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Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption ( Lizetta ) novel Chapter 40

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Chapter 40 

So this thing, Lizetta got it when she was nine, thanks to Remington. She couldn’t quite recall why she was down in the dumps back then, but anyway, Remington took her out to try her luck at the claw machine. End of the day, the siblings blew over 200 coins and didn’t snatch a single fuzzball

Lizetta ribbed him for his crappy skills, but Remington fired back, saying it was the claw machine’s stingy odds that were to blame, not his technique

Lizetta turned a deaf ear, and the next day, her super competitive brother lugged home this very claw machine, rigged it so the odds of winning were a solid 100%

In no time, he snagged Lizetta a sofa’s worth of plushies, and while she was secretly thrilled, she pouted and griped about him making her fave game boring

Later, Remington whipped up a little oddstweaking app on his phone, so he could switch up the chances whenever he wanted

From then on, this claw machine turned into Lizetta’s very own Doraemon. Feeling blue? She’d give it a whirl for a little pickmeup. In high spirits? She’d take a shot; it’d drop a surprise

When her birthday rolled around, she’d be buzzing with excitement, practically glued to the machine, wondering what would pop out

After tying the knot and moving to Oakridge Heights from the Dashiell family villa, Lizetta didn’t pack much except for this claw machine

Ever since her fallout with Remington four years back, she hadn’t touched a single gift from that machine

That was why it never crossed her mind that Remington would stash this year’s present in there. She squatted down, fumbled around underneath, and sure enough, found a bunch of specially customized coins

Half an hour later, Lizetta’s floor was littered with gift boxes; all unwrapped, only four had something inside

A wedding ring, earrings stuff Remington must’ve slipped in over the past couple of days. And the other two? Her birthday present and their anniversary gift

A swanky diamondstudded watch, a mini camera Lizetta hit play and found a birthday message recorded just for her

It were blessings from her idol, the music maestro in Celestia, Cash. The legend was 78 and hadn’t made a public appearance in ages

Scoring that birthday shoutout must’ve taken Remington some real elbow grease

Clutching the camera, Lizetta was a cocktail of excitement from her idol’s encouragement 

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and a deep, stirring emotion that wouldn’t quit

It was like a feather dropped in the lake of her heart, causing ripples that tickled her senseless, bringing an uncontrollable sweetness to her soul

She decided to let bygones be bygones for the sake of the gifts, at least for now, and take good care of him

Gifts in arms, she bounced back to the bedroom, all set to check if Remington’s fever had. broken, when rustling noises from the dressing room caught her ear

A burglar? Not likely, with Oakridge Heightstight security. Maybe Edith had found out Remington was sick

Lizetta headed for the dressing room, snagging a feather duster off a low cabinet just in 

case

But what she saw inside was beyond her wildest It was Evelina

guesses

Drawer open, clutching a pair of men’s undies, she spun around at the sound. Their eyes. locked, and Evelina looked gobsmacked

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