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.

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.

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!

“Mom,” Ludwik turned his icy, chiseled features

his gaze pierced and shattered her

as she entered, the cold

after being rescued from the

by the security staff that Natalie was

hospital.

was happening here? Why

wondered, thinking Ludwik must be furious

She reassured

and with one swift move, he pulled Whitney away,

gasped in panic, her face whitening as she

Elaine’s voice trembled with feigned weakness. “Do you realize that Natalie is now in a vegetative

pain stirring her thoughts into a blur. Tears welled up and fell unbidden as she scrambled up, shaking her head in denial,

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,

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 phone, handing it to Ludwik.

was cold as ice as he took the phone:

her clothes to insert needles into her stomach. Her mother suddenly vomited a mouthful of black blood, her

stopped abruptly!

heart shattered like ice as he turned

been lying in wait before her

was edited out of context!

giving Mom acupuncture; she said she had

face

red from the impact,

her, his presence like a shadowy cage, the chill from the depths of hell enveloping her.

laugh, “You know acupuncture, so you claim to know medicine? Didn’t I ask you once before?

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

and gets better? Her