Love Beyond the Mask

Chapter 104

“You can’t…” Whitney tried to resist, only to realize she had provoked a wrathful god.

The man’s hands, veins bulging with barely controlled fury, pinned her against the car window without

saying a word. His lips crushed against hers without mercy, almost devouring her in his frenzied

assault.

Whitney’s delicate lips quickly turned red as blood.

Ludwik’s thoughts raced to her at the foot of the bed, Bryce dressing her, her lips stained with blood,

seductive as a succubus drawing the life from some man.

His rage grew wilder, his kisses trailing down to the nape of her milky–white neck, the lingering scent

driving him to madness as he sought to tear away and claim what he saw as his.

Pressed against the edge of the car, the vehicle still moving, Whitney’s head knocked against the

window while the man, like a lion, was beyond reason, his eyes darkening further as he watched her

tears fall one by one beneath his savage kisses. He scoffed at her, ‘Don’t give me that mournful look.

You weren’t like this with Bryce.

His voice was a low growl filled with cold fury.

Whitney had no strength left to fight, her small hands clutching pitifully at his shirt, trying to push him

away, but only tears remained.

He zipped up the back of her dress as they arrived at the villa.

Ludwik did not say a word, carrying her out of the car. She did not cooperate, so he dragged her in,

taking care

not to harm the child she carried.

He dragged her to the second–floor bedroom, his gaze like the frost of a winter night as he looked at

her and said icily, “It seems you don’t understand. If I want to control someone, it’s easy. From now on,

forget your job and career. Just stay at home and have this kid!”

He turned and ordered Taryn, his voice harsh. “This woman is restless. Keep an eye on her. Take her

phone. My

mother must not find out!”

Whitney lay on the bed like a rag doll, her chest and neck stinging. It took a while before she could

gather her

senses.

He was grounding her!

“What right do you have to treat me this way, you bastard? Have you gone mad?” She sprang from the

bed, reaching for the door.

But Taryn sighed and locked it promptly.

Whitney felt like she was going insane. What kind of devil had she entered into a sham marriage with

and then had an actual relationship with?

Downstairs at the villa.

Nolan’s car raced over, and as he got out, he heard Ludwik’s chilling voice instructing the servants,

“Call the surgeon over. Check carefully.”

Who they were to examine was obvious.

Nolan sighed, facing Ludwik’s impenetrable, somber visage. The faint sound of a woman’s soft crying

and knocking on the door could be heard from upstairs.

“Big Bro… What are you doing? You can’t keep someone locked up like this.”

Ludwik’s eyebrows knitted together in a chill sweep, “Is there anything I can’t do?”

Nolan caught the tiredness behind his deep frown, not daring to speak further. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

He took a long drag on his cigarette white Whitney’s cries made his veins pulse with increasing

frustration Staying here, he only wanted to destroy her. Thus, he abruptly got into his car and said,

“Check the banquet hall incident. Find out who set her up!”

“So, you do know Whitney was set up, huh? Then don’t treat her like this! All because you couldn’t

save her, and Bryce did, just by giving her a coat…” Nolan thought. However, he knew that he might

have lost it in that situation, too.

The sports car sped away.

Nolan glanced at the villa’s second floor. It was like a little prison cell. “Whitney, oh Whitney, if only

you’d listen,” He thought.

Stamping his foot, Nolan had no choice but to follow Ludwik, forced into a reckless midnight car chase.

In a daze, Whitney was thoroughly examined by the female doctor. The drug was inhaled, not affecting

the blood, and they had administered the antidote in time the baby was fine.

–

She had no new injuries save for her bruised lips and a few marks on her collarbone.

The doctor silently applied a cooling ointment, advising her to be careful when bathing.

Humiliated, Whitney remained silent, eventually drifting off into a troubled sleep.

Come morning, her first instinct was to reach for her phone, only to remember that the bastard had

confiscated

1. it.

Was he cutting her off from the outside world?

Whitney was on the verge of madness.

She had done nothing wrong; she was the victim, almost defiled, yet he was grounding her.

What era was this to still have such punishments?

Whitney felt more than just humiliation; there was also his extreme coldness. This was his idea of a

–

relationship equality only when he was in a good mood. She must have been out of her mind to fall for

such

a man.

Whitney kept banging on the door, and Taryn, distressed on the other side, pleaded, “Madam, I’m sorry,

but you can’t leave the bedroom. Please eat your breakfast, will you be good?”

“I’ll starve myself.”

OFFE

Taryn chuckled bitterly. “Sir just called. He wants a report on your meals three times a day. Please don’t

make it hard for us. And the baby’s over three months now; you can’t starve it.”

Whitney’s tear–stained face collapsed against the door.

She had already grown fond of the baby; she could not starve herself.

Why was he so heartless, forbidding her from work when Skye Gem had a pile of urgent matters

needing her attention?

Stripping her of her freedom, she could not contact Tiana.

What happened at last night’s banquet was most certainly not an accident; there must be someone

behind it. She had seen Elaine’s look when she was taken away it must have been her doing. Whitney

was certain, and she wanted to investigate.

But now she was trapped.

Days passed, and Whitney’s eyes began to lose light from being confined.

Her mood was off, and Taryn, worried about depression, reported back to Ludwik.

15-50

In his office, the man’s icy demeanor only softened as he put down his pen and picked it up again.

Felix understood. Mr. Lippert was furious this time, intent on punishing Madam, and he would not let up

soon.

Rebuffed, Taryn returned and ran into Elaine coming up the elevator.

In her own office, Elaine’s gaze narrowed ominously.

Her assistant asked, “Ms. Elaine, with Whitney locked up by Mr. Lippert, what else are you worried

about?”

Elaine’s brow furrowed. She had thought Whitney was finished after Ludwik’s outburst at the banquet,

but his grounding of her was, to Elaine, an inadvertent protection. She would find it even harder to act.

And Whitney was still not defeated. Until she was gone, Elaine would not rest easy.

As Ludwik’s disenchantment with Whitney peaked, it presented the perfect window of opportunity for

her to make her move.

It was time for a swift and decisive strike against Whitney, that wretched woman.

Elaine settled gracefully back into her office chair and suddenly asked her assistant, “Have you dug up

the info on that deceased construction worker’s family as I asked?”

The assistant, puzzled by the inquiry yet aware of its importance since Elaine had assigned it some

days ago, immediately responded, “Yes, I found out. It’s the son of a construction worker who died in

Elate City. The kid was so poor he was sent off to a boxing gym early on, and he’s pretty muscular now.

If he’s out for revenge against Mr. Lippert, well, Mr. Lippert had better watch out. The guy’s been

spotted around Banyan City, keeping his eyes on the Imperial Gem Corporation building.”

“Muscular, huh?” Elaine sneered with a deep chuckle, slowly pulling out a photograph to hand to her

assistant. “Find someone to make contact with him. Give him this photo and make it clear that she’s Mr.

Lippert’s beloved wife, and throw in a baby on the way as a bonus. Offer a nice sum of money. Just

make sure it’s a clean job

that can’t be traced back to us.”