Love Beyond the Mask

Chapter 236

Whitney collapsed, her wrists bound tightly behind her back, unable to crawl forward. She desperately

shuffled to the side, attempting to sink her teeth into Elaine’s leg.

A sharp kick sent her sprawling to the floor.

“Whitney! Be careful! I won’t leave, I won’t leave!” Tiana’s scream was piercing, her voice cracking as

she was dragged out of the guesthouse by the bodyguards, her cries of despair trailing behind the

sound of the speeding car.

Whitney’s eyes widened in shock, staring at the door, not understanding how the night had turned into

this nightmare. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

They had become pawns in Elaine’s game; the girl was gone, and Tiana was dragged away, about to

face a horrible fate…

It felt like the world had turned upside down, where justice could not see the light of day, and truth

could not bask in the sun.

She glanced out the window into the seemingly endless cold night; no one believed her, not even

Ludwik, emboldening Elaine’s brazen mischief!

After finally finding the girl, all she needed was to expose Elaine for the fraud she was, to prove the

harm she had done to her mother, and then she could confront Ludwik, gain her freedom, find a way to

rescue Bryce, absolve the guilt she felt towards the Lutz family, save her uncle, and perhaps even turn

Skye Gem around.

All those hopes seemed to drift away as her eyes welled up with tears…

Snapping back to reality, Whitney found Elaine standing over her, one foot pressing down on her

swollen belly, her gaze confident as if stepping on a dead fish.

“Next, it’s time for your child to be properly welcomed into this world,” Elaine said, her almond eyes

shimmering with a devilish glow as she bared her teeth.

“Please… no…” Whitney scrambled backward, her hands tied, unable to protect her unborn child.

Who would save her?

Her eyes wide with terror, devoid of any glimmer of hope, she pleaded, “Elaine, please, have mercy on

the child. It is a life, and even if it’s Ludwik’s, it hasn’t wronged you. If you want, I’ll give birth, and you

can take it. I promise to stay far away from Ludwik. He’ll only be yours, okay?”

She was desperate. For the sake of her child, she had pathetically thrown away her dignity and pride.

Feeling like she was drowning in icy water, her body shook uncontrollably as she fiercely protected the

life within her.

But as Elaine’s foot pressed down, Whitney felt a warm gush – not water, but blood. Her belly throbbed

with pain. The baby must have panicked inside her.

A flood of blood and amniotic fluid poured out, and Whitney clutched at her clothes, her face contorted

with cold sweat.

“Don’t hurt him… Ludwik won’t let you get away with this; he will never forgive you!!”

Her cries were frantic, her lips slowly bleeding.

Elaine let out a cold laugh and handed her a phone. “Don’t you get it? Ludwik is complicit in this. He

doesn’t want the child but can’t bear to do it himself, so he lets me do the dirty work.

If you don’t believe me, call him. If he agrees to save the child after talking to you, I’ll let you 90.”

Whitney was in despair, unable to comprehend the logic in Elaine’s words, shattered by her

statements.

With her hands freed, she lay prone on the floor, desperately dialing Ludwik’s number, the familiar

digits etched into her heart.

The call connected.

After several rings, the line picked up, and Whitney’s tears broke free, her voice tinged with cold

despair and reluctant hope for the man she no longer recognized. “Ludwik, it’s your child. Even if you

love Elaine, don’t let her commit such cruelty. I promise to vanish from your life forever! Or let me stay

in the asylum as long as you want, just please spare this life, it’s… over seven months, weighs a

couple of pounds, it interacts with me… Don’t make me hate you… I don’t want to hate you…”

The two–minute plea was met with silence from the other end.

She kept checking the call – it was connected!

Why was he so cruel? He would not agree, would not save them, but left them to die.

Elaine watched Whitney’s life ebb away from her expression, signaling the bodyguard, who nodded,

indicating the call was successfully intercepted. They had used a dummy number, and

Ludwik had not received the call at all.

Whitney felt an overwhelming pain as if needles were piercing her heart.

The phone slipped from her hands and clattered on the floor.

Elaine’s smirk widened as she stood up. “You see? He doesn’t want you. He just doesn’t.”

A wry smile crossed Whitney’s face as she stared blankly at Elaine, who continued to taunt her, “Since

you’re about to die tonight, I might as well share some secrets. Ludwik is destined for greatness, not

just any Banyan City Lippert scion. One day, he’ll be the perfect man with a family background inferior

to none in this entire world. That’s why I must cling to him. How could I let you take him away?”

“So, you don’t really love him either!”

Elaine sneered. “True, but he thinks my love is pure! I’m his lifesaver, and he’s bound to me. You never

stood a chance. It’s your fault for tempting him after the divorce. As long as you’re around, Ludwik can’t

be mine, so you, you must die.”

Whitney understood then, a mocking laugh escaping her, “So you’ve never had sex? That’s quite

pathetic. You’re not his savior; I know the truth.”

Elaine’s face turned a shade of furious blue. She glared at Whitney, wondering what she had

discovered.

But then, she relaxed, staring at Whitney’s defiant death’s door grin. She leaned in to deliver the final

blow. “Whether I’m his savior or not doesn’t matter; he believes I am, and that’s enough. And your

uncle Keegan, I should thank him for his misplaced vengeance, making Ludwik the scapegoat, which

ultimately delivered him into my hands. Our family has absolutely crushed the Tennyson family, be it in

business or people! I’ll take good care of your uncle, too. So, take these secrets to the grave with you.

You won’t be able to utter a word against me, and in dear Ludwik’s eyes, I’ll remain the kindest soul.”

Whitney’s eyes bulged with fury and realization. Her suspicions that the Bartels were the bane of the

Tennysons‘ existence were spot on.

Her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white with the force of her unyielding spirit. The

secrets of the family feud had come to light tonight, and she was not about to let Elaine get away with

murder.

But as she looked down at the blood staining the floor beneath her, a sense of helplessness washed

over her. The inevitability of her situation gnawed away her resolve.

Elaine’s lips curled into a wicked smile of victory as she ordered her bodyguard to brandish a dagger.

“Let’s perform a little C–section, shall we? We’ll deliver a stillborn–of course, I can’t be sullied by a

single drop of blood.”

Her laughter echoed down the hall as she strutted away triumphantly.

Whitney’s mind, sluggish from shock, finally snapped back to the present. Horror–stricken, she

stumbled backward, her heart pounding like a drumbeat heralding the end.