Shattered Illusions Love Lies and Redemption (Lizetta and Remington) novel Chapter 1418

Lizetta froze, struggling to process his words. What did he mean, there is no Stella West anymore?

She looked up, studying Remington's face closely, and caught a fleeting shadow of profound grief in his eyes.

Could it be...

Before she could dwell on it, the frenzied reporters surged forward, shouting a chaotic barrage of questions.

Seeing that they had already captured clear photos of the two documents, Remington handed the file back to Cedric.

Wrapping a protective arm around Lizetta, he turned on his heel and walked away, offering no further comments to the press.

He knew he had dropped enough breadcrumbs. The media was vicious and resourceful—they had more than enough threads to unravel the whole ugly truth themselves.

The reporters tried to give chase, but the bodyguards immediately formed an impenetrable wall.

Realizing they couldn't get any closer to the couple, the journalists gave up. The explosive material they had just gathered was more than enough to break the internet for weeks.

"Ms. West—wait, you aren't Ms. West! Who are you?"

"Why did you impersonate her?"

"Did Martin West put you up to this? What exactly did he force you to do?"

...

Stella—or rather, Hailey Burton.

Her real name was Hailey Burton. With her false identity ripped away and the ravenous press closing in on her, her face twisted in a mask of panic and humiliation. She had no idea what to say.

Covering her face with her hands, she stumbled backward. Her psychological defenses were entirely obliterated.

She mumbled incoherently, "Stop asking me... stop it... I don't know... I don't know anything! Get away from me!"

She had originally planned to skip town, but she couldn't. Martin's men had kept her under strict surveillance.

They had forced her to ambush Remington. They had forced her to put on this tearful performance for the media, demanding she save Martin by any means necessary.

She had told them it was impossible, but they beat her and threatened her into compliance.

And look at the result. It was all for nothing, and now she was doomed.

Sitting in the back of the cruiser, Hailey became hysterical. She thrust her cuffed hands toward the officer beside her, sobbing violently, snot and tears streaming down her ruined face.

"Officer, I swear I didn't know anything! I didn't commit fraud! I was forced! That old bastard Martin forced me to do it all!"

"Look! Look at my hand! He ordered his men to chop off my finger! He forced me to get plastic surgery! To make me a convincing fake, he mutilated me and threw me into a miserable mountain village to be brutally abused for five years!"

"Officer, I'm just an orphan! I have no money, no power! How could I fight back against him? You have to believe me, I'm telling the truth..."