Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 219
Lyra swiftly ushered the two surgeons into the room.
Elaine crossed her arms, “Gentlemen, I’ve paid you handsomely, and I know back when you were interns in Midtown, you were
well looked after by the Bartels Hospital. My mother mentioned it. A little gratitude goes a long way. Now, about Natalie’s surgery,
we must tie up all loose ends! That girl...”
“Don’t worry, Ms. Elaine. If anyone comes sniffing around, they won’t find a thing. The kidney transplant patients, the donors,
everything is spotless.
The girl we found for you was a relative from the oncology ward, not connected to the transplant department at all. She took the
money and had no idea who the buyer was. This secret is buried deep.”
Only then did Elaine nod, her face still frosty. She furrowed her brow, saying, “Get me the list of all the female nurses in your
department.”
Dr. Horatio was perplexed,
Lyra snapped, “There was a suspicious nurse in your office just now. Ms. Elaine wants an inspection.”
Reluctantly, Dr. Horatio had the head nurse bring in the name list of all the female nurses.
It included photographs, and Elaine quickly flipped through it, not finding a single pair of eyes that matched the masked nurse
she had seen earlier.
“Is this everyone?”
“There are some temps, too, but it’s a hassle to list them all. The hospital isn’t very strict about managing temp nurses.”
Elaine pondered, then relaxed slightly, thinking the suspicious nurse must have been a temp and likely not a threat.
She admonished, “Tighten up the management of your patient files during this period. Be vigilant about who enters and leaves
the office!”
Dr. Horatio felt she was being paranoid. “Don’t worry, Ms. Elaine, we’ve got it all under control. There’s not a trace to be found.”

Elaine looked into his eyes and smiled faintly. “Good.”
After she and Lyra left, Elaine paused in the hallway and looked back at the two doctors in the director’s office.
With a cold snort and expressionless face, she muttered, “Those doctors’ greed makes them untrustworthy. I can’t touch them
now with Ludwik asking questions, but once the old hag kicks the bucket, their lips must be sealed.”
Chapter 219
Lyra gasped, shocked by Elaine’s casual mention of silencing someone.
In the men’s restroom, Tiana’s eyes darted around,
Glaring at Parker, then down at his hand over her mouth.
Her cute face flushed red with frustration, and only when Parker realized his mistake did he retract his hand and stuff it into his
pocket.
“Phew. Mr. Doonan, what brings you to TriMed Hospital?”
Now that she could breathe, Tiana asked awkwardly.
“Just using the restroom,” the man replied curtly, his voice deep.
Tiana was speechless.
After saying this, Parker actually headed towards the urinal.
“Hey, I’m still here, you know? I’m a girl, and I’m not blind... Mr. Doonan! Hey!”

Tiana was indignant, her face a deeper shade of red.
“Can’t you just close your eyes?”
“You should’ve given me a heads-up! It’s too late now! Where are your manners?”
“You’re one to talk about manners in the men’s room?” Parker frowned, glancing at her flushed cheeks, a playful spark in his eye.
This little hooligan had caused him quite the trouble when Ludwik sent him to rescue her, taking advantage of him in the car. She
had no memory of their encounter, and the next time they met, she dared to smile innocently at him.
A storm of thoughts raged through Tiana’s mind. Why did she, a proper, innocent girl, keep ending up in these situations?
Last time, she accidentally intruded on Ludwik at the Imperial Gem Corporation.
Oh wait, if Ludwik was ‘L’, then her following ‘Ludwik’ to the restroom wasn’t actually him.
Suddenly, Tiana’s eyes flashed as she scrutinized Parker’s profile.
His flashy pink shirt highlighted his devilishly handsome and angular face, with a thin frame and legs that seemed to stretch on
forever.
This profile resembled the one from the restroom at the Imperial Gem Corporation...
Damn it. Could it have been Parker playing ‘Ludwik’ last time?
Meaning she had seen this man twice!
What kind of twisted fate was this?

“Hooligan, still here?” Parker broke her train of thought.
Tiana was speechless. Did she look like she wanted to be here? No, Elaine was after her outside.
He had the nerve to call her a hooligan as if she was interested in watching him.
Annoyed, she fixed her gaze on his thin lips, sarcastically remarking, “Just curious, do you always take this long at the urinal? No
issues, I hope? After all, this is a hospital. You might want to get that checked.”
“This woman needs to be put in her place...” Parker thought grimly.
Facing her, he smirked devilishly, “The restroom here should be quite clean. Care for an inspection in the cubical, Ms. Melford?”
This man always had a way with words, his gaze casual yet unsettling beneath his scholarly glasses.
How he became Ludwik’s close friend was a mystery.
With two spots of color on her cheeks, Tiana, unwilling to back down, glanced at his waist and snapped, “No need for an
inspection. I’m not concerned about your health.”
Parker narrowed his eyes at the spirited little lady.
At this moment, for some reason, he felt an impulsive urge. Damn it.
“My health is excellent, as you can see, Ms. Melford,” he retorted coldly and arrogantly.
Tiana was at a loss for words.
Look at that conceited tone. Though he did have the right to boast...
A shudder of humiliation... wait, what were they even discussing now? How did the topic come to this?
Were they that close?
Chastising herself internally, Tiana’s face turned even redder as she quickly stepped around him, aiming for the door. “Anyway,
thanks for earlier. If you still need to do your business, I won’t keep you.”
Parker’s face darkened.

“If you leave now, Elaine might still be out there.”
His mention of Elaine made Tiana narrow her eyes and turn back to him. “I haven’t asked yet, Mr. Doonan, why are you at this
hospital? You wouldn’t be here to investigate something, would you?”
“What about you? You’ve been sneaking around the nephrology department, huh? What’s the deal? Investigating Elaine?”
Chapter 219
Parker narrowed his eyes. He had come to snoop around himself, curious about the recent news of Natalie’s kidney failure, but
he did not suspect anything fishy within the nephrology department.
But Tiana, that feisty little thing, seemed to have her sights set on Elaine.
Tiana caught her breath, thinking she had to keep the task Whitney entrusted to her under
wraps.
Besides, with how Ludwik, that lousy excuse for a man, was fawning over Elaine these days, and with Parker being his friend,
she would not put it past Parker to rat her out.
She quickly deflected with a chuckle. “Me, investigating Elaine? What do I look like, someone with too much time on my hands?
A relative of mine’s got kidney failure, just came to ask the docs some questions. Running into her was just bad luck. Alright, I’m
out of here. Make yourself at home, Mr. Doonan.”
With that, she slipped out cautiously.
Parker did not stop her, his gaze lingering on her retreating figure in the nurse’s uniform. Did she take him for a fool?
He let out a snort of amusement. Dressed up and sneaking around, she was definitely up to something. Was this Whitney’s
doing? Sending her to investigate something?