Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 1183

After just a few minutes of conversation, it was clear he could strategize circles around me. Honestly, the way he thinks, the way he maps out every move, he's always three steps ahead of everyone else.

A guy like that? Throw him into the business world and he'd be a shark-ruthless, efficient, unstoppable. Give him a bigger stage, and it's only a matter of time before he's running the whole show. ...I was just thinking, once I get this Germinia business settled, maybe it'd make more sense to let him and you take over the family corporation."

"Mom..." Whitney blinked, surprised. She hadn't realized Parisa thought so highly of Ludwik.

Sure, Whitney had dabbled in running Skye Gem Ltd., but compared to her mom, her business sense always felt a little... amateur.

She'd always known Ludwik was talented. But her mother, it seemed, admired not just his skill, but his drive-and maybe even his edge.

Parisa was already thinking that far ahead.

"Isn't that a little... premature?" Whitney managed, flustered. “Ludwik and I aren't even... We're nowhere near that. You're talking about putting him in charge of a global corporation. Don't you think that's a bit much?"

Parisa laughed softly, her eyes-sharp from a lifetime of experience-suddenly clouded with a hint of sadness. "Sweetheart, I'm not going to be around forever. It took me years to find you again. From now on, I'll be your safety net-but you'll be mine, too.

That's a huge company. Ludwik's more than capable; he'd be the right person to run it. But only if you two remarried, settled down, made a real family."

patted Whitney's

heat up under her mother's gaze. Remarry? Seriously? That was a long way off. Ludwik still had a ton of flaws to work on, and she wasn't about to just jump back in. Plus... he wasn't exactly

thinking about his... condition. Not that it really bothered her, but still -he might not need to be perfect,

told herself, pinching her cheek. Where was her mind even

going to run down to the cafeteria

her, clearly aware of

staring out the

wasn't at ease. She gave her a quiet

come out of surgery, and whether he ate

straight

on the top floor, in

afterwards, Hudson had insisted on separate rooms. Maybe he just didn't want to make

been thoughtful like

really showed how much he treasured her mom-putting her

own.

out of