Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

She was absolutely fuming, so mad she could hardly see straight. "Don't bother pretending you care!

Sandy, you're not even fit to pick up Shane's laundry, let alone be with him. Look at yourself! The Nelsons would never accept someone like you.

You claim you're Tina's real mom? Please. I've lived with you for years—I'd know if you'd ever been pregnant. Stop with the lies. Just wait, they'll toss you out any minute now."

"Oh, enough already. Don't you know when to stop?" Shane couldn't take it anymore. He pinched the bridge of his nose and frowned. "I swear, I'll never understand how the Sheldon family managed to have someone like Whitney, yet also ended up with you and Florence-so petty and mean-spirited."

"Shane, please forgive me! I didn't mean to cheat, but you never paid me any attention, and the whole Lutz family thing... I was pressured, I had no choice. Can't we just make up, Shane..."

"James, get them out of here. I don't want to see them again."

Shane coolly stretched out his legs, not even glancing at her as she sobbed and pleaded.

The butler came in with a couple of big security guys. Whitney shot Felix a look, and he added a few more men for good measure.

Before Emma could cause another scene, they carried her and Florence right out the door, the pair of them shrieking and kicking all the way-zero dignity.

It took a while for the noise in the guest room to die down.

slipped to the side, thinking ahead as always, and shot off a quick text

at the hospital,

Emma, after getting humiliated here and losing the

after Hudson next to

was no way the Nelsons would ever agree to a marriage alliance with her

rest-so what if there was a fight?

Shane, always the man of action, standing there in

was a tense standoff-so

to introduce Sandy again, when he caught

Whitney rolled her eyes.

This is your future wife. Don't you know how to win her over?

by the second, so Whitney strode over, gently took Sandy's slightly trembling hand, and smiled warmly at the Nelsons. "Gary, Mrs. Nelson, Sandy's my favorite

you're here at the Nelsons' house, you should at least greet Gary and

sure how to start-she didn't want to come off as desperate, like Sienna had accused her of being. She definitely wasn't trying to

she understood what

She spoke up, a

sincere. Mr. Nelson,