Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 615

In a darkened room filled with the ambiguous fragrance of scented candles, the sheets whispered secrets as bodies tangled, spilling a chaos of strawberries and whipped cream in their wake. Whitney, her energy sapped by too much bourbon, couldn't muster the strength to fight anymore.

But her spirit remained unyielding, her beautiful eyes wide open, staring at the moonlight outside the window, tears streaking her face.

"Please, Ludwik, I can't do this to Bryce..." Her hands were captive in his.

His gentleness was as fleeting as his patience was thin.

Those dark eyes, wild and relentless, ensnared her completely.

Whitney sobbed, "You've branded me, and I'll hate you for all my days, never forgiving..."

He pulled off his tie, no longer wanting to see her face twisted in remorse, softly blindfolding her.

His heart ached, so he masked it with a smile, insisting, "Then hate me. At least you'll never forget me, not in this lifetime or the next."

"Whitney..."

"Darling...I'm sorry, I love you too much.

I can't lose you."

His words, hot and desperate, echoed in her ear, surrounding her with pain.

All night long, his whispers, his sighs, his frenzy, shifted her gaze from resistance to resignation, slowly sinking into despair. Bourbon betrayed her resolve, leaving her with nothing but endless resentment. Towards herself, towards him!

Only when she finally succumbed to exhaustion did he relax his embrace, changing the bed linen, carefully tending to her before tucking her back into the warm covers.

Ludwik rose as the moon traveled westward.

The pale moonlight caressed his sculpted back, etched with startling scratches.

He admired his reflection, then glanced at her flushed face, a deep smirk playing on his lips.

He kissed her forehead, smoked a couple of cigarettes.

moved across the room, extracting a complete video from the camera

gaze turned icy as he clipped a

a humiliation on his wedding night, his wife in the arms

He felt no guilt.

doing, your underhandedness

video, I don't believe, you can pretend nothing happened and

Whitney, I used

one can take her from

-

breaking, nearly 5

at the

the balcony, a night's worth of cold winds chilling his bones, cigarette butts piling up beside him. Behind him, the wedding room was draped in red, an atmosphere of warmth despite

symbols of fertility, red dates, and

staring blankly at the decor he had painstakingly placed, believing tonight, Whitney would fully

wedding night, yet Ludwik

Where could she be?

all means to

she doing? Could it be... Bryce couldn't stay calm at the thought, rage

Bryce slowly picked up

luxurious room, the bed barely visible in the darkness, but the figures under the covers, and... Whitney's familiar voice!

AQUAS

the world, couldn't misunderstand the

fixed, his heart felt as

twisted his features into something

fool; he knew

to

he anticipated this day? Planned and dreamed for how long? When he first saw Whitney three

18th birthday gala, he

his mother's name

encounters, he fell

with rejection, only then did he learn she

to help Ludwik escape legal troubles,

helping, comforting, aiding her escape abroad. Returning after three years, she spoke of no love, only revenge against Ludwik and Elaine, he agreed, heart