Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Sammy whipped out a lighter, flicked it on with a sharp snap, aiming it at his own eyes and hair in a defiant gesture. "Let me go! Whoever you are, you're not taking me with you. Bad guy! Ken! Dr. Ryan! Take me with you, please, take me away," he cried, his voice

breaking with sobs and his words clashing against each other.

The child's crying and his words shattered the calm facade Ludwik had been desperately holding onto, hitting him like a punch to the gut. Seeing Sammy like this broke his heart. He had finally found his son, but his son was refusing to be saved. What on earth had happened? It was as if someone had brainwashed Sammy, turning him against his own family, making him see his captor as a protector. How heartbroken Whitney would be if she knew?

Ludwik couldn't bear to think further, his eyes cold as ice, as if trying to see through Sammy's unfamiliar gaze. He feared his son might hurt himself, cleared his throat nervously, and raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "I'm not going to touch you. I'm not the bad guy... Can you just listen to me for a moment? You're in danger, Sammy. You've been kidnapped and held captive for over a month..."

"You're lying! I don't believe anyone but Ms. Sheldon! Stay away from me!" After screaming, Sammy backed away, holding the lighter defensively, while Ludwik remained still, kneeling on the ground. Sammy immediately ran to a bodyguard, "Ken, let's go, take me home." Ryan looked pale, confused by Sammy's dangerous antics. It was almost impossible to tell if Sammy was acting or had genuinely changed. "Sammy...you..."

"Let him go. We can't let him get hurt," Ludwik said, his voice choked with emotion, his eyes scanning the scene with concern and caution.

Parker arrived just in time to witness the scene. Sammy was not only disowning Ludwik but also resisting the idea of going home with him, preferring instead to go with Florence's thugs?! The child had called Ludwik a bad guy, showing no respect for him, and even asked Florence's bodyguard to take him 'home'? It was beyond belief!

If it weren't for the boy's face, so similar to Danny's, Parker would never have recognized this as the Sammy he had heard so much about from Danny over the past month. "Ludwik, there seems to be something wrong with Sammy. Why doesn't he recognize anyone, and why does he think Florence is a good person?" Parker asked, concerned, standing next to Ludwik.

carried away by Florence's bodyguard, his heart sinking. He stood up, his sturdy figure a shadow in the night, looking defeated. "It's not a small issue." His cold tone made Parker realize the

not really going to let him go, are

He wants to go to what he thinks is a safe place," Ludwik said heavily, then turned to Ryan, who looked lost. "Parker, the only

hawk's, he fixed on Ryan, "Why

through him, trembling, "I...I don't know! I didn't do anything!" God knows, he hadn't actually performed the operation Florence had ordered. Without time for further questions, Ludwik hurried after Sammy,

the mountains. At four in the morning, with the first light of dawn breaking, the surroundings were still dark. Sammy was carried by Ken into a room in the nursing home, his eyes filled with disappointment. He had hoped that this time Florence would transfer him to

to uncover everything about the lab, to fully expose this wicked woman. He knew he had to

a cup of milk, and make the bed for me, I need to sleep more! If I behave, could you tell Ms. Sheldon? Then maybe I won't get punished, and she might come to

the window, Ludwik

naive, as

wnto

knuckles turned white, his

cold and tense. Parker was

this rundown place as his home? And he's still smiling... Ludwik, I suspect he's been mind controlled? It seems during his month in Emperor City, he's suffered more than we can