Love beyond the mask (Whitney)

Chapter 143

Ludwik crouched down, reaching out to her, his brow furrowing in concern. “Why are you sleeping on

the ground, freezing like this? You’ve caught a cold already. Don’t you realize you’re pregnant?”

The word “pregnant“, a reminder of his child inside her was like a dagger to Whitney’s heart.

She recoiled from his touch, her eyes filled with icy detachment and her heart quivering. “I told you,

don’t touch me!”

“What are you talking about?” Ludwik retrieved his hand, irritation creeping into his tone. “What’s wrong

with you? I know I left you alone at the diner this afternoon, and that upset you, but Elaine was in a bad

way. She slit her wrists. If she’d been taken to the hospital a second later, she’d be dead!”

Why was she giving him the cold shoulder over something like this?

Had he been too indulgent with her lately?

Whitney’s chilly gaze met his, filled with an unfamiliar strangeness and what seemed like hatred.

Ludwik’s heart skipped a beat.

Why was she looking at him like that?

Was it just because he’d neglected her and her uncle?

A flare of anger lit in his chest, but he tried to reason with her. “Whitney, you’re usually sensible.

We can have another dinner with your uncle anytime.

Elaine’s now dealing with depression and a suicide attempt. I bear some responsibility. You were the

one who suggested she should date, and I pressured her too. I didn’t think she’d give up on herself,

end up with some playboy from Riverlyn City, get taken advantage of. She was nearly raped. Don’t you

have any empathy? Did you find out I had her transferred to Banyan City for treatment?”

Seeing no response from Whitney, Ludwik felt certain of his guess. His gaze turned colder. “Her

condition is critical, and there was no other choice. It happened on my watch at the branch office, and I

have to answer to the Bartels family. Can’t you understand that?”

Whitney’s slow reaction caught up with his words. She couldn’t care less about Elaine’s troubles. In her

mind, she clung to his question of “don’t you have any empathy?”

She wanted to laugh bitterly, to ask him where his empathy was.

He had empathy for Elaine, but what about her mother and grandfather? After his business dealings

had devastated her family, how could he nonchalantly keep her by his side, trapping her in a web of

so–called love, treating her like a plaything?

Whitney could no longer see the depth in his eyes. Once, she thought them mysterious and profound,

with a deep–seated allure.

Now, she understood where that depth came from: his ruthless ambition and calculated schemes.

With a bitter chuckle, she looked at him coldly. “Is she dead? Was she raped? No. Forgive you? No, I

will never forgive you!”

Tears welled up in her red–rimmed eyes, but she was responding to something else.

If he had truly been responsible for her grandfather and mother’s deaths, she would never forgive him.

But obviously, her uncle was still alive–a living testimony that Ludwik was a criminal.

Whitney covered her face in agony, the hatred buried deep in her eyes invisible to Ludwik, who

mistakenly took her words as a response to the current situation with Elaine. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

He grabbed her in frustration, unable to believe her words. “What do you mean by that? She’s not

dead, she wasn’t raped, and you’re not happy?

Whitney, that’s just cruel. You were already in the wrong for sending her away. I indulged you. Don’t get

too full of yourself. If you can’t forgive me over this trivial matter, then what? Do I really need your

forgiveness?”

His face was a mask of icy pride.

Whitney sneered, her heart growing cold.

Yes, did Ludwik Lippert need anyone’s forgiveness? He was always the ruthless Mr. Lippert, and she

had been foolish to be deceived, mistaking hatred for love.

That day in the office, she had said she only had one family left. And he had replied, “From now on,

you have me.”

Was that a hint of remorse from him or just a flawless performance?

Whitney’s bloodshot eyes lifted to meet his, giving him one last chance. “Do you honestly not

remember my grandfather, Faulkner Tennyson?”

Ludwik frowned, perplexed by her sudden change of subject.

He hadn’t yet disclosed his identity to her, and there had been some dealings between Imperial Gem

Corporation and Skye Gem Ltd. in the past. He’d have to wait until she knew he was Ludwik Lippert,

and then he’d explain.

His answer was the same as in the office. “I said I don’t know him. Why do you keep asking?”

Whitney’s tears overflowed, her body felt drained of strength. If only he had admitted it, if only he had

shown a hint of remorse.

But he hadn’t.

She let out a hollow laugh, resembling an empty doll, as she turned and walked toward the changing

room, quickly grabbing some clothes.

“What are you doing?” Ludwik saw her getting ahead of herself and strode over with a frigid fury,

snatching the clothes from her hands.

Whitney couldn’t face him any longer. She felt suffocated. “I’m going to stay with Tiana.”

Was she making a fuss over Elaine for this?

“Suit yourself!” Ludwik spat out the words coldly.

Just then, his phone rang. It was from the hospital, and Elaine’s weak voice came through. “I’m scared.

I’m afraid of everyone here. Please come and see me.”

“I’ll be there, wait for me.” He gave Whitney a piercing, loud affirmation before hanging up and storming

out to his car.

The clothes slipped from Whitney’s grasp, and she slowly crouched down to pick them up, tears

blurring her vision. She had heard Elaine’s voice and knew he would surely be at the hospital with her.

Whenever they argued, he always used Elaine to stab at her heart.

She also understood that now was Elaine’s perfect opportunity to move in, but what did she care

anymore?

Their future was gone. Utterly gone.

A vendetta stood between them, and every sweet memory in that house suffocated her. She longed to

scream and confront him about the past, but she couldn’t risk not protecting her uncle.

Her uncle was disabled, and her grandfather had made him escape, knowing he wouldn’t be able to

fight back.

Her uncle needed her.

But what about her love?

Was it to be brutally severed?

Her uncle had said she would have to cut ties with Ludwik eventually.

Overwhelmed by a shuddering pain, Whitney couldn’t breathe. Her hand slowly moved to her belly,

where the baby was kicking fiercely as if sensing her unrest.

What about the child? She wept uncontrollably.

At two in the morning, Tiana opened her apartment door to find Whitney standing in the snow, frozen

like a corpse. She gasped in shock.

She dashed to her breathlessly, only to find Whitney clutching two pieces of clothing, without even a

suitcase, wandering despondently into her house.

00:02

“Whitney! What on earth happened to you? Don’t tell me it’s because of Elaine’s spiteful little act that

you and L had a fallout.”

Whitney collapsed onto Tiana’s shoulder, exhausted, shivering from the cold–or maybe it was the chill

in her heart.

“Everything’s changed, Tiana…” she sobbed in utter despair.

In a private room at 3 a.m., Nolan and Parker were somewhat at a loss for words.

Ludwik was drinking like a man possessed.

The man’s icy gaze fixed on the window, as the snow spread to every corner of the street, the

flowerbeds buried under a thick layer of frost.

He thought of the idea he had of taking her to see the snow in the morning when he got home his

Adam’s apple betraying a trace of cold mockery.

‘Ludwik, that’s two bottles of vodka down. You can’t drink anymore! Spill it, are you and Whitney at

odds again?” Nolan ventured cautiously.