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 her eye, she

they been inseparable

time. Elaine’s smile deepened as Whitney passed by, her voice laced

that? Whitney stumbled, her brows knit tightly

ponder. She saw Ludwik’s attention shift back from the window to her.

hope, Whitney took a deep breath and asked with a

papers,” Ludwik réplied

slender fingers on the table suddenly

18:24

Chapter 177

retreated

face drained of color, she stumbled

Valentine, please keep your composure. This is a divorce settlement. You may review the contents, but Mr. Lippert’s

it had been pierced by their sharp edges, bleeding, a searing pain engulfing her.

world around her darkened, obscuring Ludwik’s handsome features

shook her head with a

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

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

vulnerable man

like an icily detached statue, indestructible.

formidable

trace of

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

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

said, unwilling to waste more

face concealed a deep, cold fury.

saw the depth of

agreement originally included a compensation for bearing a child after a year, but Mr. Lippert

replied weakly, the irony of those

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

didn’t… Orion called me out of the blue. I swear I never met with him privately.”

if you become the town’s harlot, it’s none

must a man endure to turn so suddenly heartless and

could tear out her heart and show him its purity, covered in wounds and grievances. She had done