Tonight I End A Four Year Illusion Novels & Stories

(Livia’s POV) It’s 3:12 a.m. on the last day of the contract year. The penthouse is dark except for the soft glow from the nursery nightlight. I can’t sleep. My back is killing me, my hips feel like they’re splitting, and every time I close my eyes, my brain reminds me: tomorrow the year ends. Tomorrow the seventy-five million hits my account. Tomorrow I’m technically free to walk away with Sandra and disappear. I hate that the thought even exists.

"Four days. Then we end this." Harper raises an imaginary glass. "To endings." "And beginnings," Jordan adds. I don't say anything else. Just stand there looking at the city through my window, at the life I've built from the ashes of my marriage, at the woman I've become. Four more days. Then I walk into that courtroom and I burn it all down. But this time, I'll be the one walking out of the fire. The article drops on Friday morning, two days before I testify.

Frames shattered and glass fragments sprayed everywhere, just like how my heart shattered along with them. I did not know how long it took, but I only stopped when there was not a single intact smile left on the wall. Then, I collapsed on the floor with no more strength left in me. After a long time, I called my best friend Brenda Harris. "Brenda, I'm getting a divorce. You said you needed a partner in Floraland, right? I'm coming to see you." Brenda froze for a second, then she supported me without hesitation. "I'll go ahead and get your ticket. You can leave in three days."

On it glowed a single message draft, unsent— Next move begins tomorrow. Phase Four. And with that, the game between truth and power tightened its grip.

He laid her down gently and stripped off the rest of his clothes. He made love to her slow and deep, eyes locked the entire time. Every thrust felt like a promise. Every kiss tasted like forgiveness. When they cummed together it was quiet and shattering and perfect. Afterward they lay tangled in the sheets. His fingers drew lazy patterns on her spine. “We have four days,” he said softly. “Mia just booked a ticket for Friday. Surprise visit.” Lana’s heart stopped. “Four days?” He nodded against her hair. “Four days to decide what we’re willing to lose.”

Since you ruined this wedding ceremony, don't expect there to be another one. As I took in Molly's nasty, unpleasant expression, it finally hit me that genuinely loving someone else with all my heart didn't mean I would get the same in return. After being with Dominic for ten years, I no longer wanted to be the Moore family's daughter-in-law. Before I could say anything, Molly yanked me by the arm and shoved me out of the building. "If you fail to get Dominic to turn around, don't bother coming back either." I turned my head back around, only to see that the doors had slammed shut behind me.

I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes and breathed. Four years. You spent four years on someone, and this is how it ends. Not with a conversation. Not even with a proper rejection. Just this is a lot and a pat on the shoulder and your scrapbook next to a bottle of Fireball. Then I heard them. The window above me was cracked open – the kitchen window, letting out the heat from sixty bodies packed into a living room. Voices floated down, clear and unmistakable over the music.

I looked at him for a long moment. Then finally, I turned away. Moving toward the window. The night stretched endlessly beyond it. Dark. Quiet. Watching. My mind replayed everything. The music. The shadow. The feeling. It had been real. I knew it had. And somewhere deep inside— A truth began to settle. Slowly. Deliberately. I wasn’t imagining things. I was *seeing them.* Finally. And whatever had revealed itself tonight— Was only the beginning. Behind me, Lucian shifted slightly in bed.

I had barely finished the paperwork when I received a message from Sarah. "Jonathan, there's a reunion with our university classmates at eight o'clock tonight at a bar called Timeless. Since everyone will be there, you can use this opportunity to apologize to Lenard and admit to your mistakes, just like I taught you. After that, you can transfer the 200 thousand dollars to him." That night, I showed up at the bar on time. When I entered the private room, it was already packed. Sarah and Mandy were sitting beside Lenard, the three of them all smiles as they laughed and talked.

Why was I chasing her? Why was I begging for something that had been dying right in front of me? I pulled into my driveway too fast and killed the engine abruptly. The silence that followed pressed against my ears. She stood there tonight and said she wasn’t my wife. Just like that. Like years meant paperwork. Like history could be erased with a signature. I leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes. No. The relationship didn’t collapse tonight. It had been cracking for months. Every argument. Every suspicion. Every time she looked at me like I was the villain in her story.