Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 342

Ludwik's phone buzzed in his pocket, and when he picked up, Ashton's irate voice came storming through. "Dude, where the heck have you been? Elaine's been drowning her sorrows at the pub, drinking herself into a stupor-you aware she's in the hospital now, stomach bleeding and all? She's been a mess, crying about you not picking up her calls. The bartender tried reaching you to no avail and had to call me instead. What kind of fiancé does that make you? I've just rushed her to the ER..." Ludwik paused, his brows knitting together, his voice dropping to a chilly tone, "I'm on my way."

After hanging up, he glanced back at the firmly shut door of Whitney's apartment and reluctantly texted her: "Could you watch Danny for me?"

He then strode towards the elevator.

---

At the hospital.

Elaine was fuming, her hands trembling as she clutched the freshly snapped photos Lyra had obtained from a detective. The images showed Ludwik and Whitney in a close embrace on the balcony of her apartment, lost in a passionate kiss.

Each call she had made to Ludwik, pleading on behalf of the Bartels family, went unanswered. She had rushed back to their family estate, only to find he'd already left with Daniel.

Ignoring her, avoiding her!

And yet, there he was, refusing to lend a hand to the Bartels, instead choosing to cozy up to Whitney, the opportunist.

the photos to shreds just as Ashton's footsteps

quickly feigned a bout of

was shocked

up at him, despair in her voice, "Ashton, I

hospital. Ashton greeted him with a grim face, the tension palpable

minor surgery. Still under anesthesia," Ashton

to talk, they ended up in a nearby pub, where the bartender served them two shots of strong vodka. Ludwik downed his shot, and Ashton, fixing him with a steady gaze, sighed deeply. "What's going on with you, man?" Ludwik remained silent, lost in thought. Ashton continued, expressing his frustration over Ludwik's apparent neglect of Elaine, who had given so

forgetting his obligations to Elaine and the Bartels family amidst the crisis they

chord, reminding him of

didn't hold back, berating Ludwik for wavering between two women, for forgetting the sacrifices Elaine had made for him,

him questioning where his heart truly lay, caught between duty and desire, past loyalties, and new temptations. But Ashton hit the nail on the head - there's no turning back after

kindness from Elaine, it felt like ropes binding

the divorce papers in his

his eyes tightly, maybe it was time to stop messing around with Whitney.

---

"Ludwik..."