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.

corner of her eye, she

was she here? Had they been

all this time. Elaine’s smile deepened as Whitney passed by, her voice laced with malice, “Whitney,

did she mean by that? Whitney stumbled, her

was no time to ponder. She saw Ludwik’s attention shift back from the window to her.

took a deep breath and asked with a tinge of desperation in her eyes, “L, what

Ludwik réplied curtly.

Her slender fingers on

18:24

Chapter 177

they retreated beneath the surface.

color, she stumbled backward, knocking over

This is a divorce settlement. You may review the contents, but Mr. Lippert’s time is precious. You have five minutes,”

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

Ludwik’s handsome features from her view

chest, sat down, and shook her head with a hollow laugh, “No, I

have to refuse?” Ludwik’s voice

him, realizing he had changed since his return, Gone was the hysterical man from the day

longer the violent, vulnerable man from

an

formidable Mr. Lippert once again.

eyes, there was no trace of

looked at her with undisguised disdain and sneered, “Our

paled, her body shaking. “L, please don’t say

unwilling to waste more words on her.

face concealed a deep, cold fury.

Whitney saw the depth of his loathing for her.

for bearing a child after a year, but Mr. Lippert

wanted your money.” Whitney replied weakly, the irony of

lips, “considering you’ve likely received a fair share of loot from Orion already. Were

“I didn’t… Orion called me out of the blue.

matter. Whatever you do from now on, even if you become the town’s harlot, it’s none of my

depth of hurt must a man endure to turn so suddenly heartless and cold?

its purity, covered in wounds and grievances. She had done