Love beyond the mask201-300

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Chapter_260

Whitney’s lullaby floated softly through the dim room, her voice wrapping around the silence like a warm blanket. Daniel’s eyelids fluttered with the melody, the tension slowly easing from his small frame. He curled closer into her, soaking in the warmth of her embrace—the kind of warmth he had yearned for all his life but had never truly known.

And yet, beneath the lull of comfort, his thoughts churned. Unspoken questions spun in circles through his mind.

Why had she left him?

Why had it always been Sammy who mattered?

That ache in his chest returned, dull but persistent. It wasn’t jealousy—it was something deeper. A wound that had never been acknowledged, let alone healed. He remembered the cold way Ludwik had raised him. His father’s love had always come with conditions—obedience, composure, performance. Never softness. Never comfort.

But here, in Whitney’s arms, Daniel felt something foreign—safety. Affection. Love that didn’t have to be earned.

He didn’t know if it was real or just a cruel illusion, but for once, the world felt… right.

Whitney’s voice continued to hum gently, her fingers brushing through his hair. She didn’t see the storm raging behind his tired eyes.

Tentatively, Daniel reached up and grasped her hand, his small fingers curling around hers with silent desperation.

“Mom…?” His voice trembled, barely more than a whisper.

Whitney’s lullaby faltered as she looked down at him. Her heart swelled at the vulnerability in his gaze—the shimmer of longing she saw there.

She brushed a soft lock of hair from his forehead. “Yes, Sammy?” she replied gently, unaware that the boy in her arms wasn’t the one she had raised—but somehow still felt like hers.

He hesitated. The words tasted bitter on his tongue, but he couldn’t keep them down any longer.

“Why did you leave?” he asked, his voice cracking. “Why did you leave me with Dad…?”

Whitney froze. The question pierced straight through her chest.

“Honey…” she began, but the words caught in her throat. How could she explain the impossible choices, the lies, the years of silence? How could she tell him that she hadn’t meant to leave him, that she hadn’t even known?

Daniel’s gaze fell to the comforter, his fingers knotting into the fabric.

“Was I not enough?” he whispered. “Did you just want Sammy instead…?”

Whitney felt her soul crack. She bent down and kissed his forehead with trembling lips.

“Oh, sweetheart… it was never about that. It’s not that you weren’t enough. You’re everything. There were things I didn’t know. Things I couldn’t control… It was all so complicated.”

Daniel gave a small nod, though his eyes didn’t lift. He didn’t fully understand—but he felt the sincerity in her voice. Still, the ache inside him lingered, unhealed.

He couldn’t cry. He didn’t want to be weak. He wanted to believe she saw him, even if he wasn’t Sammy. Even if he never would be.

Whitney pulled him close again, wrapping him in an embrace that promised more than words ever could.

“I’m here now,” she whispered. “And I won’t leave again. I promise.”

Daniel closed his eyes, the steady beat of her heart in his ear. Slowly, sleep crept over him, and for the first time in a long while, he let himself rest.

Maybe, just for tonight, pretending was enough.

But deep in his heart, the question still lingered.

Why had she left?

And one day, when he was ready, he would find the answer.

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