Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 105

The assistant peered down at the photograph of Whitney, and her hands trembled ever so slightly. She lifted her eyes to Elaine, knowing this was no laughing matter.

Clearly, Elaine had been plotting this for a long time. Despite her young age, it was terrifying how cunning and

malicious she was

Elaine leaned back into her leather chair, gazing out the window at the cars scurrying like ants below. A sly smirk crept across her face. “Time to spring Whitney from her gilded cage,” she said.

“Check on the schedule for the doctor who’s attending to Mr. Lippert’s mother in her cottage retreat. Find out when he’s off–duty,” Elaine commanded.

The assistant quickly responded, flipping through her notes with practiced ease.

Elaine chuckled lowly, a sinister plan clearly forming in her mind. “And get me a burner phone,” she added.

As per routine, Taryn delivered meals to Whitney on the sixth day. Natalie’s villa was nestled behind the golf course, a fair distance from the main manor.

It was a considerate gesture from Mr. Lippert, who wanted his mother to convalesce in peace, the forest air rich with oxygen.

But now, with Whitney confined by Ludwik and Natalie oblivious to her plight, the help from both households remained unaware of each other’s affairs.

Today, the day the doctor was off–duty, Xandra had been reassigned to fill in.

Around noon, with her health seemingly stable, Natalie retired upstairs and received an unexpected call from an unknown number that reeked of telemarketing.

She answered the phone with her usual warmth. “Hello?”

“Natalie!” The sing–song voice of Elaine carried through the line, its sweetness veiling malice.

In a flash, it ignited something in Natalie’s memory–a warning signal, an echo of danger, telling her that this was the voice of a venomous snake and that she should stay away from it. She stiffened. “Elaine, what can I do for you?”

Elaine’s voice was dripping with feigned innocence. “Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to ask why you dislike me so. Why have you made Ludwik hold off marrying me? He’s indifferent to everyone else; he could marry anyone. You’re quite the thorn in my side, you know? Why are you afraid of me? Could it be because of the time I pushed the girl who liked Ludwik…”

“Ah!” Natalie could not grasp the details, only that this girl was a source of terror. No, she was no girl. She was a scorpion. What had she done? Natalie could not remember, but her head throbbed with pain and fear, an urgent need to escape this conversation…

breath, her chest tight, her complexion fading

silently as the old lady fell ill, then hung up the phone with

“Natálie is going to have an episode. Keep an eye on the cottage. Once chaos ensues, Whitney will get wind of it.”

contact Ludwik, but his phone went unanswered–likely tied up in a meeting. It was office hours,

reigned. Natalie had been improving and eating every meal well.

present and staff overwhelmed, a housemaid rushed

15:51

Chapter 105

shrilled from below. She dashed

of her room, overhearing Taryn’s panicked voice.

Mom?” Whitney’s eyes narrowed with

on the situation at the

foaming at the mouth, it’s no small matter.” Whitney swiftly pocketed a needle kit from her room, concealing it within her clothes.

e–bike without a second thought and

second visit, and she was very familiar with the

chaos reigned, and the nurses were too afraid to intervene. Whitney ordered everyone out. “Stay

shut

procedures, swiftly administered the needle, targeting

Natalie’s spasms ceased, and

with the specific medical details. She continued with the acupuncture,

was sure the crisis was averted, she called

will the doctor

be here in

of relief and stepped outside. The lawn

expanse of the estate. Behind the cottage lay a path leading to an exit, the keys still

days of confinement, perhaps longing for fresh air or perhaps driven by

moment, she jumped

to go anywhere, just to escape the confines of the

security detail inside the gates realized Whitney had

fled through the back exit. Taryn, ashen–faced,

moment, Ludwik had just concluded a lengthy meeting and was on the way back from the company’s north district office to downtown./

the phone hit him like a one–two punch: his mother was ill, and his wife had