Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 475

Florence sobbed softly, her face pale as a ghost. "Why do you have to be so aggressive, Whitney? I've seen Sandy and her assistant, they're always popping in and out of your office like it's a revolving door. I just thought... maybe I could too..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced weakly at Ludwik.

Whitney snorted with a mix of sarcasm and disbelief. "Playing the victim, Florence? Do I need to enlighten your clueless boyfriend here? Sandy and her assistant are part of my team. You, on the other hand, are competing against me. That means you need to keep your distance! Mr. Lippert, it seems your girlfriend here doesn't grasp the basic rules of conduct. Maybe you should teach her a thing or two before letting her out to cause more trouble and waste everyone's time!"

Ludwik felt his anger rising, not just at the situation but now directed towards him. At work, disrespecting authority was a no-go, and Whitney's sharp tongue was pushing his limits. "Whitney, that's enough. Why do you have to belittle her like this? It's her first day on the job. It's normal not to know every single policy by heart. She thought she was close enough to you to step into your office for a moment. And now you're making a scene out of it? And what about when you pushed her down? She's got a sprained ankle now. How does that fit into your narrative?"

He could see the worry in her eyes, a worry she didn't even know was shared by her mother, who was slowly fading away, her life ebbing as the days passed.

A wave of exhaustion washed over Ludwik, his gaze turning icy. "I'll say it again, I didn't push her. Check the surveillance cameras if you must!"

Whitney, her eyes cold and unyielding, glanced at Florence's ankle with a mocking realization. "A little burn scar, not even a third as bad as Sandy's, and she's playing it up, refusing to get it treated. Just waiting to play the sympathy card, huh? Probably staged that fall this morning too. But hey, you don't even need to go that far. To Mr. Lippert, even your farts smell like roses!"

Her crude words made Ludwik's handsome face turn steely with anger.

I swear... I'm being framed..." Florence's

controlled anger. "Whitney, there's a reason she hasn't sought treatment. And you? You'll never understand why! Just keep your troubles away from

Lippert?" Whitney challenged, her palms

ridiculed like this... You think I barged into her office. I apologize for that, Whitney.

bowed deeply, tears streaming down her face before she weakly slumped to the

grave. Without a moment's hesitation, he scooped her up and

with whispers of sympathy for

but she's still Mr. Lippert's girlfriend. The vice president is really harsh," whispered one colleague to another,

coffee. Today Sandy said

assistant, smug with the recorded gossip, shot Sandy a triumphant look before walking away, leaving Sandy

all for fools with a performance designed to elicit sympathy and paint them as

to this new drama unfolding within their corporate empire. As the office phone rang, cutting through the tension, Whitney steeled herself for the confrontation that awaited in Ludwik's office, a place where power plays were as common as the coffee they drank and the stakes

a moment, then lifted her gaze to his face, those eyes. She couldn't read

like the blade of a sword. "What now? Playing the same old game, rushing to your new flame while coming back to patch things