Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 251

After parting ways with Orion, Whitney hopped into her car and immediately opened her text messages, eagerly awaiting Tiana’s current address.

But there was no text. Tiana had backed out.

Whitney sighed. The once fearless Tiana had now become so cautious.

She had no choice but to seek help from Bryce, asking him to dig up some information.

Bryce quickly provided her with a precise address.

After thanking him, Whitney drove off.

As the GPS guided her past the bustling downtown area, the neighborhoods grew shabbier, and she finally pulled up in front of a narrow, dilapidated old building.

Staring at the worn alley and the squalid surroundings, Whitney could not believe Tiana and her parents were hiding in a place like this.

What on earth had happened in the past three years to bring the Melford family to such a state? Taking a deep breath, Whitney got out of the car and slowly entered the building.

Just as she was about to knock, the door swung open, and she came face–to–face with the last person she expected.

Valerie, holding an empty can of baby formula, looked up, and her eyes widened in shock.

The two friends stood there, tears glistening in their eyes.

“Valerie,” Whitney called softly.

“Whit… Whitney?” Valerie dropped the can, her voice trailing off as she turned and called back into the apartment, “Tiana! It’s Whitney! She’s here!”

Footsteps echoed from inside.

Tiana appeared behind the door, her formerly round cheeks now slender, her long hair cut to a bob that brushed her pale shoulders.

The sweet, brash girl Whitney remembered from three years ago had transformed into a quiet, slick woman.

Her features were soft, with a hint of motherly allure, but her eyes lacked sparkle. She looked at Whitney in shock, tears welling up.

Whitney took another deep breath, her lips trembling as she stepped inside without a word.

“Whitney… What are you doing here?”

Tiana quickly wiped her eyes and cautiously glanced outside before swiftly shutting the door.

Chapter 251

who carefully observed Tiana

the Melford family once

as she looked at the pair, her voice hoarse. “I’m sorry, Tiana, I came back too late. Tell me everything that’s happened to you in these past

daze and embraced Whitney, breaking down. “We thought you were dead! Thank God Bryce got out… He managed to get

fully grown. She clenched her fists as she looked at Tiana. “My biggest regret is dragging you down with me! But this isn’t

been okay these three years,” Tiana replied with a

and it made Whitney’s heart feel

I can to back you up, to restore the Melford family’s glory,” Whitney said

you don’t understand the power of Ludwik Lippert, the influence of the Bartels family…”

and all the subsequent horrors that ensued like a flood of wild beasts, causing her to

looked at her with sorrow and anger. “Tiana, the three of us have ended up like this all because of Elaine Bartels. You need

make her feel worse,” Tíana tried to

with tears in her eyes, insisted. “We’ve been cowards for three years because of Elaine’s tyranny. How long

a single word from Ludwik, and with Elaine manipulating behind the scenes, you’ve been

countless wrongs, and I refuse

the story of Tiana’s visit to the sanitarium to save you, accusing you both of trying to

Chapter 251

the Melford family, and Elaine quietly ran them

but also leaving them with a massive debt. Tiana was so

had not needed to care for her parents, she might have taken her own life by then. What’s more despicable is that she soon discovered she was pregnant with Cherry. Tiana’s unique condition meant that terminating the pregnancy would prevent

the child, and to this day, after so many men that night, we

to tremble, her face turning a ghastly pale.

Nolan Fuller and I tried to help Tiana, Elaine

threatening me, too.

desperate, somehow found work, only

minions.

was broken, and the Melford family ended up hiding in the streets, utterly

to the point where she wouldn’t even see me. I could only secretly buy some baby formula for Cherry and pick

a fiery red. Her friends were living such stifled

that woman was a tyrant; her misdeeds were

young and radiant; she should have had her pick of the most eligible bachelors in Banyan City. All ruined, a scandal, an

out about how Ludwik had destroyed Tiana’s family and how he completely ignored Elaine’s sins, Whitney’s hatred for Ludwik and Elaine soared through

on a specific

then, a baby’s cry emerged

mommy…” The infant girl’s tender cries took

in. “Sweetheart, why are you