Love beyond the mask101-200

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Chapter_167

Ludwik’s grip tightened painfully around Whitney’s arm as he yanked her to her feet, his face twisted with a mix of fury and disbelief. His voice was low, dangerous, each word laced with contempt.

“You love me?” he repeated, his voice strained, almost incredulous. “You claim to love me, yet all I’ve seen from you is betrayal and manipulation. Every excuse you’ve offered is just a desperate attempt to justify your actions, but I’m done listening. Not now. Not after everything you’ve done.”

Whitney’s chest tightened, her breath shallow, her heart pounding as she looked up at him, her eyes brimming with a mixture of pleading and desperation. “Ludwik… please… I never meant for any of this. You have to believe me! I didn’t want this to happen.” Her voice cracked, raw with emotion, but Ludwik’s gaze remained cold, like stone. The look he gave her—so distant, so final—was a stark reminder of just how far they had fallen.

“If you truly loved me, Whitney,” Ludwik said, his anger rising, the words heavy with years of pain, “you wouldn’t have done this. You wouldn’t have hurt me, my family, and certainly not my mother. You wouldn’t have taken advantage of her trust. You wouldn’t have caused all this suffering. But here we are. You’re nothing but a liar, a manipulator, and a coward.”

Each word struck Whitney like a slap. Her stomach churned, and her knees buckled slightly, the weight of her guilt and fear threatening to crush her entirely. She wanted to explain, to plead her case, but what good would it do when everything was already in ruins?

“I swear,” she whispered, her voice barely above a breath, “I never meant for this to happen. I didn’t harm her… I didn’t harm anyone. I just wanted to save her, to help her…” Her voice trailed off into hopelessness, the words sounding empty even to her own ears.

Elaine stood by, her expression unchanged, watching the scene unfold with cold, calculating eyes. She knew exactly how to twist things to her advantage, to manipulate the situation and turn it in her favor. She had done it for years. But now, as she watched Ludwik’s fury directed at Whitney, a dark satisfaction surged inside her. This was what she had worked for, what she had waited for—Ludwik’s trust, his admiration, all for herself.

Ludwik’s eyes flickered between Whitney and Elaine, his mind a whirlwind of conflicting truths and lies. But as he stared at Whitney—her guilt written plainly on her face—something in him hardened. The place his heart once had for her was now filled with a seething mix of anger and betrayal. There was no room for love anymore. Not for her.

“Enough,” he said coldly, his voice sharp as ice. “I won’t listen to your lies anymore, Whitney. I don’t want to hear it.”

Without waiting for a response, he turned his back on her, walking stiffly toward his mother’s bedside. Each step was filled with frustration, pain, and a sense of helplessness. He didn’t know how to fix this, how to undo the damage that had already been done. But one thing was certain—he would never trust Whitney again. Not after this.

Elaine’s soft, mocking smile didn’t go unnoticed as Ludwik approached Natalie’s bed. She had won. Her victory was inevitable, and with each passing second, she grew closer to her goal. Whitney’s fall from grace was now certain, and Ludwik would never see through the web of deceit Elaine had woven so carefully.

Ludwik took a deep breath, trying to steady himself, as he stood by his mother’s side. His gaze flicked toward Elaine, who watched him with an almost predatory intensity. For the first time in years, Ludwik felt the bitter sting of true loneliness.

He looked down at his mother, unconscious and frail in her hospital bed, the weight of the situation pressing down on him like a suffocating fog. There was no going back. His world had shifted irreparably, and now, nothing would ever be the same.

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