Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 237

At the airport in the South, Ludwik stepped off the plane and immediately turned on his laptop, eager to check the live feed from the sanatorium’s surveillance system.

But the connection was frustratingly spotty, the feed lagging in real–time.

His gaze was icy as worry creased his brow. Without a moment’s hesitation, he dialed the sanatorium.

The director picked up, his voice hesitant and filled with excuses about poor reception in the mountains and ongoing repairs.

Meanwhile, Felix was rambling on about a litany of issues cropping up at the factory,

Yet, Ludwik, standing tall and imposing in the midst of the bustling airport, paid him no mind. A chill surrounded him, his brow twitching with unease.

Suddenly, his phone pinged with a notification.

An unfamiliar number with an international prefix – probably spam?

It rang just once!

For reasons Ludwik could not fathom, he found it unsettling and impulsively tried to call back, but it would not go through.

What the hell was going on?

Something felt very wrong tonight. His right eye twitched, a premonition of impending trouble.

“Mr. Lippert? Mr. Lippert?” Felix called out several times before getting his attention.

Ludwik slowly turned, noticing an inexplicable film of sweat on his palm. “I can’t connect to the sanatorium’s feed. Damn it, what good are they if they can’t get this right? Forget the factory issues. I need to go back.”

Taken aback by Mr. Lippert’s unusual demeanor and evident agitation – he had not rested at all on the flight – Felix did not dare say more and immediately instructed the airport manager, “Prepare Mr. Lippert’s private jet for a return flight.”

“Plot the shortest course. Get me there in two hours. And find out what’s going on at the sanatorium!” Ludwik ordered, pinching the bridge of his nose as he strode back to the cabin.

“What did you say? Imbeciles! She was in labor, and you let her escape?!” Elaine could hardly believe the call from her henchman.

Fuming with rage, she had left the scene to cover her tracks and was busy planting ‘evidence‘ to’turn tonight’s events in her favor. She even planned to cast herself as the ‘victim‘ of a kidnapping by Whitney and Tiana.

Chapter 237

C–section and the B&B was

you let her get away? Where are the others?” Elaine snapped, her eyes flashing with malice as she spun the car

carnage, with several of her men severely injured, some with

and nail to protect her child…” Only one henchman was left unscathed, wiping blood from his eyes as he pointed toward the back road from the B&B. “She took a scalpel and car keys. She was badly hurt, and with

Gather

the room and commanded, “And burn this place to the

resilient woman who dared

the car to its limits, the world around her a blur. She could not recall how she managed to escape from that room; all she knew was that as a mother, she had done everything to prevent that blade from

and amniotic fluid soaked the seat. She could no longer feel her baby moving; if she did not act fast, it would suffocate

do? The road was

men, like relentless predators, were

it careening down a slope, and fled in the opposite direction, vaulting over

sharp, salty sea breeze cut through the

was near the coast, still within

to get farther away to safety for her and her baby, but a sudden gush of blood signaled the onset of labor. She collapsed onto the rocks, her baby ready to be born

the baby’s tiny, desperate

her mouth. In the bone–chilling wind, she lay back, opened her legs, and began to push with all her might, with one hand

Chapter 237

as

day she would be giving birth alone in the wilderness, secretly enduring all the pain and

thought she would be driven to

led them to

every ounce of pain reminds me to hate you. I hate you, Ludwik.”

on the cloth, her mouth filling with blood. She had no strength left; she was gravely injured at the B&B and was now on the verge of a difficult labour.

she

so quickly like she was carrying

in the

fuzzy, the world darkening as she forced herself

would

haze, something surged out with a rush

to reach for her child, but another surge of pain