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

actions pained Whitney, who carefully observed Tiana

so different from the spacious villa the Melford family once had. Tiana had been

Tiana, I came back too late. Tell me everything that’s happened to

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

reach out; she feared giving herself away, her wings not yet fully grown. She clenched her fists as

I’ve been okay these three years,” Tiana replied with a placating smile, her gaze evasive.

afraid, and it made Whitney’s heart feel

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

head in despair. “Whitney, you don’t understand the

ago and all the subsequent horrors that ensued like a flood of wild beasts,

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

don’t make her feel worse,” Tíana

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

was brought to its knees by a single word from Ludwik, and with Elaine manipulating behind

and I refuse to

her photos spread throughout Banyan City, destroying her reputation overnight. Elaine twisted the story of Tiana’s visit to the sanitarium to save you, accusing you both of trying to slander her with a fake kidney donation, saying you deliberately went into early labor to spite Ludwik. That jerk believed

Chapter 251

the Melford family, and Elaine quietly ran them into the ground, not

Tiana was so vilified that no man

in a daze, and if she 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

this day, after so many men that night, we don’t know who the father is.”

tremble, her face turning a ghastly pale. “Stop talking!”

her, “Ludwik abandoned her to her fate, and Elaine ruthlessly finished them off. Anytime Nolan Fuller and I tried to help Tiana, Elaine would whisper in Ludwik’s ear, and the Fuller Group and

me, too. I’ve been useless!

somehow found work, only

minions.

will was broken, and the Melford family

wouldn’t even see me. I could only secretly buy some baby

friends were living such stifled lives, tormented to this extent!

woman was a tyrant; her misdeeds were absolute.

eligible bachelors in Banyan City. All ruined, a

now that she found 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 the roof.

fixed on

a baby’s cry emerged

girl’s tender cries took everyone

immediately rushed in. “Sweetheart, why are you