Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 167

“At first, I kept it from you because I didn’t want you to feel obliged to marry me out of some debt for

saving your life. I have my pride. Then Whitney suddenly turned up, pregnant with your child, and I felt

even less able to reveal the truth… I decided to let go of our connection, and out of jealousy. I wasn’t

kind to Whitney. I deeply regret it now” she confessed, her voice a mix of remorse and vulnerability.

“I never planned to tell you, even as I left Banyan City. But today, I’m scared that if I don’t come clean

about this secret, I might die without ever having the chance.”

Elaine edged closer to him, her eyes clear and pitifully earnest. Tve always loved you deeply. Four

years ago, I rescued you without a second thought, and four years later, I donated a kidney to save

Natalie. I did it all willingly, Ludwik. You don’t owe me anything I just hope you can feel the sincerity of

my feelings, that would be enough for me to die without regrets.”

Ludwik looked at her, his insides churning with emotion.

He had searched the world for a girl who, it turned out, had always been by his side, silent and

unnoticed.

His eyes, swirling with deep emotion, landed on Elaine. It seemed she had always been sacrificing for

him,

always.

Elaine watched him, touched and torn, her gaze softening at the memory of her life–saving act four

years prior.

She knew she had succeeded in her ruse. To present this half–truth, to masquerade as Whitney, she

had rehearsed countless justifications.

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Perfect. He would believe her, especially now in his vulnerable state, and especially after she had

donated a kidney to his mother

This was the perfect timing her mother had spoken of!

Elaine’s internal laughter was carefully concealed.

“Mom?” Suddenly, a breathless, pale voice came from the doorway.

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Whitney, barely hanging on, had made her way here, and upon entering, she saw Ludwik embracing

Elaine.

Her brows furrowed in unease, her gaze involuntarily drifting to the other hospital bed–Natalie!

Hearing the word “Mom,” Ludwik turned his icy, chiseled features slowly around.

Whitney felt as if his gaze pierced and shattered her with its merciless cold

Confused, she remembered the collective silence as she entered, the cold stares from Nolan and the

others

Starving and weak, Whitney had come straight to Banyan City after being rescued from the mountains.

A visit to the police station revealed her uncle’s arrest.

Then, rushing back to the villa, she was told by the security staff that Natalie was in the hosp

hospital.

But what on earth was happening here? Why was it so quiet?

“Mom… How is she?” She wondered, thinking Ludwik must be furious about the kidnapping.

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She was ready to take his anger. She reassured herself firmly as she approached Natalie’s bedside.

Suddenly, Ludwik’s heavy steps approached, and with one swift move, he pulled Whitney away,

sending her tumbling to the floor!

“Ludwik?” Whitney gasped in panic, her face whitening as she clutched her stomach, narrowly avoiding

hitting the table’s edge.

“You dare to show your face here, Whitney?” Elaine’s voice trembled with feigned weakness. “Do you

realize that Natalie is now in a vegetative state?”

A thunderous noise seemed to explode in Whitney’s head, a sharp pain stirring her thoughts into a blur.

Tears welled up and fell unbidden as she scrambled up, shaking her head in denial,

“It can’t be, it’s impossible… Nonsense! Just the other night, I treated her, and when I helped her

escape, her breathing was steady, her pulse normal. It was you… Elainel You took her away by force, I

knew you meant no good; how could you be so cruel?”

“Who’s the cruel one?” Elaine’s voice was filled with feigned Indignation. “You and your uncle planned

to harm Ludwik. That’s why you kidnapped Natalie! When I heard, I rushed to find her, but I arrived to

see you holding her hostage, doing something to her stomach. She was spitting blood, Ludwik; I took a

video at that moment. Take a look…”

Elaine turned and fetched her phone, handing it to Ludwik.

His hand was cold as ice as he took the phone:

In the pitch–dark field, Whitney laid her mother down, lifting her clothes to insert needles into her

stomach. Her mother suddenly vomited a mouthful of black blood, her expression one of intense pain.

The video stopped abruptly!

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Ludwik’s heart shattered like ice as he turned his chilling gaze on Whitney.

She looked at Elaine incredulously. Elaine had been lying in wait before her appearance, secretly

recording the video.

But it was edited out of context!

Whitney tried desperately to explain to Ludwik, “It’s a setup by Elaine. She only recorded a part on

purpose. I was just giving Mom acupuncture; she said she had a pancreatic attack. I was helping her

with the pain. After she spat the blood, she immediately felt better…

Ludwik’s hand struck Whitney’s face with a slap.

Whitney’s delicate face swelled red from the impact, and she stumbled back against the wall.

Ludwik loomed over her, his presence like a shadowy cage, the chill from the depths of hell enveloping

her.

He looked at her, nodding with a bitter laugh, “You know acupuncture, so you claim to know medicine?

Didn’t I ask you once before? How did you respond? You said you did not know.

Hiding truths, lying expertly, I see it now. You’ve been lurking around me and my mother, seeking what?

The Imperial Gem Corporation? If you couldn’t have it, you’d rather see everything destroyed. Didn’t

my mother treat you well? She cherished you like her own. What did you do to her?

Kidnapping her, so frail and pitiful, you give her acupuncture, and she just spits blood and gets better?

Her kidneys have failed! Now she lies here, never to wake again.

Viper, even that term doesn’t describe you! And you dare accuse Elaine? It was she who donated a

kidney to save my mother’s life!”

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What? Elaine donated a kidney to his mother?

Whitney stared at Elaine, incredulous, unable to believe she would go to such lengths to set her up.

That was a kidney, half a life.

Whitney’s mind was on the verge of imploding.

Elaine had set the trap, but she still did not believe it. She looked pleadingly at Ludwik, screaming, “I

didn.t deceive you! Mom didn’t have kidney failure that night. I checked her and stabilized her

condition. She was taken away by Elaine by force, and after Elaine knocked me out, I was so worried

she might harm her…”

“You’re telling me Elaine pushed Mom into kidney failure so that she could swoop in and donate one of

hers?” Ludwik snorted with derision.

18:20

If he had harbored a shred of doubt before, it was obliterated the moment he learned that Elaine was

the same girl from four years ago. To Ludwik, Whitney’s true colors had never been so grotesquely

apparent.

This was precisely why Elaine had been so eager to claim the role of the lifesaving angel. Because

Ludwik would be doubly touched and utterly convinced of her sincerity!

Elaine watched Whitney with an indifferent gaze.

Whitney had no comeback for Ludwik’s sharp retort. The move was too cruel, too unbelievable to

anyone else, but knowing Elaine and her manipulations, Whitney could believe she was capable of it!

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“I didn’t harm Mom, I swear. Seeing her like this breaks my heart. I regret not taking her home myself,

getting her the help she needed in time, Whitney said, her voice cracking with pain as she covered her

eyes and slowly sank to her knees beside Natalie’s hospital bed.

“Ludwik, I am so sorry. But I love you, I really do. I’d never hurt you again. The whole Imperial Gem

Corporation mess, there’s more to it than you know. I never meant to funnel away your money,

never…”

“You love me?” Ludwik yanked Whitney back to her feet, refusing to allow her the right of even kneeling

by his mother’s bedside.

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