Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 205

In the sterile hospital room, Ludwik gently placed Whitney down before silently exiting, the door clicking

shut behind him.

“What’s the deal?” Whitney muttered to herself, now alone with Natalie

in the quiet room.

Ludwik left the villa through the back entrance, disappearing into an upstairs room.

The guard in the security room nearly jumped out of his skin, snapping to attention. “Boss?”

Ludwik watched the woman on the monitor and said simply, “Leave us.” The guard glanced at the

unexpected lady of the house on the screen. What was the Boss up to? Without questioning further, he

left as

ordered.

Downstairs, Whitney was clueless about Ludwik’s whereabouts, but she wasn’t about to waste a

precious moment.

She moved back to Natalie’s bedside, taking her wrist gently, a sad smile on her face. “Finally, a

moment alone with you, Mom. I’m going to check your pulse.”

After checking, she sighed and started a gentle hand massage,

followed by some pressure points, then carefully turned Natalie over to her other side.

“This is like a little workout, Mom. I’ll explain the pressure points to Taryn later. For now, let me clean

you up. I know how you like to be fresh and tidy.”

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She stepped into the bathroom, turned on the tap, and meticulously washed Natalie’s face and hands,

even removing her socks to massage each toe.

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“Is this pressure alright? I know you can’t tell me, but I feel you can sense it,” she whispered playfully.

After tending to Natalie, Whitney returned to the bedside, placing Natalie’s hand gently on her belly.

“The baby’s been so good, usually so calm. But lately, there’s been more activity. I’ll bring this child into

the world, and maybe that’s the only promise I can keep to you. You know, he’s getting engaged at the

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end of the month. You wouldn’t want to see me stay under any other

unsavory title, would you?”

Finishing her words, she fell silent.

Ludwik stared at the screen in the surveillance room, catching the moment she wiped a tear from her

eye.

Did she not want him to get engaged?

In truth, he didn’t have to. He could compensate Elaine another way. Marrying her was a logical choice,

but there were alternatives. If he stood his ground, he could deal with the Bartels family’s demands.

Watching her care for his mother, Ludwik was trying to discern her true

nature. Even the best actors couldn’t hide the subtleties of their

character.

And his fiancée, Elaine, hadn’t even come to visit to his mother since

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the incident.

Suddenly, the door burst open. Whitney looked up, startled by Ludwik’s unexpected return.

Panicked at the possibility of a misunderstanding, she stood rapidly, “I was just freshening up Mom.

Don’t get the wrong idea.”

Her distress was palpable, stirring a discomfort within Ludwik.

He sat down on the nearest couch, fixing his gaze on her before speaking in a gravelly voice, “Tell me

again what happened the night

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you were taken. I want to hear it all.”

Whitney’s eyes widened in disbelief. He never believed in her. Why ask

now?

“Ludwik, would you even believe what I say?”

“I’ll decide after I hear it,” he replied sternly.

She recounted the details, “Whether you believe it or not, my only intention was to save your mom and

protect my uncle. Maybe I was too greedy, and in the end, I accomplished nothing.

But Mom was fine when she was with me, until Elaine knocked me out and took her away. When I got

to the hospital three days later, Mom was in a vegetative state and had been rushed into a kidney

donation surgery.”

“So, you’re saying you didn’t harm my mom, but Elaine did?” Ludwik’s brows knitted together.

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Whitney thought of Natalie’s ongoing blood tests and the murky details surrounding Elaine’s kidney

donation. The truth was not yet clear. She sighed, “I’m not accusing anyone. The truth will come out

soon. But think about it, what would be my motive to harm Mom?”

Ludwik hesitated, realizing he’d never considered this before.

What motive would Whitney have?

“Ludwik, I wanted to protect my uncle. Why would I deliberately cause your mother’s renal failure?

What benefit is there for me to be hated by you, to face pressure on Skye Gem Ltd., and to have my

uncle jailed while my cousin’s fate is unknown? Why would I make such a loss?”

As Ludwik looked at her, he found no answer.

Whitney pressed further, “I’ve gained nothing. So who has? Elaine is about to be engaged to you.”

“I trust Elaine! Nobody would be foolish enough to harm someone and

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ter 205

then donate a kidney, becoming disabled for life. Besides, you have no idea how good she’s been to

me. She saved my life years ago.”

Ludwik’s voice was hard, his fingers unconsciously touching the half–ring in his pocket, his gaze

softening, “Without Elaine, I would have died back then.”

Whitney gasped at the sight of the emerald green ring in his hand. She finally remembered why

Elaine’s half ring had seemed so familiar.

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Elaine’s was a match to his, together forming a complete ring.

She recalled the stories about the girl saved Ludwik back then, mentioned by Elaine before leaving

Banyan City, supposedly to provoke her. So, Elaine was that girl?

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Whitney pondered, asking, “When did you find out Elaine was your lifesaver?”

“Recently. It’s not your concern.” Ludwik was reluctant to discuss the deeply buried topic.

But Whitney’s suspicions only deepened. If Elaine truly was the savior, wouldn’t she have used that

leverage to marry Ludwik long ago? She

desired him too much to wait.

What was the reason? Did Elaine also find out recently, or did she only recently acquire the half ring?

Whitney’s thoughts raced. No wonder Ludwik held such unwavering trust in Elaine. They shared the

‘savior event‘ from years past. She couldn’t help but shake her head with a wry smile, “Ludwik, Elaine

isn’t as innocent as you think. I’d reconsider the half ring if I were you.”

“What are you implying? That it wasn’t her who saved my life all those years ago, but you?” Ludwik

said, his voice tinged with a mixture of disbelief and confusion.

Whitney paused, taken aback. Indeed, a few years back, she had saved a man’s life, one who had

been suffering from a hysterical fit, but the

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darkness of that night had concealed his features from her, leaving his identity a mystery to this day.

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She shook her head, “I’m not one to take credit where it’s not due. It’s just… odd. Elaine has gone to

such lengths for you. She claims to have saved your life years ago, and despite your lack of

acknowledgment all these years, she’s still given so selflessly, donating her kidney to your mother

without a second thought?”

She frowned slightly, “And she agreed to the donation so readily. If it were me, I’d at least check in with

my folks first. After all, this body is a gift from my parents.”

Ludwik’s expression froze, and he realized that the Bartels family had indeed been kept in the dark.

Elaine’s decision to donate her kidney had been an urgent one. At the time, he was tied up at the police

station, and neither he nor his family had been consulted by Elaine, who had not hesitated in the

slightest before making her donation. Wasn’t that a bit strange?

Chapter 206

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