Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 2

Whitney froze, her face draining of color, her heart pounding out of her chest.

That man…

She had only sought help, but he had….

The man swiftly ushered her into the car, and Whitney offered no resistance. She had nowhere else to go. The hospital was crowded, and as the leading socialite of Banyan City, being exposed here was tantamount to signing her own death warrant for the Valentine family!

Clutching her hands tightly, Whitney scanned the unassuming Bentley she was in.

The man took a call, his voice deferential. “Yes, Ms. Valentine has been retrieved.”

“Calm down, your little golden grandchild hasn’t even settled in yet…” He soothed the elderly voice on the other end with a hint of frustration.

The car wound to a secluded mansion nestled against the hills, a testament to understated wealth. As Whitney stepped out, she was met by two maids at the entrance.

This is Xandra and Taryn. They will take care of you for the next ten months until you deliver the child,” the man informed her.

Whitney was stunned, realizing she had been duped. Her eyes cooled to ice. “What does he take me for? A baby–making machine? Get him to see me.”

“Master was ambushed that day. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have had this opportunity.”

Whitney was livid. Forced into the house, she was extremely weak but refused to compromise, engaging in a hunger strike to force the maids to call their master.

dusk, Taryn finally brought news.

filled with anger and curiosity about the

night, hidden in her bedroom, she heard the sound of an engine and

downstairs.

approached, her door slowly turned

heartbeat raced, and she abruptly grabbed a vase,

a tall shadow loomed, the temperature seemingly

politely, his remarkable

panic turned to anger as she

man snuffed out his cigarette, his elegant fingers hanging loose, and with an air of aloof

Whitney glanced

a blend of

turned around, Whitney glimpsed his

face was hidden, but the high bridge of his nose

disarmed, and he fixed her with a piercing gaze. “If I hurt you that day, I apologize. And that’s the

realizing what

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Chapter 2

unbearable, “I don’t care why you climbed into my car or why

wrong!”

looked down at her from his height, saying, “She has only a year left to live. As you wish, we’ll marry, and a year later, once you’ve given birth,

a proposal

her ire, “Why should I agree to be a child–bearing tool and a pawn