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

observed Tiana and the small

so different from the spacious villa the Melford

the pair, her voice hoarse. “I’m sorry, Tiana, I

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

grown. She clenched her fists as she looked at Tiana. “My biggest

say that. I’ve been okay these three years,” Tiana

afraid, and it made Whitney’s heart

can to back you up, to

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

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

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

feel worse,” Tíana

three years because of Elaine’s tyranny. How long will you keep hiding like

its knees by a

refuse to believe that

Valerie continued, “Whitney, that night three years ago, Tiana was humiliated. The next day, 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 it all and turned against you with a

Chapter 251

Melford family, and Elaine quietly ran

Tiana was so vilified that no man would consider marrying her.

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

this day, after so many men that night, we don’t

turning

bit her lip but continued to hold 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

was threatening me, too. I’ve been useless!

desperate, somehow found work,

minions.

and the Melford family

wary, to the point where she wouldn’t even see me. I could only

were living such stifled lives, tormented

woman was a tyrant;

was so young and radiant; she should have had her pick of the most eligible bachelors in Banyan City. All ruined, a scandal, an unwed mother, three years of ridicule, plummeting from the heavens into the

Whitney only despised Ludwik and Elaine. However, 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

fixed on a specific spot…

then, a baby’s cry emerged from

tender cries took

in. “Sweetheart, why are you