Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption

Remington's jaw clenched tight as he gazed deeply into the foggy depths of Lizetta's eyes.

He gritted his teeth, "You're never an outsider to me, not before, and definitely not in the future!"

Lizetta's breath hitched, and she quickly looked away, flustered.

After applying some ointment, Remington sat down beside her, wiping his fingers with a tissue, and said, "Mind helping me with this?"

Lizetta turned to him, puzzled, "Help with what?"

He tilted his chin, revealing a slender scratch on his neck, barely breaking the skin.

"It's just a small scratch; it doesn't need any ointment," Lizetta tried to brush it off.

But Remington gave her a wounded, reproachful look, "How can you be so heartless? I got this because of you. It's only fair you help me since I've helped you."

The scratch had come about during a scuffle between Ethan and Wendy, who had started clawing wildly. Amidst the chaos, Remington had pulled Lizetta to safety, likely getting scratched in the process. Lizetta felt a twinge of guilt.

Standing up, she fetched a cotton swab and some iodine, leaning in to carefully treat his wound.

and

it properly? Wendy's got those fancy manicures and lovers all over

notorious lifestyle, Lizetta felt a bit disgusted

cotton swab and started cleaning the wound

small

care about me

satisfaction, suddenly echoed near her ear, making Lizetta pause and then, irritated, she

tangled in Remington's watch, eliciting a soft whimper from

gently pulling her onto his

"Remington!"

still, it'll be over soon," he assured her, carefully untangling her hair from

unflustered, in contrast to Lizetta's panicky demeanor, making

Lizetta urged, "Hurry up."

can't, you've wrapped it

let me do

her. It took Lizetta a moment to realize that Thaddeus, who had been lying

how long he had been watching, she

on Remington's lap,