SEQUEL TO LIES YOU TELL After Graces world comes crashing down around her, she struggles to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and mend her shattered perception of life upon learning that the man she grew to love more than life itself was a cold and remorseless murderer. Landing the position as a criminologist on the NYPD homicide squad, she works hard to rebuild a new life for herself and leave the past in the past. After waiting four long years, Joseph finally gets put on a highly publicized trial and with the help of a well known criminal defense lawyer, the jury reaches a verdict that rocks the city of New York. During those four years being incarcerated, Joseph is forced to let go of the love of his life but upon his release their paths inevitably cross and now he has to fight for and work to earn her love and trust back. To do so, Joseph finally opens up to Grace about his dark past but opens up a can of worms in the process. Grace learns about history of her own family and uncovers dark secrets not even her mother knows which puts her in danger. In a dark twist of faith, Joseph learns who the true enemy is. Will Grace and Joseph finally get their happily ever after? Smoke and mirrors- the obscuring of the truth of a situation with misleading information. DISCLAIMER: This story is a work of pure fiction. Story has no association to photos in the story used to depict the characters in real life. Dec 2021

𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠...

"So you just wanna fuck me forever, and that's it, huh?" "I ain't say-" He sucked his teeth. "We already talked about this shit, Z." "Nah." She chuckled dryly. "You just keep shutting me out." "Why you doin' this to me, Ma?" He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hm? Why you tryna fuck everything up?" • • • • • • 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚗𝚘𝚗-𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌, 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 💌👻 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝟷 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜

"Please Jesus, free me of the spirit of lust." "I know that relationships built under your word can last forever. So free me of the thought, free me of the feeling and free me from my flesh trying to cloud my judgement." "I don't worship lust, sex or desire. I worship you Jesus, please don't allow me to lose sight of that." "In Jesus name, I pray." "Amen." I spoke desperately as I stood up from my knees.

Sinner 2. (The Sequel) "Aight, baby." He reluctantly grumbled, looking down into my eyes. "Whatever you want, I'a do it." Was all he said and I raised my eyes in shock. "You want me to leave this shit alone, you want me to leave this game? I'a do it." He looked down into my eyes seriously. "You hear me?" "It's done, baby. It's over." "What?" "Really?" I asked in disbelief, considering he was so content last night and this morning about his initial decision. "Yes, G." "You want me to stop? Then it's over." He said, licking his lips and I couldn't help to smile small, feeling 100% better. Apart of me believed him but a small part of me felt like he was just trying to make things better for the moment. "Do you promise, Abir?" I spoke barely above a whisper now and he nodded, looking away from me. "Yeah, ma." "Whatever you want." Then it's settled.

"If you were really my best friend, you'd see that you were the only person I've ever wanted to be with. You've been dating everyone else while I'm just sitting around waiting for you to open your damn eyes!" I yelled at him as tears streamed down my cheeks. He looked at me with wide eyes, clearly confused. He then held a sympathetic look on his face when he saw how passionate I was about this entire situation. I can't believe he didn't realize all these years that he was the one I wanted to be with all along. "How was I supposed to know Riley? You didn't tell me shit!" He yelled back at me but still held his same sympathetic look. I shook my head at him, wiping my face as I backed away from him, stepping into a pile of snow in the process. There was already snow on ground but more snow had just started to fall from the sky. "Look, I have to go. My mom wants me home for dinner." I said turning on my heels and walking away towards my house. I didn't even bother looking back but I knew he was still standing there. I wondered if he'd run after me or if he'd sweep me off my feet like I always imagined but no, nothing. Just broken dreams and maybe even a broken friendship. *For hopeless romantics

"You know how special you gotta be to change a nigga like me? Huh?" He tilted her head back to make her look at him, and a faint smile grew on her face as he wiped her cheeks. "My own grandparents couldn't do it for me and I loved them more than anything. You the one for me ma. That's why I ain't told you everything yet 'cause I don't wanna run you away. I need you." He laid his forehead against hers, gently kissing her lips. "Nobody will ever believe that King Von from O Block be crying to me like this." She smiled as she gazed into his red eyes, and he chuckled, nodding in agreement. "I ain't King Von wit' you. Just love." He kissed her cheek next, and her smile grew as her arms tightened around him for a warm hug.