Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption

Lizetta spun around, a flash of surprise crossing her face, "How did you get in here?"

She frowned and glanced outside, certain she had asked the Madden family's security to keep watch.

Remington steadied her before she could protest, quickly withdrawing his hand afterwards.

He rubbed his fingers together where they had touched her waist, as if her warmth and softness lingered there.

"I told your guards I was worried about you and just wanted to check in. Guess they thought I looked trustworthy enough to let me through."

Lizetta thought he was full of it but didn't have the evidence to prove otherwise. Besides, this wasn't the time to get hung up on that.

Her gaze shifted back to Stella, who had pushed her away only to collapse on the floor herself.

Drunk beyond belief, Stella sprawled on the ground, her body covered in vomit.

"Cough, cough... blargh..."

Choking on her own vomit, Stella struggled to get up only to vomit again.

"Stella, was Hans sent by the West family? Tell me!"

Lizetta, furious, moved closer and crouched down, grabbing Stella by her shirt collar.

"Blargh!"

Stella's face was flushed red from the alcohol, eyes rolling back, clearly too drunk to even speak.

When Lizetta tugged at her, Stella's response was to vomit again.

Remington quickly stepped in, pulling Lizetta away just in time to avoid getting splashed.

"She's too wasted to give us anything useful."

Remington looked down at Stella sprawled on the floor, then back at Lizetta.

"If it were that easy to get evidence from the West family, I wouldn't have had to dig so hard these past few months."

He had never stopped investigating the West family.

But every lead had been meticulously cleaned up. There were hints, but nothing concrete.

Without hard evidence, it was all just speculation, no matter how close to the truth it might be.

"I don't believe it. She must know something."

Lizetta shook off Remington's hand and walked to the bathroom corner, where the janitor's closet was, Inside, there was a mop and a bucket.

She picked up the empty bucket and filled it with water.

Just as she was about to lift it, a strong hand reached out and lifted the bucket for her.

Lizetta looked up to see Remington already turning around with the bucket in his hand.NôvelDrama.Org holds text © rights.

"You..."

Lizetta was slightly stunned, but Remington just looked at her softly and said, "Stay back."

He obviously knew what she intended to do with the water, and she was surprised he was going to help. Lizetta raised an eyebrow and stepped back.

Splash.

The whole bucket of cold water was dumped on Stella in one go, causing her to scream and sit up with a jolt.

Barely able to open her eyes

because of the drunkenness, and now with her face drenched, she could only squint up at her surroundings before she started to vomit again.

Stella was a mess, completely devoid of any dignity.

If she had been sober, she would never have let herself be seen like this in front of Remington.

Lizetta bit her lip, realizing she wasn't going to get anything out of her.

She silently walked out, with

Remington following closely. Once outside the bathroom, Remington suddenly grabbed her hand.

"Your sleeve is dirty."

Lizetta followed his gaze to her arm; she was wearing a silk blouse with flared cuffs tonight.

A spot of vomit was clearly visible on the pristine fabric.

Feeling nauseous at the sight, Lizetta's steps were involuntarily guided by Remington to the sink.

Remington led her to the sink, turned on the tap, adjusted the water temperature, and started to gently rinse her hand.