Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 582

Tiana lingered near the entrance of VIP room 088, her eyes wide with concern. Before long, Cody and the senior investors were dragged out by a team of burly bodyguards, confined in the adjacent private room. Tiana's heart raced. She knew trouble was brewing.

She quickly stood, scanning the chaotic crowd for Whitney's figure. Had their plan been exposed? Cody, amidst the intimidating bodyguards, managed to sneak a glance at her. Tiana was sure he was signaling her. But before she could decipher his message, Cody was

taken away! The door to VIP room 088 slammed shut from the inside. Whitney hadn't emerged.

That meant Hugh might have gotten to her. Panic set in. Tiana dared not knock on the door directly, fearing exposure. Disguising her intention, Tiana paced nervously outside. Peeking through the crack of the neighboring room's door, she saw several elderly investors and Cody being violently subdued by the bodyguards. The guards, armed and dangerous, were conducting a thorough search on them. Every investor was gagged; any resistance met with violence. The once-peaceful room was now a scene of silent brutality. Tiana's mind raced as she retreated step by step. Whitney's plan had surely been uncovered. The bodyguards were searching for Hugh's hair among the belongings of the investors! With Whitney trapped in VIP room 088, her plan to bring down Hugh had backfired. Could Hugh, feeling cornered, decide to eliminate Whitney first?

Sweat beaded on Tiana's forehead. She had to save Whitney. But who could she turn to? Ludwik crossed her mind first. He was somewhere in the Treasure Restaurant. No... Whitney might not approve. Bryce! Yes, Bryce, Whitney's fiancé. She ducked into a corner and dialed Bryce's number-

Inside VIP room 088, Hugh, with a sinister grin, had Whitney thrown to the floor. His henchmen quickly bound her with ropes, leaving her tied and helpless on the table's edge. Whitney, blood trickling from her mouth, defiantly said, "Hugh, if you dare harm me, the law won't let you off. My dad will wake up soon, and when he learns of your deeds, do you think you'll have any escape?"

Hugh scoffed at her pale face, "My dear niece, I thought you were smarter," He leaned closer, his cold gaze locked on her, "Still so naive and impulsive. What do you have now? Your father lies in a coma, and without him, who are you? The law? The Sheldon family, one of Harmonia Country's top three families, knows too many ways to evade it. Didn't I handle your father's shooting incident smoothly? Did your grandparents notice anything? If you disappear here today, I'll be rid of a future problem. And your father waking up? Without you as a thorn in my side, I believe he'll soon follow you."

twenty years, resulting in Florence, your illegitimate child. You betrayed my father, and

what I had to. The only good thing he ever did was fathering you, a

el.i

with

I didn't expect you

chosen this path, don't blame me for being ruthless. Survival of the fittest. You thought to use my hair, and Florence's, to expose us with a paternity test, to bring us down within the Sheldon family and the company? That day will

her whiskey, then make it look like she drowned in the toilet. Tomorrow's news will say it was an accidental death by intoxication." "Yes, Mr. Sheldon!" The bodyguard dragged Whitney by her hair across the floor. Whitney struggled fiercely, "My friend is outside. She knows my schedule today, and she'll contact the police and the media the moment something happens to me! Hugh, you can still back down. We're family, after all. I'll pretend none of this

a moment. But Hugh was unmoved, his eyes narrowing as he pondered her words. Then his phone rang, and he answered on speaker, a smirk playing on his lips. "Riley, after

Whitney's heart sank. Impossible!

several traps, with the investors' confrontation being a mere distraction. The real attempt to obtain Hugh's hair was made by Cody's bodyguard!

as cruel as it was

he

gamble your own hair? You must think I'm a fool," he sneered. "I've had you pegged as a trickster from the

single strand of hair. You're so confident, clashing with me, banking on the idea that