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 and the small

was so different from the spacious villa the Melford family once

hoarse. “I’m sorry, Tiana, I came back too late. Tell me everything that’s happened to you in these past three years!”

out of 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 were alive. These three years, Whitney, you must have suffered so much without contacting us…”

dare reach out; she feared giving herself away, her wings not yet fully grown. She clenched her fists as she looked at Tiana. “My biggest

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

and afraid, and it made Whitney’s heart feel as

Tiana, don’t be afraid. I’ll do everything I can to back

head in despair. “Whitney, you don’t understand the power of Ludwik Lippert, the

like a flood of wild beasts, causing her to shake her

have ended up like this all because of Elaine Bartels. You need to tell Whitney

worse,” Tíana

“We’ve been cowards for three years because of Elaine’s tyranny. How

not only of yourself but also of Cherry and your parents. The Melford.Group was brought to its knees by a single word from Ludwik, and with Elaine manipulating behind the scenes, you’ve been

refuse to believe that no one can expose

to the sanitarium to save you, accusing you both of trying to slander her with a fake kidney donation, saying you deliberately went

Chapter 251

Elaine quietly ran

with a massive debt. Tiana

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 her

was no choice but to have the child, and to this day, after so many men that night, we don’t know who the

face turning a ghastly

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

too. I’ve been

and desperate, somehow found work, only to be suppressed

minions.

all this, Tiana’s will 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

blazed with a fiery red. Her friends were living such

woman was a tyrant; her misdeeds were absolute.

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

had destroyed

gaze was fixed on a specific spot…

a baby’s cry emerged

tender

why