to keep it under wraps. Now that it's blown up in her face, it's somehow my problem? I can't afford to be associated with that kind of drama!"

Despite his words, Cassius found himself compulsively checking his phone again. He had been half-expecting a call or a desperate message on WhatsApp from Yolanda, hoping she might beg for his help to clear her name from the scandal online. But two days had passed, nearly missing the golden window for damage control, and she hadn't reached out to him.

Her pride and coldness were something else. Was Cassius expected to grovel and play the fool for her? He wasn't Remi. His reputation was in tatters, as if possessed by a completely different person. Cassius would rather die than crawl back to her, unless Yolanda came to him, tears streaming, begging for forgiveness.

Remington cast a cool glance at Cassius and snorted, "Are you an idiot? Yolanda's got too much fire in her to play second fiddle to anyone. Think she'd stoop to being the other woman, really?"

Cassius, irritated, downed a shot of whiskey and poured another, "Stick to the point, Remi. What's this personal attack for?" Was it because Remi knew how Cassius secretly scorned his own past actions, acting like a lovesick puppy?

Remington's lips thinned in disdain, no longer interested in entertaining Cassius's foolishness. But considering Yolanda's relationship with Lizetta, and the possibility that Yolanda might have plunged into depression over the scandal involving Cassius, Remington felt compelled to at least share half the burden of the fallout.

for all the internet to see?"

Cassius retorted, "Of course,

Yolanda's being blackballed because

her. It's a dog-eat-dog

But if

her nose clean,

her. And Charles? That guy's

like he's pregnant. She must be really desperate

filled

tone, couldn't help but find his logic absurd. Charles was barely older than them, yet in Cassius's eyes, he was old enough to be Yolanda's

frustrations: Remington, cae et