Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 164

“Why on earth did this damn woman team up with her uncle to kidnap Natalie? That’s Ludwik’s mother for crying out loud! Does Whitney have no heart?”

“Keep it together. It might be a misunderstanding. Natalie’s frall and can’t be without oxygen. We’re working with the cops over here. Whatever you do, keep Ludwik in the dark!”

Nolan was struck dumb, his mind racing with panic.

The car sped along the country roads. Whitney had stopped at a rural clinic and grabbed some emergency medicine and a first aid kit.

Soon, the car veered into the mountains, Keegan’s assistant taking twists and turns, making sure Whitney could not memorize the route.

Bent over her dead phone, Whitney realized the battery was flat. Her face went ashen.

Around midnight, the car pulled up to a dilapidated farmhouse.

Ignoring the hunger pangs, Whitney bolted from the car and barged through the front door.

Inside, her uncle and two bodyguards were in disarray, the room a mess, and Natalie slumped in a chair, frothing at the mouth, her condition unimproved.

“She’s rolling her eyes back! Whitney,” Keegan bellowed.

Whitney felt a turmoil inside, her emotions complex as she glanced at her uncle, noticing he had stood up. likely on a prosthetic, limping as he moved.

Tears spilled from Whitney’s eyes as she

saw her uncle’s pitiful state, yet she also felt an overwhelming hatred. She rushed to Natalie’s side, her voice breaking. “Uncle, why must you do this? You’re driving us both to a dead end. You’re not well yourself; you know the pain of illness; why can’t you show some compassion to Mom?”

“Who’s your Mom? Her? No! Whitney, don’t betray the Tennyson family!” Keegan burst out.

He was too far gone, deaf to reason.

Whitney felt despair.

Bending down, she administered acupuncture to Natalie’s skull, pressed on a vital point on her throat, and forced the medicine down her throat, slowly halting her spasms.

die. Ludwik has been inseparable from his mom since he was a kid. She’s my biggest

a knife was twisting in her heart. Knowing how much Ludwik loved his mother, she

path along the cliff’s edge; one misstep could lead to a

Natalie back. She needs proper hospital care; she

still in Ludwik’s hands, Who ever felt sorry for me? Whitney, I love

cried uncontrollably, knowing her

the acup

surprise, had a soft spot

with a gentle gaze.

icy hand touched Whitney’s trembling wrist.

open, looking back at her with love and confusion,

streaming. Whitney silently communicated with her eyes

saying, “Uncle, we’re missing a crucial medicine. We need it now, or Natalie might not make it.”

“What is it?”

I saw a clinic in the village on the way here, but they might not have it. You guys need to split up and look for

frowned. “You three go. I’ll stay

“It’s an emergency, Uncle. You should go too. Look at

on his hands, Keegan grumbled, “I wouldn’t have taken her if that person on the phone had told me she was this ill!”

on the

her brows in

away, Whitney sighed in relief. With the last needle in place, she saw Natalie’s breathing ease

“Whitney…”

sorry…” Whitney choked up, quickly helped Natalie sit up, checked her pulse, and slipped the

a ruse to send them away.

now.

her uncle had kidnapped her, and she

nodded, her cough less

better and confident in her medical skills, Whitney strapped a portable oxygen

in the village, Whitney relied on

had to get Natalie home before her uncle returned. If they made it, the kidnapping would be undone, and she could beg Natalie’s forgiveness and explain, hoping Ludwik would forgive her uncle’s

hung in the sky as she mustered all her strength, uncertain how long they had been walking.