Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption

It was Hogan.

Decked out in a lab coat, he oozed doctor vibes and authority. The crowd was instantly zapped into

silence.

“Dr. White.” A bunch of frazzled nurses clung to him like he was their rock.

Hogan’s voice thundered again, “Security’s on its way, cut the drama! This is a hospital! All you rubberneckers, scatter!”

He barked orders at the medical staff, “Go check on the patients, stat.”

The crowd thinned out in no time, with the head nurse leading her team into the ward.

Lizetta finally stepped away from the bedside, taking a deep breath as she made her way towards Hogan and Yolanda at the door.

Yolanda’s livestream was still rolling. She aimed the camera at Jolin and Apollo’s faces inside the ward and blasted at her viewers.

“Things are not at all what you’ve been hearing, folks. You’ve been played by these three, take a good look at their mugs!”

“What the heck are you doing?”

“Back off, shut it down!”

The trio of Jolin was herded back, hands awkwardly shielding their faces from

e lens. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

The head nurse, tired of the commotion, reminded them, and Yolanda finally killed the livestream.

Meanwhile, Evelina, who had been glued to the stream in her car, saw the chat flip and threw her phone in a fit of rage.

Fuming, she looked up just in time to see a familiar Cullinan speeding into the underground parking

lot.

Seeing Remington get out and stride towards the elevator with Cedric, Evelina bit her lip till it almost

bled.

Remington was here, too.

He still cared, he was here for Lizetta!

Evelina recalled the male voice she’d heard on the livestream, her lips curled into a cold smirk.

Too bad for Remington, he was a step late. Witnessing someone else playing the knight in shining armor for Lizetta must have been a bitter pill to swallow.

Evelina let out a snort and swung her car door open.

Back in the ward.

Jolin thought a little ruckus would do the trick, that Lizetta would cough up the cash.

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She couldn’t believe Lizetta left her marriage to Remington without a penny to her name.

But despite all the commotion, Lizetta didn’t budge an inch.

Once Hogan showed up, followed by hospital security, they even booted Jolin and her posse out of the ward.

“I’m warning you, no more trouble, get lost!” Security let go, eyeing the trio.

Lizetta stepped out of the ward, knowing she had to deal with Thaddeus‘ situation.

Kicking Jolin and company out wouldn’t be the end of it–they were bound to cause more trouble. With Thaddeus Incapacitated and Jolin his mother, if she wanted to stand in the way, getting Thad out of the country would be a real headache.

The moment Lizetta appeared, Jolin glared at her with venom, spitting curses.

“You little wretch, if I call the cops and say no, they won’t let you take my son anywhere!”

Jolin was banking on this, trying to bleed Lizetta dry.

Gritting her teeth, Lizetta tried to negotiate, “I can’t pull a million out of thin air, fifty grand, let me take my brother, and I’ll pay you over six months.”

“Fifty grand? Lizetta, you think you’re dealing with a beggar? Not a penny less than a million!”

“Yeah, not a penny less!”

Jolin and Erica started to make a racket, but Lizetta just scoffed.

“I said fifty grand, and I won’t give a dime more. Take it or leave it. Call the cops if you want, they aren’t blind. You might end up with nothing, and if this turns into extortion, that’ll be real fun. Think

about it.”

Done wasting her breath, Lizetta stated her piece and turned to head back into the ward.

But Apollo was seething, suddenly lunging to grab Lizetta by the shoulder, rearing back to slap her.