Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 109
The night was deep when Nolan ordered a special meal from the five–star hotel’s room service–a pregnancy–friendly dinner for
Whitney.
She felt a pang of sympathy for L, who was still recovering from surgery and unable to eat, so she turned away to eat, not
wanting to tempt him with the scent of food.
As Whitney quietly nibbled on her meal, a cozy rollaway bed was brought into the room and placed snugly beside Ludwik’s
hospital bed. Her brow furrowed in confusion. “L, aren’t you planning on hiring a nurse?” She
asked.
“Why would I do that when I have you?” He responded dryly, eyes closed and lips pale. “Money doesn’t grow on
trees.”
Whitney was not bothered by the prospect of caring for him–it was not fatigue that concerned her. It was just that the restroom
situation earlier had been so inconvenient. Although they were legally married, their relationship was still in its early stages, and
physical intimacy had not yet been a part of it. She felt shy about such matters.
Ludwik’s gaze landed on the petite figure of his pregnant wife. Weakly, he patted the bed beside him. “Are you done eating?
Hurry up and come sleep next to me. I’m in pain.“–
With a sigh, Whitney hastily finished her food and climbed into the rollaway bed, worried that he was in pain. The moonlight softly
filtered through the window as she drifted to sleep beside him, her intended role as a caregiver forgotten in her exhaustion.
Ludwik, however, lay awake, silently enduring the pain that made even shifting his position agonizing. He did not have the heart
to disturb Whitney; her delicate features were shadowed with fatigue.
The next morning, Whitney awoke from a rare good sleep to Ludwik’s stern voice as he instructed his subordinates, with several
police officers in attendance. She blinked away sleep to find her head buried under
the covers.
One of the subordinates could not help but sneak a glance at the small figure on the bed next to their boss, her pink cheeks
peaking from under the covers.

The subordinate said, “The assailant who attacked you has been identified. He’s a relative of a deceased worker from the Elate
City Sea Bay project. You did not make amends after the accident, which probably sparked resentment. The local manager tried
to settle the matter cheaply to report back to you, leading to the family seeking revenge.”
“How did he manage to track down Whitney?” Ludwik asked, his brow furrowed.
Whitney caught snippets of the conversation about last night’s incident and chimed in from under the covers, “It’s strange. Hardly
anyone knows about my relationship with you, L. Last night, I was forced into the construction site by motorcycles.”
Ludwik’s eyes narrowed as
take revenge on you? But speculated, “Could the relative have planned to force Madam onto the site to
take revenge on you? But how did he find out about her? Maybe he saw her with you while tailing you a while back?”
them. They had even been spotted eating take
Realization dawned on Ludwik–he had indeed taken Whitney out publicly when times were good between
on the street.
The police suggested, “Since the attacker is skilled and act as bait...”
gerous, and you are injured, we hope Madam could
“Absolutely not! It’s your job to catch him, and I’m giving you three days. Dismissed!” Ludwik cut them off sharply, leaving no
room for argument. The officers left immediately without daring to say another word.

Chapter 109
Then, Ludwik ordered Felix to increase security at the hospital, ensuring Whitney would be safe.
Once they were alone, he turned to Whitney, who was still hiding under the covers, and said with a slight smirk, “Smart girl,
hiding like that.”
Whitney just rolled her eyes, all too aware of the misconceptions that always seemed to follow them around. As she moved
under the cover, Felix wisely turned away.
Whitney quickly got dressed, her movements prompting Ludwik to say with his pale lips, “I need to go to the
restroom.”
It was as if he had been waiting for her to wake up so he could say this.
Whitney was speechless.
Why did he not ask Felix to help him?
Ludwik added, “I couldn’t sleep all night because of the pain.”
“Fine,” Whitney conceded, getting out of bed. After all, he got injured because of her.
Felix was speechless.
However, remembering how inconvenient the previous night was, Whitney brought over a new basin with a blushed face and
said, “It’s bad for your recovery if you keep moving around. Can you do it in bed?”

Ludwik’s brows twitched. However, it was her intensive care that he sought, so it was all the same.
With reluctance, he frowned and said, “Fine. Come over here.”
Whitney approached, and Felix left right away.
She squatted down and lifted the blanket but could not find it, so she leaned closer.
At this moment, the door opened, and the doctors, led by the head surgeon, entered, catching them in an awkward moment. “I’ve
come for your check–up... Oh! My apologies. Am I interrupting something? Carry on, then,” he stammered, backing out of the
room.
Whitney’s face flushed crimson once she realized the position she and L were in. She wished to dig a hole!
Clearly, she had been misunderstood again.
Before leaving the room, the head surgeon even advised, “I understand you youngsters are energetic, but you guys need to tone
it down after surgery. I heard that last night, you guys also... This is not good for recovery. Plus, Madam is pregnant...”
“Doctor, you’re mistaken!” Whitney nearly shouted.
Damn that Nolan and his big mouth! Now, she was probably the most infamous woman in the hospital.
Her face was flushing. Suddenly, a female doctor intern said, “This woman is so lucky. Mistaken? I saw it all...”
Whitney’s head lowered instantly, her face red as blood as she quickly removed the basin.
However, the man stopped her, looked at her deeply, and said, “I didn’t go yet.”
Once the doctors left and the door closed, he reminded her, “You’re about four months along now, aren’t you?” His gaze lingered
on her still–flat belly and flushed face, stirring something within her that Whitney did not want to acknowledge.
Retreating to the restroom to hide her embarrassment, phone. “Madam, Sir said to give this back to you.”
hitney was interrupted by Felix, who handed her a
Holding her phone, which had been confiscated for days, Whitney felt a surge of resentment. She glanced back at the man, who
was pretending to rest. Maybe if she had been a little more affectionate and compliant, she would not have been cut off for so

long.
Chapter 109
He seemed a bit regretful last night but did not say anything
Whitney powered on her phone to find a deluge of missed calls–from the office, Tiana, and Simon. It seemed that even amid the
chaos, life relentlessly moved forward
She swiftly deleted Simon from all her contacts, dreading another sermon from him. She also hit up Tiana on Facebook, who
was already in the loop about Whitney’s near–miss last night and the dashing rescue by L.
Tiana was all over Facebook, singing praises. [A guy who’d risk his life for you can’t be wrong, girl! Love him with all you’ve got!]
Whitney could only roll her eyes. Not too long ago, Tiana was bad–mouthing the same guy, calling him a total jerk.
And Tiana was still in the dark about Whitney’s grounding for six whole days.
Yet, Whitney’s mind was on more pressing concerns. She furrowed her brows and typed out: [Tiana, did you hear about the
shindig at Joyful Manor from Parker?]
Tiana: [...]
[Why would you think Parker and I are chummy?]
[Didn’t he save you once?]
[That jerk saved me and then ghosted me.] Tiana was genuinely puzzled, feeling like she had somehow majorly ticked off Parker
without having a clue why.
got
the scoop from Nolan about your close call at the party. You’ve been like a trouble magnet lately!]
That remark jolted something in Whitney’s memory.
Narrowing her eyes, she had a suspect in mind from the night things went south. “There’s a rat at the party. This isn’t simple. Mr.
Wendt and Dante were played, and I need you to comb through the surveillance footage for clues.”

“Got it!” Tiana was on it right away.
Just then, a commotion erupted from outside the ward.