Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 123
Whitney headed over to the cottage to join Natalie for dinner. Natalie seemed to be over the moon all day. probably after
catching a glimpse of the ultrasound picture, her grin so wide it barely fit her face. She looked at Whitney, almost bursting with
excitement, as if she had the most wonderful news but could not share it. Whitney was puzzled. It was just a baby, was it not?
Natalie was acting like she was expecting twins or something, she was so ecstatic.
Elaine was in her apartment, waiting silently for dusk to fall.
Then she called Ashton.
No matter when she reached out, this man would appear at a moment’s notice.
She had basked in his affection and love for years, feeling utterly entitled. So what if Valerie had schemed and married him? She
was nothing but a pitiful worm.
As expected, hearing Elaine’s voice laced with sobs, Ashton immediately said he would come over.
Elaine hung up with a smirk, calculating the time. She sipped a few glasses of red wine, and then the doorbell
rang.
It was Ashton, having a run–in with the security guard outside.
Ludwik’s security guard could not stop Ashton, which was precisely why she had concocted this plan.
Elaine quickly tugged at her neckline, creating a picture of disarray, and with a loud crash, she smashed a wine glass.
At the sound, Ashton kicked the door open with his long legs.
The man in a light gray coat entered with an air of cold authority. “Elaine!”
He brusquely lifted the staggering woman. Elaine looked up at him with a half–smile and teary eyes. “Ashton, you came.”
“How could you drink so much? Don’t you know your stomach is delicate?” Ashton’s brows furrowed in concern. Her eyes,
mysterious and filled with hurt, looked at him as tears quickly followed. “You always remember about my stomach, Ashton.

Ludwik, he knows nothing. After all these years, I’ve been nothing but open–hearted to him, yet he chose to believe Whitney’s
few words instead. He fired me today, and I’m just... really upset.”
She wept pitifully, and Ashton’s handsome face turned frosty. “You’ve been hurt by him again. What has Ludwik done this time?
That Whitney, I’ve told you not to be too kind–hearted. Not everyone appreciates it. You’re just too good–hearted.”
Elaine’s eyes narrowed slightly, knowing exactly how to project an image of innocence and kindness before a
man.

She had been planting seeds about her helping Whitney in Ashton’s mind.
To Ashton, she was nothing short of a goddess.
Elaine shook her head in a fragile manner. “Maybe because I had no ill intentions, I assumed everyone else was the same. I felt
that way about Valerie, too. Even though she schemed to take you from me, I had no designs on you, and I never wanted to get
in your way. I always wished you and her the best.”
“Enough of that. That woman is full of schemes. Haven’t her plots against you been numerous since you were. kids?” Ashton’s
voice was cold when he mentioned Valerie.
Elaine smiled inwardly, never missing a chance to trouble Valerie.
She mentioned offhandedly. “Today, Whitney presented evidence, claiming it was Valerie who told her that you. helped me bribe
international judges. Because of that, Whitney misunderstood that I was using Monica against her.
How could I? I loved Ludwik so much, but still, I almost gave up when Whitney and he had their fake marriage. Yet she keeps
pressing me..

Ashton, why do they have to bully me? I feel so indignant. I was Ludwik’s fiancée by right! Whitney stole my love. I’ve already
retreated, yet she still corners me...”
Her voice trailed off in a sob.
Ashton frowned deeply, a chill setting in his heart. “Whitney is so vicious–no wonder she and Valerie are cut from the same cloth.
I heard they are best friends, birds of a feather.
You were too naive. You should’ve stood your ground. After a year, Ludwik was supposed to marry you.”
“Shh, we can’t speak of that,” Elaine replied, her face a mask of woeful sorrow, “Ludwik is keeping it a secret from Whitney. He
told us not to say a word.”
“What? That bastard, he’s even hiding your status? What kind of man does that? Is he completely biased towards Whitney?”
Ashton’s expression darkened, feeling the injustice on Elaine’s behalf.
Elaine wanted precisely this reaction, which was why she had called him. Ludwik had once hidden from Whitney that Elaine was
his fiancée, and Elaine did not dare defy Ludwik. Parker and Nolan would not dare play the informant, either.
Thus, Whitney remained unaware of Elaine’s true identity.
That night at Alpine Springs Resort, when he coldly called her his sister, Elaine’s heart ached.
But she bore it to gain his trust, pretending to be the sister, waiting to take Whitney down once and for all. But now, Whitney had
foiled her plans, leaving her defeated.
This secret of her being the fiancée had to be revealed to Whitney!

No one dared to do that except Ashton, who always had a bone to pick with Ludwik
Thus, Elaine had set her sights on Ashton that afternoon.
F
After all, he listened to her, adored her, and was always ready to fight her battles.
Elaine’s heart laughed coldly as she quietly observed Ashton’s rising anger, delicately imploring, “Let it be. I can bear this
grievance. Just don’t say anything to Whitney or Ludwik. Perhaps I’m not meant to marry Ludwik after all. It just hurts to think of
all the years I’ve invested.”
“You shouldn’t suffer like this!” Ashton asserted, his face chilling, “Don’t worry, I’ll see justice done for you.”
Elaine’s tearful eyes turned to him, filled with gratitude. “Having you say that means everything to me, Ashton. Maybe I should
have liked you... If only I had not fallen for Ludwik a month too early. But you know, you’re really special, right?”
Ashton felt a stir in his heart; he remembered how she had saved him from the icy depths of a glacier, risking
her life when she was so frail.
He kept that gratitude close to his heart.
“Elaine, you’re special too.”
Elaine, pretending to be heavily intoxicated, leaned in closer to him, and in a missed beat, her soft lips nearly brushed against
his.
In that moment, a flash of defiance sparked in Ashton’s eyes. Then, the memory of Valerie’s icy lips, their sweet
19:06
Chapter
taste invading his thoughts, surged forth.
Instinctively, he pushed Elaine away, murmuring, “Elaine, you’re drunk, and I’m not Ludwik.”

Elaine stiffened; she had merely wanted to play a game of flirtation with this man, pretending to be inebriated.
Relieved to see her asleep. Ashton sighed in frustration, lifting her gently onto the bed.
After adjusting his collar with a quick, practiced motion, he strode out of the room, pulled out a cigarette, and left the apartment
behind.
On the bed inside the room, Elaine’s eyes fluttered open. She traced the direction of his departing car with her gaze, slowly
outlining her lips into a smirk.
In the manor’s villa, Whitney sat on the cashmere carpet of her bedroom floor.
Tiana’s voice buzzed through the phone. “Whitney, your move today was brilliant! Now, L will finally see how two–faced Elaine is.
It’s time to kick her to the curb!”
That was precisely Whitney’s goal–to peel Elaine away from L’s side.
But how deeply were their work lives intertwined?
Lost in thought, Whitney’s phone buzzed with an unfamiliar number.
Puzzled, she answered the call, and a distinctively deep male voice resonated, “Ms. Valentine? This is Ash