Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

“I never claimed to be a saint, but dragging you and your uncle into this mess. wasn’t part of the plan.”

Whitney couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

“I’ve heard you were the golden boy, the apple of everyone’s eye. What did Ludwik have? Nothing. So why stoop to snatch away even the little he owns?”

“Do you even grasp the depth of a family feud? The pressure’s on me too, you know. Business is a cutthroat game. Sure, my brother had it rough growing up, but he’s outshone me in every way. That’s what really grinds.

my gears.”

Whitney nodded emphatically, “So, you’re just a bitter, petty man, jealous of him. But he’s not so easily defeated by the likes of you.”

“Is that so? Yet he’s the one in hiding now.” Orion stood up lazily, extending his hand, “Anyway, it was a pleasure doing business.”

Fuming, Whitney turned on her heel and left, her stomach churning with rage.

At the Ether Cafe downtown, Ludwik stared blankly at the ‘papers” before him, his strikingly handsome face lost in thought.

He glanced at his watch.

Sensing his impatience, Felix promptly made a call. Returning with a peculiar expression, Felix announced, “Whitney was just… just meeting with Orion, and she’s on her way here now.”

The pr

pen tip lightly dropped onto the papers, and Ludwik paused, then cracked a wry

smile.

He tossed the ‘papers‘ to the lawyer beside him, his features set in firm resolve.

Elaine sat nearby, observing every subtle shift in the man’s demeanor, a slight smirk playing on her lips.

Suddenly, there was the sound of hurried breaths.

Elaine turned her head. She was the first to see Whitney arrive.

Whitney’s gaze instinctively sought out Ludwik, who sat in a secluded booth, his figure svelte in a black suit. His face was still pale, his frame noticeably thinner and somewhat ill–looking, yet he appeared much improved from a week prior.

A flicker of emotion crossed her eyes. She hurried over, but Elaine sitting in a wheelchair near the entrance.

of the corner of her eye, she caught sight

was she here? Had they been

time. Elaine’s smile deepened as Whitney

stumbled, her brows knit tightly with

no time to ponder. She saw Ludwik’s attention shift back

heart pounding with a mixture of dread and hope, Whitney took a deep breath and asked with a tinge of desperation in her eyes,

Ludwik réplied

froze as if turned to stone. Her slender fingers on the table suddenly went limp, then clenched tightly,

18:24

Chapter 177

they retreated beneath the surface.

drained of color, she stumbled backward,

please keep your composure. This is a divorce settlement. You may review the contents, but Mr. Lippert’s time is precious. You have five minutes,” the lawyer interjected, pushing the papers

as though it had been pierced by their sharp edges, bleeding, a searing pain

around her darkened, obscuring Ludwik’s handsome

and shook her head

refuse?” Ludwik’s voice was a cold blade, cutting through the

his return, Gone was the hysterical man from the day his

longer the violent, vulnerable man from

an icily

formidable Mr. Lippert once

eyes, there was no trace of emotion she could

looked at her with undisguised disdain and sneered, “Our marriage was a sham, a farce. Nothing was real, much like

“L, please don’t say that. I truly love

he said, unwilling to waste more words

a deep,

the depth of his loathing for

“Ms. Valentine, the marriage agreement originally included a compensation for bearing a

Whitney replied weakly, the irony of

“considering you’ve likely received a fair share of

Orion called me out of the blue. I swear

from now on, even if you become the town’s harlot, it’s none of my concern.” His flippant words were the cruelest, and they were not spoken in

depth of hurt must a man endure

out her heart and show him its purity, covered in wounds and grievances. She